THE MAMA CHRONICLES

The Taste Test

For many of us, our early flirts with flavor were a mashed up bit of whatever our parents were eating. These first bites are stepping stones that develop our taste preferences, but the experience actually begins before any food touches our tongues.  That mouth-watering sensation you feel when you walk into a restaurant is triggered by your olfactory sensors, making smell and aroma the first part of tasting something.  It’s like your brain is taking a bite before you’re mouth does. 

I've been enjoying cooking for my nine-month-old. Sure it required a bit of extra time to make simple purees for her first foods but now she's a full-fledged member at our dinner table. Most nights, I chop up a smaller portion of our dinner and let her munch away. Rachael Anne Hill's Baby and Toddler Cookbook: Deliciously Natural Recipes for Happy, Healthy Kids (Ryland Peters & Small) is a great starting point. You'll find yourself adding recipes like Salmon, Sweet Potato and Broccoli Chowder or Creamy Tomato and Basil Pasta to your roster of quick and easy meals for the whole family.

Let me know your baby's favorite homemade meal in the comments below for a chance to win a free copy of Hill's cookbook. One winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday, February 25th. Good luck!

Baby and Toddler Cookbook by Rachael Anne Hill is available at Amazon.com.

Congratulations to Liza and thanks to everyone for joining the discussion! Stay tuned for next week's giveaway.

Fun with Food

 
Pancakes have been my five-year-old's favorite food ever since she started feeding herself. So much so, that we we picked up a copy of Eric Carle’s Pancakes, Pancakes a few years back. Smart storytelling is mixed with science, math and most importantly fun.  Carle's story of a boy, Jack, who asks his busy mom for this simple meal takes kids through the journey of making flour from grain, feeding the hen for eggs, milking the cow and making butter from the cream on top.  It's a great farm-to-table lesson. Bring the story come to life and head into the kitchen after you read it to your little Jack or Jill.

Oh, and if you want to make the heart-shaped cuties pictured above, just spray a heart-shaped cookie cutter with cooking spray and place in a heated skillet. Fill one-third up the sides with batter and follow the recipe headnote for flipping them. Whatever way you shape them, they're guaranteed to be gobbled up!

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES
The key to making pancakes is a hot pan and patience. The skillet is ready when water sprinkled on it immediately forms tiny bubbles and evaporates. Patience is a crucial virtue to making a crisp, golden pancake. Don’t flip them until bubbles appear on the surface of each pancake.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons canola or vegetable oil*
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

1. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium-size bowl and whisk for 30 seconds.  Set aside. 
2. In a small glass bowl or measuring cup, combine buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla extract, if using.  Stir with a fork, using the same motion as scrambling an egg until liquid ingredients are mixed. 
3. Pour liquid ingredients into dry and stir, gently, using the same form until mixture is just combined.  It will be lumpy, and that’s okay, just make sure there are no pockets of unmixed dry ingredients.
4. Heat a skillet over a medium flame. Coat pan with a pat of butter and add circles of batter.  Use a teaspoon to make kid-friendly silver dollar style or a tablespoon for dad-size cakes.  Flip when bubbles form on top and continue cooking for 45 seconds to 1 minute or until done. 

*An equal amount of melted butter can be substituted for a richer flavor or if you don't have oil on hand.

Home Economics: Better Banana Bread

My nine-month-old's face lit up and she clapped with delight as she watched me peel a banana for her today. In her honor, I've decided to re-post the banana bread recipe I developed for Cuisinart's Stand Mixer blog. Banana bread is perhaps the most classic of quick breads.  I love the flavor and ease with which it comes together and appreciate using up overripe bananas that would otherwise be thrown away. It's a delicious and thrifty way of recycling food past its prime—perfect recipe for this economy!


Better Banana Bread

Makes one 9-inch loaf

The key to great banana bread is using very ripe bananas and mashing them well before adding to batter.  Out of curiosity, or perhaps laziness one day, I tried adding chunks instead of mashing them.  The results were still delicious but the loaf had a lumpy appearance so mashing is well worth the extra minute or two it takes.

 

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons butter, softened

¾ cup brown sugar

1 large egg

½ cup yogurt

1 ½ cups very ripe bananas, mashed well (about three in total)

1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

 

1. Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease the bottom only of a standard size loaf pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray.  Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl.  Set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar on medium speed in your Cuisinart Stand Mixer.  Add egg and beat thoroughly.  Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add yogurt and beat until mixed well.  Add mashed bananas and vanilla extract and beat well.  Scrape down sides of bowl again with rubber spatula.
3. On low speed, pour in half of flour mixture.  Increase mixer speed to medium and mix until just blended.  Pour in ¼ of milk and beat until just blended.  Repeat this process with remaining flour and milk. 
4. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Ready, Set, Cook

    

Good news if you're racking your brain over what's for dinner tonight. I've started compiling the last two years in convenient links on the left sidebar (yep, the one titled RECIPES over there). There are lots more to come, but this should keep you going for the next week at least.

You'll find easy, delicious solutions for the school bake sale, your next dinner party and even a special meal for this weekend's Valentine's Day celebration.

Cheers,

Jennifer

 

Simply Delicious Onion Soup

As you might imagine, I get lots of new food product samples as food editor at Working Mother magazine. Some may think it's a perk, but the truth is there are very few that make the cut when it comes to both taste and nutrition. These days the grocery bills add up and trying new products may seem more a luxury—lest you risk spending hard-earned bucks on something barely edible. So, I've decided to let you benefit from my trial and error.

This week, I'm talking store-bought stock. I'd all but given up on buying it after tasting one bland, watered down version after another. That is until last fall when I attended a luncheon for Swanson. The menu, prepared with their new line of stocks by Chef Christopher Lee, included Pepper Steak Stir Fry and Truffled Chicken. It was really delicious. I've been working with the stocks for four months now and have been immensely satisfied each and every time. In full disclosure, Swanson generously offered to stock my test kitchen. But the truth is I wouldn't use, let alone recommend, a product I didn't like myself. Sure Martha Stewart would make it herself, but if you're juggling two kids, working from home and running the house like me, reach for a carton of Swanson's Stock and you'll have dinner ready in half the time. Here's a favorite from my original recipe files.

Simply Delicious Onion Soup
Serves 8

I've lightened up this French classic by serving it with homemade croutons and a Parmesan crisp. Use the slicing blade of your food processor to prep the onions and you'll have a rich, delicious soup on the table in less than an hour.

4 pounds onions, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 dried bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
¼ cup dry vermouth
8 cups beef stock
1 recipe brioche croutons (see below)
8 Parmesan crisps (see recipe below)

1. Heat a 6-quart stockpot over medium-high heat. Add 4 tablespoons butter and olive oil. Once butter is melted, add onions and stir to coat well. Add bay leaves a season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and reduce to a simmer. Cook, covered, until onions are softened, about 30 to 35 minutes.

2. Remove and discard bay leaves. Raise heat back to medium-high. Stir in vermouth. Add remaining butter and stir until melted. Pour in stock and stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 more minutes. Taste, and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

3. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish each serving with some croutons and a Parmesan crisp.


Brioche Croutons
Makes 2 cups

3 thick slices brioche, cubed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a medium bowl, drizzle with brioche cubes with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place on a rimmed sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Store in an airtight container for up to three days.


Parmesan Crisps
Makes 8

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Divide cheese into four 2 ½-inch mounds on a sheet pan lined with greased parchment or a silicon liner. Bake until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Let rest on sheet for 1 minute. Use a flexible or offset spatula to remove from pan.

Stumble It!

Will PB&J Be Able to Bounce Back?

I might not have survived elementary school in a world without peanut butter and jelly. Seriously, it was my lunch du jour for at least five years running. While Isabella, thankfully, eats a more varied diet, it's still disconcerting to hear the development in this peanut butter recall. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 800 products are involved.

I thought a simple enough answer would be to make my own. Alas, I was wrong. During a conference call this week, the CDC confirmed that whole peanuts are also cause for concern. The best way to know if what's in your pantry is safe is to a) check the list of products recalled at the CDC's website and b) even if it's not on the list, ask your grocer if they know the manufacturing source —the Blakely facility of the Peanut Butter Corporation of America is at the heart of the investigation.

For more information, check out these resources from the CDC:
http://pbrecallblog.hhs.gov
http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/blog

Stir-fry Basics: Part One

We all have a few items in our kitchen that are as indispensable as the perfect, little black dress. For me, it's my wok. When I'm too tired to cook, it's there to help me get a delicious, nutritious meal on the table in less than 30 minutes. It also beats a lot of the mediocre Chinese takeout in my neighborhood. You can work with any vegetables and protein on hand, so a well stocked pantry makes "cooking on the fly", a term used in restaurant kitchens, a breeze.

Pantry 101
Keeping a few staple ingredients on hand makes stir-fry a snap.

•  Love your veggies. Any kind will work, including carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, and even asparagus. Add a variety to your weekly shopping list so you have them on hand.
• Get saucy. Buy the basics, like soy sauce, sesame oil and your favorite stir-fry sauce. Reading labels is important here. Many stir-fry sauces are filled with corn syrup, sodium and additives, so choose wisely.
• Use your noodle. While specialty noodles found in the Asian section of grocery stores are fun to use, regular spaghetti is an excellent stand-in.  Make it in advance and let cool before using; I usually make extra on "spaghetti and marinara nights" and store it in the fridge plain so it's stir-fry ready.

Tune in next time for tips on what to do once you've got all your ingredients, including the secret to the best stir-fry tofu!

Tot Chef

Indulge your kid's inner chef and sign up for a lesson with Alex Urena, chef at Pamplona. The class on January 24th will show parents and kids easy dinners they can prepare together. If picky eaters throw your dinner plans out of whack, Urena's class on January 31st may help.  Both classes run from 10:00am to 2:00pm and include a light breakfast and lunch.

Tickets $75 adults / $40 for kids 5 and up

Call (212) 213-2328 for more information.

Pamplona is at 37 East 28th Street, NYC

www.pamplonanyc.com

It Must be 5pm Somewhere

Necessity was indeed the inspiration for this mama's invention. Three straight days of teething called for a post-bedtime cocktail hour last weekend. A mix of spirits, but not the right ones for my preferred list of cocktails, I decided to make use of the clementines sitting in a bowl on the dining room table. The result was quite satisfying and the Manhattantine was born.  A spin on the classic cocktail, the Manhattan, this was the perfect elixir to settle down with the Mr. and catch up with some DVR friends.

Manhattantine

Serves 2 

This cocktail is meant to be stirred, not shaken, lest you wake up any sleeping kiddies!

2 ounces freshly squeezed clementine juice
1 1/2 ounces bourbon
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
2 maraschino cherries

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in clementine juice, bourbon, and vermouth. Stir vigorously until beads of sweat form on outside of shaker. Strain into chilled martini glasses. Garnish each cocktail with a maraschino cherry.

Recycled Breakfast

Sundays are usually family breakfast day with the works. Bacon, eggs or waffles, fruit salad, juice ad much needed coffee for mama and papa. It’s followed by watching the weekly political shows and topped off with listening to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell me on NPR.  This past week, though, we had a busy day with a birthday outing planned smack in the middle of the day. Instead of the full spread, I eyed a leftover baguette from the previous day’s lunch and decided to give a makeover to one of my own original recipes featured in Kiwi magazine last February.

This recipe is easy enough to get going on a busy school day but will also wow guests, so don’t be shy to serve it for brunch. Enjoy and happy Monday!

-Jennifer

Don’t forget to check out The Daily Juggle!

Eggy French Toast Bread Pudding
Serves four

This breakfast uses bread left over from last night’s dinner. It’s easy enough for weekdays, yet elegant enough to add to your next brunch menu. Feel free to lighten it up and use all milk instead of adding cream.

1/2 loaf baguette other crusty bread, cubed
4 large egg
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan; arrange bread cubes evenly in pan and set aside.

2. In a deep bowl, beat the remaining ingredients together with a fork or whisk. Pour over bread cubes in pan, pressing down to make sure top pieces are coated. Bake for 30 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Serve hot with fresh fruit or warm maple syrup.