I adapted this recipe from a recent issue of Real Simple. It's fast, easy and good. You gotta love a recipe that makes your entire dinner for you, all in one dish.

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH LEMON-GARLIC GREEN BEANS AND POTATOES
6 Tbs. olive oil
2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 1 juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 lb. trimmed green beans
8 small red potatoes, quartered (or 4 medium to large red potatoes, cut into eighths)
4 chicken breasts (the recipe calls for bone-in chicken breasts with the skin on, but I was able to get away with boneless, skinless chicken breasts by basting a couple extra times)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Coat the inside of a large baking dish with 1 Tbs. olive oil. Arrange lemon slices in the bottom of the dish.
In a large bowl, combine the remaining oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the green beans and toss to coat. WIth a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the beans and arrange them on the lemon slices.
Add the potatoes to the same olive oil mixture and toss to coat. With a slotted spoon or tongs, arrange the potatoes along the inside edges of the dish, on top of the beans.
Place the chicken in the olive oil mixture and toss to coat. Place it, skin-side-up, in the dish. Pour any remaining olive oil mixture over the chicken.
Roast 40-50 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate, toss beans and potatoes, and roast the vegetables 10 minutes more or until potatoes are tender.
Serve warm.

It's the quandary that Butter Flavor Crisco was supposed to solve: buttery taste or shortening crispiness? Unfortunately, Butter Flavor Crisco tastes like chemical-y theatre popcorn, so you're still left with the choice. This recipe uses shortening, which makes it different from my usual buttery cowboy cookie, but it's still very good (and crispy!).

COWBOY COOKIES
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 c. old-fashioned oats
3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. chopped roasted peanuts
1/2 c. sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream shortening and sugars together. Add egg and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder and blend well.
Mix in remaining ingredients by hand. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on nonstick baking sheets and bake 12 minutes, or until golden at edges. Cool on paper towels.
Makes 30 to 36 cookies.

I brought these pies to a work meeting on Sunday. Both turned out excellent. The coconut cream pie recipe is tried and true and is always delicious. It was my first time making the blueberries and cream one. I like it a whole lot. In fact, I think I may actually prefer it to the regular two-crust variety of blueberry pie. It's definitely easier, too.

COCONUT CREAM PIE
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. 1% milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. sweetened flaked coconut
a 9-inch baked pie shell
meringue (see below)
extra coconut for the top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a saucepan, whisk together sugar, flour, and salt. Gradually add the milk, whisking until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils. Cook two minutes longer and then remove from heat.
Stir a small amount of the milk mixture into the egg yolks, then mix egg yolks into milk mixture. Cook two minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Mix in butter, vanilla, and coconut. Pour into baked pie shell and spread with meringue. Sprinkle a little more coconut on top. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until peaks of meringue and coconut flakes are golden brown.

MERINGUE
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
3 to 4 Tbs. sugar

Using a stand mixer, beat egg whites with vanilla and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, continuing to beat, until stiff peaks form. Spread on pie, sealing to edge of pastry. (I like to make big loopy curlicues and spikes by pressing the spatula in a little and drawing it up quickly.)

BLUEBERRIES AND CREAM PIE
4 c. blueberries (fresh, frozen, or a combination of the two)
an unbaked 9-inch pie shell
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. 1% milk
1/2 c. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Rinse and drain berries. After they are fully drained, pour them into the pie shell.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the milk and cream and whisk until smooth. Pour over the berries.
Bake 45 minutes. (After 30 minutes, you will probably need to cover the edges of the pie with a foil ring to keep it from over-browning.)
Cool on a wire rack and refrigerate 2 hours before serving.

One of my fondest memories of my dad is his food--cooking in the kitchen with him, and sharing his wonderful meals at his big old wooden table. He was a great cook and an uncompromising gourmand. He loved to make elaborate brunches and dinners for guests and for family. He accepted my 16 years of vegetarianism with thinly veiled resignation--his opinion being that I was missing out on all the good stuff--but he always managed to invent an excellent veggie dish for me when I came home to visit. His mushroom enchiladas, especially, stick out in my mind.

His waffles were legendary, and we would clamor for them. He used a mix, but his came out better than anyone else's even if they used the same ingredients. I have no idea why.

His hot and sour soup was transcendent. I knew even then that it wasn't vegetarian, but I adhered to the belief that if I didn't know there was chicken stock in it, I wasn't cheating.

I never learned his recipe, but I don't think he used one, really. He would stand over the pot and taste it, tweaking the seasonings until they met his approval. The key, he said, was the balance of hotness and sourness. "You know it's right when you break out into a gentle sweat at your temples," he said.

He's gone now, but today I brought out his Chinese soup bowls and soup spoons and tried to see what I could do to honor his memory. I'm not there yet, but I think I did pretty well.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP
2 Tbs. cornstarch
4 Tbs. water
2 Tbs. soy sauce
3 Tbs. rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 hot red chili, minced
1 egg
2 Tbs. peanut oil
1 small to medium onion, coarsely chopped
a handful or two of shredded cabbage
4 c. chicken stock
2 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced thin
a handful of matchstick-cut tofu
ground white pepper to taste

Whisk the cornstarch with the water until it forms a smooth paste. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, black pepper, and chili. Mix together.
Break the egg into a separate bowl and beat well.
Heat the oil in a soup pot and fry the onion and cabbage for a few minutes, until tender. Stir in the stock, mushrooms, and tofu and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
Pour the cornstarch mixture into the soup and cook, stirring, until it thickens.
As you stir the soup in a circular motion, drizzle the egg in to create thin threads.
With the heat on low to keep the soup warm, season with white pepper, tasting, until you reach the perfect balance. Cook a couple more minutes, then remove from heat and serve.

Needing something to go with my soup, I adapted this from a 1979 Southern Living cookbook. Nothing authentic about it, but it's delicious.

CHINESE BAKED CHICKEN
a 3-lb. chicken, cut up
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/8 c. honey
1 large clove of garlic, minced
a 1/2-inch chunk of ginger, minced
1/2 tsp. dry mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken in a glass oven dish, skin side down. Bake, covered, 1 hour.
Mix soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, and mustard.
Remove chicken from oven. Pour off 2/3 of the drippings. Pour soy sauce mixture over chicken. Bake, covered, 30 minutes.
Turn the chicken and baste well. Bake, uncovered, basting once more, until browned and glazed.

Better late than never! Here are a couple of desserts I made a little more than a week ago, but didn't have the time or energy to blog up.

CHERRY PIE
pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie
cherries*
sugar**
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. cherry liquid
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1-2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. almond extract
milk and sugar for top

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Drain cherries and reserve liquid.
Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually add 1 c. cherry liquid and the lemon juice. Whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and clear. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, almond extract, and cherries.
Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry, pour in the cherry mixture, and seal with top crust. Cut a vent in the pie. Brush pastry with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat and bake at 375 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling is bubbling through vent.

* The original recipe calls for two 1-lb. cans of sour pie cherries. I buy fresh cherries from a fruit farm in Ohio and freeze them in freezer bags. The proportions I use are 5 c. cherries to 1 c. sugar (the sugar helps the fruit keep its color and texture). One freezer bag = 1 pie.

** The original recipe calls for 1 c. sugar. I find that there's enough sugar in a cup of frozen-cherry liquid that I don't need nearly as much, so I use 1/2 c. Plus, I like a little tartness in a pie.


PEACH MELBA CRISP
6 Tbs. butter, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3/4 c. brown sugar, packed
2/3 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of powdered nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 c. rolled oats
2 lb. fresh or frozen (thawed) peaches, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 c. frozen (thawed) red raspberries
1/2 c. sugar
3 to 4 Tbs. flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter an 11 x 13 glass baking dish.
Put the butter, brown sugar, 2/3 c. flour, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse until coarse and crumbly. Stir in oats and set aside.
Toss peaches and raspberries with sugar and remaining flour. Transfer to baking dish and spread out until thickness is uniform. Cover with the oat topping. Bake until topping is browned and fruit is tender and bubbly, about 45 minutes.

A nice tasty recipe:

MARINATED BEEF WITH OYSTER SAUCE
8 oz. lean steak, cut into thin strips
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. dry sherry
1 tsp. powdered sugar
2 tsp. hoisin sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
3 Tbs. oyster sauce
8 Tbs. water
2 Tbs. peanut oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
1/2-inch piece ginger, grated
10 baby corn cobs, halved
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
cooked rice

Place the steak in a shallow dish. Whisk together 1 Tbs. soy sauce, sesame oil, sherry, 1 tsp. powdered sugar, hoisin sauce, 1 clove garlic, and 1/2 tsp. cornstarch. Pour over meat, toss, and marinate at least one hour.
To make sauce, stir together 2 Tbs. soy sauce, 1 tsp. powdered sugar, 1 tsp. cornstarch, oyster sauce, and water. Set aside.
Heat oil in a wok. Add steak and marinade and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, until sealed and lightly browned. Add 3 cloves garlic, ginger, baby corn, and green pepper. Stir in oyster sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and cook 3 minutes or until sauce firms up slightly.
Serve over rice.

I've been a slacker about this blog lately because the s.o. has been smoking all kinds of nice meat on the grill. He's really got his technique down, but I have little idea of what that technique might be, so I can't post it.

But here's what I made for lunch today. My mom and her husband taught me how to make it. It's one of my favorite salads of all time, and responds well to experimentation and ad-libbing.

CHICKPEA SALAD
1 can chickpeas, drained
a small handful of basil leaves, chopped
a large stalk of celery, chopped
half a sweet onion or a couple of spring onions, chopped
one or two sweet banana peppers, chopped (optional, and not part of the original recipe)
a few good drizzles of olive oil
several generous splashes of balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Toss all the ingredients together. Serve over lettuce if you like--the dressing is meant to be generous, so it will dress the lettuce as well. Improves with marinating.

I usually make a double recipe because I like it so well.

A cry for help:

I made Rogan Josh today, and although it was perfectly okay, it wasn't what I had in mind. The lamb was delicious and tender, but the sauce was wrong. I'd had high hopes for the recipe, since I wanted to emulate some amazing Rogan Josh I'd had in London, and this came from a British restaurant cookbook. But it was too yogurt-y, too saffron-y, too cayenne-y, not tangy and lamb-juicy enough.

If anyone's out there reading this (which is a big assumption...*grin*), do you have a Rogan Josh recipe you really like?

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get off my butt to post the peach melba crisp and cherry pie I made last weekend. I promise I'll do it soon.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE WITH A MAJOR INGREDIENT MISSING
Can you make chicken cacciatore without mushrooms? Well, yes, of course. It's not anything close to correct, but it still tastes good.

a smallish chicken, cut up, or (diet option!) several boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
a medium onion, chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. tomato paste
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c. good red wine
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
3/4 c. chicken stock
1 bay leaf
a pinch of fresh thyme leaves
a pinch of fresh marjoram leaves
1 to 2 tsp. minced fresh basil leaves
1 to 2 tsp. minced fresh fennel leaves
1/2 to 1 c. sliced button mushrooms (which I didn't have)
cooked pasta

Dredge the chicken in the flour and saute it (along with the onion and garlic) in the olive oil until golden-brown.
Add all the remaining ingredients except the pasta and simmer, covered, for 1 hour or until tender. Serve over pasta.

PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES
2 eggs
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. smooth peanut butter
2 Tbs. butter, cut up
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 c. chopped dry-roasted peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until thoroughly blended. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand, if you're using them.
Spread mixture in a greased 9-inch square pan and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if you like. Bake 30 minutes. Cut into squares while warm.

This is the potato salad I've been trying to make all this time...

POTATO SALAD
2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes
1 egg
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. finely chopped sweet onion
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 Tbs. celery seed
1 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. white vinegar
3 to 4 Tbs. minced sweet pickles
1/2 c. light mayonnaise
1/3 c. Miracle Whip Light
paprika

Chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and boil until soft. Meanwhile, hard-boil the egg.
Put the cooked potatoes in a large bowl. On top of them, heap the celery, onion, salt, pepper, dry mustard, celery seed, sugar, vinegar, and pickles. Don't stir yet.
In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise, the Miracle Whip, and the yolk of the hard-boiled egg. Mash the yolk in with a fork.
Chop the egg white and add it to the potato bowl.
Add the mayonnaise mixture to the potato bowl and fold the whole mixture together until well mixed, being careful not to smash up the potatoes. Press plastic wrap directly on top of the salad and refrigerate until well chilled (preferably overnight).
Remove the plastic wrap, fluff up the salad with a fork, and sprinkle liberally with paprika.

Last night I tried to replicate the great South Indian pancakes I had at the restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. The attempt was marginally successful. Mine were more dumpling-y and dense--less like a fluffy pancake than theirs. I suspect theirs had baking powder or some such thing in it to make it rise a little.

Anyhow, they were still good; the flavor was very much like what I remembered.

UTTHAPAMS
1 c. rice flour
1/2 c. chickpea flour
1 1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/2 c. water, as needed
1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, grated
1 small tomato (greenish if you like), finely chopped
a medium-hot chile pepper, minced
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp. dill weed
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
peanut oil for frying

Whip together the rice flour, chickpea flour, and yogurt with a fork. Let stand for 3 to 4 hours.
Add water until you have a pourable but still thickish consistency. Stir in the vegetables, cilantro, dill, and salt.
Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add a little peanut oil and, with a ladle, pour in a half-cup or so of the batter. Use the back of the ladle to spread the batter out. When the utthapam has browned on one side. drizzle in a little more oil and flip it to cook the other side.
Repeat with the remaining batter and serve hot.