vegetable Curry

Recently I have heard several news stories on the new trend of hiding vegetable in food so that unsuspecting children will get their daily serving without even knowing it...or at least that is the theory.  I'm going to officially come out against this practice!

If you hide vegetables from your kids you are only perpetuating the stereotype that vegetables are yucky and have to be snuck into children like a dog's heart worm medicine!  Instead of hiding the veggies how about teaching our kids that they can be delicious?  Here are a few things that YOU can do to avoid vegetable subterfuge.

1.  Buy fresh. If you have ever compared canned green beans to fresh green beans you will agree that the canned variety bear little resemblance to fresh.  Canned green beans are gray and mushy and taste like....well I don't know what they taste like, but it's not good.

2.  Don't over cook.  The longer you cook vegetables the more of their nutrients and flavor they lose.  Lots of veggie, like broccoli, carrots and green beans only need a quick steam.  Some, like peppers and jucima, are great raw.

3.  Think outside the box.  Sometimes you need to extol the OTHER virtues of vegetables.   For example, eating beets make you look like you have been drinking blood and asparagus makes your pee smell funny.  While these may  not be selling pints for YOU, little boys will totally fall for them.

4.  Try something new.  About a year ago I made vegetable curry for my family.  I figured I have to hold the kids down and force it into them.  Imagine my surprise when my oldest son LOVED it.  he can't get enough of the stuff.  It is very favorite meal.  Sometimes it pays off to go a little crazy.

5.  Don't give up.  I have heard that it take over 15 exposures to a food for a child to be comfortable with that food.  If your kids turn their noses up at broccoli the first time keep trying. Eventually you will break them...I mean....get them to love their veggies!

Winter Produce

Winter is coming up quickly and while most people don't think of produce when they think of winter time, there are actually a lot of great winter fruits just coming into season now!  One of my very favorite winter delicacies are pomegranates.  In my half of the world pomegranates are available from around September until February.  Such a short time frame, I have to gobble them up while they are available!

Pomegranates are chock full of good stuff for you like vitamins C and B and TONS of fiber (but only if you eat the seeds).  Speaking of which, pomegranates are a little odd in that you eat the bright red seeds and not the white fruit.  Trust me on this one...don't eat the white fruit part! 


So do not delay!  Run out an enjoy this fabulous winter treat!

Starbucks can kiss my pumpkin

I have a weakness for the Starbuck's Pumpkin muffin.  You know the one with the cream cheese in the middle...yeah...that's the one.  They are only around for a few weeks in the fall, and I could eat one everyday that they are available.  Sadly, that gets a little expensive.  When I saw a recipe for a cream cheese filled pumpkin muffin on Annie Eats, I was pretty much sold. 

A few thoughts...

It is really very hard to shape beaten cream cheese into a log.  When I think log, I think round....think more like brick.  Also, don't scrimp on the freezing cream cheese part.  I only left mine in the freezer for about an hour and that was no where near long enough.

Finally, this recipe uses oil as the fat.  I generally prefer to use butter in my baking. (Who doesn't like butter?)  I'm wondering what anyone out there thinks about substituting butter for oil.  Is it a one to one substitution?  Do you need to account for extra water in the butter?  Thoughts?

menu plan monday

We are back in business as far as the stove in concerned so this week's menu is going to be sure to make full use of the new hotbox.


Tuesday - Turkey Tetrazzini Pasta

Thursday - Honey-Sesame Pork Tenderloin with Spicy Scallion Salad

Saturday - Chicken Nuggets

Sunday - Ricotta Calzones

Last week Kate from Practice is Perfect asked me for my Turkey Tetrazzini  recipe.  This is a personal favorite of mine.  I like dishes where pretty much everything is taken care of in one pot...or casserole dish as the case may be.  This recipe is from Cook's Illustrated.  I generally make a few small changes.  I prefer to use a small pasta as opposed to spaghetti.  With kids, spaghetti can be a messy disaster.  I like bow ties myself.   I also like to bump up the amount of peas because they are a quick and easy veggie and my kids will eat them in this casserole.  Finally, I have found that this can get dried out pretty easily.  I usually try to add a little more butter and stock to the sauce.

ENJOY!

Ingredients

Topping


1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
Pinch table salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
1 ounce Parmesan cheese , grated (about 1/4 cup)

Filling


6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), plus extra for baking dish
8 ounces white mushrooms , cleaned and sliced thin (3 cups)
2 medium onions , chopped fine (1 1/2 cups)
3/4 pound spaghetti or other long-strand pasta, strands snapped in half
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons dry sherry
3 ounces Parmesan cheese , grated (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons lemon juice from 1 small lemon
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 cups frozen peas
4 cups leftover cooked boneless turkey meat or chicken meat, cut into 1/4-inch pieces


Instructions

1. For the Topping: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix breadcrumbs, salt, and butter in small baking dish; bake until golden brown and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature and mix with 1/4 cup grated Parmesan in small bowl. Set aside.

2. For the Filling: Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium heat until foaming subsides; add mushrooms and onions and sauté, stirring frequently, until onions soften and mushroom liquid evaporates, 12 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste; transfer to medium bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling, salted water until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking water, drain spaghetti, and return to pot with reserved liquid.

3. For the Sauce: Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in cleaned skillet over medium heat. When foam subsides, whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until flour turns golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add chicken stock. Adjust heat to medium-high and simmer until mixture thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Off heat, whisk in sherry, Parmesan, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, lemon juice, and thyme. Add sauce, sautéed vegetables, peas, and meat to spaghetti and mix well; adjust seasonings to taste. Turn mixture into a buttered 13- x 9-inch baking dish (or other shallow, ovenproof dish of similar size), sprinkle evenly with reserved breadcrumbs, and bake until breadcrumbs brown and mixture is bubbly, 13 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.