Keeping the hubby happy with Grandma's recipes

This is fun. Not only do I get to ruin my mom's recipes, but now I also get to ruin Bryan's mom's recipes. I suppose I could have watched Connie make Bryan's favorite childhood dish, Seafoam Salad. Better yet, I could have helped her make it. But I had better things to do on Christmas Eve, like watch holiday movies on Chiller. Hey, we don't get that station. That's a good enough excuse, isn't it?

I have a better excuse. This was the first Christmas I have had the chance to celebrate in Bryan's hometown since we first started dating in the early part of this waning decade. I'm not going to say that I'm happy to be out of the newspaper industry, but there certainly are aspects of it I'm never going to miss. Like having to work nearly every single holiday, or at least enough of the surrounding days that holiday travel was impossible.

So getting laid off has had its benefits, that's for sure. For once, I didn't have to work, trying to squeeze in a meal with family after an exhausting day, or to even cook a harried holiday meal on or in between work days. For once, I got to put my feet up and enjoy a week that much of the nation has off every year of their lives. So thank you, to my wonderful inlaws, for giving me that week of relaxation.

Oh, so you came here for a recipe, not to hear me make up excuses for my laziness?

Well, here you go. A holiday classic from Bryan's Grandma Dorothy:

Seafoam Salad
15-oz. can pears in heavy syrup
4-oz. package lime jello
8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
12-oz. can evaporated milk, thoroughly chilled

Drain pears, reserving syrup. Mash pears and set aside. Heat syrup to boiling, then add to the lime jello, stirring to dissolve. Gradually beat in softened cream cheese. Stir in mashed pears. Chill until almost firm (about 30 minutes).

Beat evaporated milk until soft peaks form. Fold whipped milk into pear mixture. Chill at least six hours before serving, preferably overnight.

Cheesecake is so not about the crust

Maybe one of these days I'll actually use the fancy springform cheesecake pan my aunt and uncle got us for our wedding 2-1/2 years ago, but until then, premade crusts in disposable dishes it is.

They may not be pretty, but they sure are useful. I suppose I'd care more if I actually enjoyed eating crust, but all I'm ever really going for is what's in the middle. As far as I'm concerned, the crust is just there to hold it all together. And besides, it's so much easier to bring to a party because then I don't have to worry about my pan at the end of the evening.

Excuses, excuses. I really did consider making a pretty cheesecake this time, but when I saw that most recipes for the pans call for four bricks of cream cheese, I decided 32 oz. of fat and cholesterol was a bit much for a potluck dessert party.

Oh, come on, if I really cared about my friends, I'd make something like a cranberry-orange nut loaf. But I'd really rather just hear them compliment the cheesecake recipe that was handed down to me from Dad's mom, to my mom after she came to this country more than 40 years ago, that then became a staple at all of our holiday events, and became one of the first recipes I mastered. (Except for the one time when I made the cheesecake at Mom's house, and the "vanilla" was actually sesame oil because she's all about reusing, but not about relabeling. Bryan will never let me live that one down. Thanks, Mom.)

UPDATE: I have just been informed that the recipe isn't actually from Dad's mom, but from his sister, my Aunt Cindy. She says: "I got it from my 1969 Better Homes and Garden Cookbook (wedding gift typical of that era and before) and have been baking it for 40 years!!! It is always a hit and loved by everyone who has tried it."

Cheese Cake
8 oz.-package cream cheese
1/2 c. plus 2 T. sugar
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. vanilla, divided
Dash salt
2 eggs
1 c. sour cream
Graham cracker crust

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Soften cream cheese, then beat until fluffy. Blend in 1/2 c. sugar, lemon juice, 1/2 t. vanilla and salt. Add eggs, one at a time while beating. Pour into crust.

Cook for about 50 minutes. While cheesecake is in oven, prepare the topping. Mix sour cream, 2 T. sugar and 1/2 t. vanilla. Alternatively, use only 1/2 c. sour cream, then add 1/2 c. fruit of your choice.

Spoon topping on top of cooked cheesecake. Bake for 10 more minutes.

Dry roast beef gets drenched in risotto

Maybe trying out a new recipe on a huge slab of meat from Costco wasn't such a good idea. I figured, roast beef is so juicy in the middle, so how could I go wrong? Oh, but I forgot, drying out meat is something I excel at, regardless of the cut. The flavor was there, but the texture. ... Usually, being devout carnivores, Bryan and I don't have a problem devouring 5 pounds of flesh in a few days, but this time I had to get creative. The gravy just wasn't cutting it.

So with the weather flirting with freezing and the threat of snow just hours away, I turned to our most beloved soul-warming and hearty meal, risotto.

I realize the plate is a little bare. Thankfully Mom doesn't actually read my blog. But going to the store for salad or some other green fare just seems like such a chore when the weather is so cold. I even had to get creative with the broth since I didn't actually have any. Instead, I soaked the mushrooms in 4 c. of water and used that. I also added about 1/2 c. of my remaining gravy, and it turned out wonderfully if you'd prefer that route. Assuming you don't just have gravy lying around, I'll give you the recipe made with broth.

Risotto with Roast Beef and Wild Mushrooms
0.88-oz. (25 g) package dried wild mushrooms
2 c. boiling water
1 T. olive oil
1-1/2 c. chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 c. arborio rice
1/2 c. red wine
2 c. beef broth
2 c. roast beef, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese to garnish

Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes.

Drain the liquid from the mushrooms into a saucepan with the beef broth, heat to almost boiling and keep warm. Chop the drained mushrooms if they're in big chunks, then set aside.

Heat a stockpot to medium-low, then add olive oil. Cook onions and garlic for about 4 minutes, until soft, then add the arborio rice and stir for another 4 minutes. Add red wine and let simmer until liquid is absorbed. Then add the heated mushroom and beef broth mixture in 1/2 c. increments, waiting to add more broth until all the liquid is evaporated. This is important. Don't stop stirring. Hopefully you have a Bryan who loves the meal so much, he'll stir the whole time!

When you add your last ladle of broth, throw in the mushrooms and steak. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

A crowd-pleasing peanut sauce

Last night Bryan and I were trying to get in the holiday spirit by watching "Night of the Demons." After all, who can resist a cheesy '80s horror flick when Halloween is just a week away?

During the ultra-cheesy character development in the beginning, the heroine's mom was mercilessly teased because she always makes the recipes on the backs of cereal boxes. Why does everybody always have to diss compulsive recipe clippers? If I see a recipe that looks good, I clip it, no matter where I find it: on the back of a cereal box or any other food product, with the Sunday coupons, and really, anywhere in the newspaper or online. And then I feel like I have to lie about where I got the recipe if anybody asks. What, it's not from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" or "How to Cook Everything"?

Well, I may be somewhat of a food snob, but at least I'm not a recipe snob. However, I can't lie about the success rate with my compulsive clipping habit. I've had about as many misses as hits, but there's always room to improve any recipe. And besides, the repeat performers make up for all the not-so-tasty meals, plus you only know whether something is good if you try it.

And today was definitely a hit. Christina asked me to bring my crowd-pleasing guacamole to her daughter's 2nd birthday party, but I wasn't quick enough to play the avocado-ripening game. So I found a peanut-sauce recipe in Parade magazine last weekend that I figured would do the trick, especially considering that I'd been promising her peanut sauce for years, and that half of our friends are vegetarians.

I adapted the recipe a bit, including using green onions instead of bean sprouts because I'm scared of E. coli. So I'll share my adapted recipe and hope the magazine doesn't sue me.

Noodles with Peanut Sauce

1/4 c. plus 2 T. peanut butter

1/4 c. plus 1 T. soy sauce

1-1/2 T. sugar

1 T. warm water

2 T. sesame oil, divided

1 T. rice vinegar

1 t. garlic-chili sauce

1-inch piece ginger, minced or grated (use a Microplane! It's the bomb!)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. sesame seeds

1/2 pound spaghetti

1/2 pound fried tofu*

2 pickling cucumbers, cut in slivers

1/2 red pepper, cut in slivers

about a dozen snow peas, thinly sliced across

1/2 c. chopped green onions

Mix the peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, water, 1 T. sesame oil, vinegar, garlic-chili sauce, ginger and garlic in a food processor or blender. Mix the cooked spaghetti with the tofu and remaining 1 T. sesame oil. Add the peanut sauce and sesame seeds and mix well. Place in serving bowl, then sprinkle the vegetables on top.

*The original recipe calls for shredded chicken, boiled in 6 c. salted water with 1 clove garlic and 4 slices ginger. I also made it one night with about a 1/2 pound of cooked shrimp, which was superb.

Note to fellow party-goers: I accidentally doubled the amount of noodles, which is why they weren't very saucy. I know you like it that way, Sakina, so go ahead and use the entire package of noodles! But the rest of you might actually want to follow the recipe a little more closely than I did.

Pot roast warms the autumn chill

Last week when I thought I had swine flu (but what I now think is just the autumn allergies I always forget about), all I wanted was to curl up with some comfort food. I asked Bryan to make me a pot roast, but he didn't think he was up to the challenge.

We scoured "The Taste of Home Cookbook" that his mom got me for my birthday, and found a recipe for Maple Pot Roast that served two and that we also could make in the few hours that we had. But I just wasn't satisfied. The dish served two, and I'm sorry, but pot roast is something that you're supposed to have as leftovers for days. And throughout the week I started to feel better, but as the weather kept getting grayer and grayer, pot roast beckoned yet again.

For the second time around, instead of a sweet roast, I went the spicy route and made an adapted version of the Cajun-Style Pot Roast from the same book. I think I should have turned the Crock-Pot off after 6 hours, because it ended up a little dry, but the delicious sauce makes up for it! Don't hold back on the cayenne seasoning if you want it a little spicier.

Cajun-Style Pot Roast

1 boneless beef chuck roast (2 to 3 pounds)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. cayenne pepper

1 t. basil

1 T. olive oil

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

2 7-ounce cans diced chiles

1 medium red pepper, chopped

1-1/2 c. chopped celery

10 pearl onions

1/4 c. cup quick-cooking tapioca

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. salt

Mix together 4 cloves minced garlic, cayenne and basil, and rub all over roast. Pour olive oil in non-stick skillet heated to medium-high and brown roast on all sides. Transfer to a 5-quart slow cooker.

Combine the tomatoes, chiles, red pepper, celery, pearl onions, tapioca, 3 cloves of minced garlic and salt; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until meat is tender. Slice and serve with rice.

Thai Cashew Chicken for those lazy days

The family gathered over at Mom's a couple of weeks ago for the annual fall birthday bash, and my brother was harping at me for not taking any photos of all my favorite dishes. Um, sorry, but I take my birthday off!

Alas, birthday week is now over, culminating with a fun-filled weekend in Vancouver, B.C., where we ate delicious Franco-German fare at La Brasserie and drooled over our Pannekoek and DeBakon at De Dutch. I will be back, Vancouver!

And then I had to come home with what I'd like to think is the swine flu but considering that all I have is a stuffy nose, not only am I probably not immune to H1N1, but also I am hardly ill enough to excuse myself from cooking.

However, that doesn't mean I have to torture myself over the stove. No, this week, I stuck with easy yet pleasing dishes such as this recipe adapted from SKOALZ on Allrecipes.com:

Thai Cashew Chicken

1/4 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. fish sauce*

1-1/2 T. garlic-chili sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. grated ginger root**

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1 T. sesame oil

3 T. brown sugar

1 small onion, thinly sliced

3/4 c. water

3 T. creamy peanut butter

1 cup raw, unsalted cashews (available at Trader Joe's)

Combine soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic-chili sauce, garlic, ginger and chicken in a resealable plastic bag and marinate for at least two hours or as long as overnight.

Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then add brown sugar and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Reserving the marinade, add chicken to skillet and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the marinade and water and let simmer for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat another skillet and toast cashews until brown and fragrant.

When chicken is cooked through, stir in the peanut butter and serve over jasmine rice topped with the toasted cashews.

*The first time I made this dish, I asked Mom what kind of fish sauce to get. Her only advice, don't buy the cheap stuff. Go too cheap, and your whole house will smell like rotten fish. Remember that.

**I just got Microplane graters for my birthday from my mother-in-law (Thanks, Connie!), and I swear, nothing compares when it comes to grating ginger root. Greg Atkinson knows what he's talking about!

Enchiladas Verdes -- the easy version

I think I've finally perfected this recipe I clipped years ago from The Seattle Times' Pacific Northwest magazine.

The first time I made it, I'm pretty sure it took all day, but with a little prep work and a few less steps, it's just a minutes-long process now.

First of all, I bought a rotisserie chicken and shredded it a day in advance, and I also bought a few jars of Trader Joe's cilantro-free Salsa Verde instead of slaving away over chiles. I swore the last time I made a chile verde sauce from scratch that I would never do it again, and I will stick by that rule. It is so not worth the effort when you can buy pre-roasted, deseeded and skinned peppers for the same price.

So all that left was the delicious beans, which took less than a half-hour, then fry up the tortillas, make the three-deck enchiladas, throw them under the broiler and don't catch your oven mitt on fire like I did!