Print Page |
Email story |
A Piece of Cake
March 2009: First Slice
Newsletter written by Anne Byrn March 11, 2009
A Word from Anne
Home seems to be the hottest restaurant scene as the economic downturn forces cooks to stay put. And I don’t hear a lot of people whining about their missed meals on the town. Instead, I hear chatter about the pot roast in the oven, the Mexican lasagna in the fridge, pizza night in the family kitchen, and double coupon days at the supermarket. Could this be a positive something in an otherwise dreary time? Like a breath of springtime around us, a daffodil forcing its bright yellow head through the frozen lawn?
Amid this chaos, home is where we can improve our lives. We can plan warm meals, cook healthy food, and try to get more exercise. I am old enough to remember having to scrimp and save. My first job as a newspaper writer in Atlanta paid so little that I was fearful of not being able to pay the rent. So I didn’t eat out at lunch for the first couple of months, packing a cheese sandwich and dining at my desk. My father raised an eyebrow thinking I must be anti-social, but I was just worried I couldn’t make ends meet. A raise came within the year, and my finances improved. Now I think back on those lean years with a smile. Recipes I cooked in my 20s were inexpensive pots of chili or red beans and rice. And thankfully I love the flavor of simple, inexpensive foods, whether they’re Italian, Middle Eastern, or Southern.
Right now our family is eating pasta with red sauce, pot roast, and bowls of homemade vegetable soup. Leftovers go into lunch boxes and to feed me while I write cookbooks! For these tough times, I offer a recipe that will make your family thankful for dinner. It’s our vegetable soup recipe, first printed in The Dinner Doctor. It begins with ground beef or turkey, you add canned tomatoes and frozen veggies or fresh if you’ve got them, and let the soup simmer to doneness. As for cakes to bake when times are lean? Look for specials on mixes and stock up on your favorite flavors. Keep them simple, such as an orange cake using carton orange juice or the Darn Good Chocolate Cake using ingredients in your pantry and fridge. Enjoy sharing good food with friends and family. Think positive, hopeful thoughts. Things will improve.
Happy Baking and Happy Spring!
Anne
[ Back to top ]
A Word from Workman
Looking for something to cook tonight? The Recipe Corner isn't just for sweets! Check out the dinner section for delicious dishes like Barb's Taco Ring, Chicken Piccata, or Greek Pasta Salad to add to your dinner rotation.
Everyone has a few tried and true dinner dishes they whip up almost every week. Tell us yours! Visit our forums to swap your family's favorites.
[ Back to top ]
Bits & Bytes
Not-so-dreary food trends
I have combed newspapers, magazines, and online news for food trends for 2009. And here are some of the prognostications I think you’ll see this year:
1) Potlucks. We call it “What Can I Bring?”
2) Trading down. Shopping for house brands and generics. I’ve found a big savings on breakfast cereal, canned vegetables, and other staples such as cooking oil, sugar, and frozen vegetables.
3) Resourcefulness. Making more with less. This may not be our father’s Depression but we could surely use our thrifty grandmother right now to pass along sure-fire ways to be more resourceful. One way is to not waste the food you buy. Know what’s in your freezer by labeling containers with a name and date and clean out the fridge once a week. I do this on Sunday, making a pasta sauce or veggie stir-fry. Food is so costly you just don’t want to dump it.
4) Coupons. It’s cool to clip.
5) Vegetarian meals. Or just eat less meat to save money. Put half the ground beef in a sauce or soup and add more veggies.
6) Cook for others in greater need. Cook dinner for a family struggling emotionally or financially.
7) And oatmeal. Oh sure, oats have been around forever but to recently see New Yorkers walking around with to-go cups full of warm oats and toppings instead of bagels slathered with cream cheese, this said more than a financial headline. It was as if Wall Street was paying for the excess of its past and frugal, humble, healthy oats have been forced into fashion. Less is more. Arriving back in my Nashville kitchen. I surveyed the oats selection in our pantry. Quick-cooking for tossing into cookies, old-fashioned for cooking in a big pot for breakfast, but I’ve never been a fan of the instant. The best oatmeal (porridge) I ever tasted was in Ireland, with cream poured over the top. Guess I can suffer through the recession with a few excesses, right?
Where’s the mix?
Thanks to all of you who have emailed asking about the progress of my all-natural cake mix. I am happy to say the chocolate is complete and delicious, moist, crammed with shavings of Callebaut chocolate. It’s not yet in stores because it’s waiting for us to perfect the vanilla (yellow) mix. Both cake mixes should be out by fall and when I have more news as to availability and pricing I’ll pass it along.
[ Back to top ]
Recipe Swap
These recipes are both good basics that appeal to everyone. The soup keeps well in the freezer for last-minute meals. And the jelly roll recipe is one I have developed after requests from so many of you. Fill it with the jam or crushed sweetened fruit of your liking. Perfect for spring, the soup is for the cool days, the jelly roll for warm meals outdoors.
Family-Style Vegetable Soup
Makes 8 servings
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes to 1 hour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef or turkey (see note)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, with their liquid
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, with their liquid
Water to fill both cans of tomatoes
1 can (14 to 14.5 ounces) beef broth
1 package (16 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables
1 bay leaf
1 cup uncooked macaroni or other small pasta
1.
Place the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Crumble in the ground beef or turkey and break it up with a wooden spoon. Add the salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the beef browns all over and is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the 2 cans of tomatoes with their liquid. Fill both cans with water and add this to the pan. Add the beef broth, frozen vegetables and bay leaf. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil for 3 to 4 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and let the soup simmer until the flavors blend, 20 minutes.
2. Stir in the pasta and cover the pot. Let the soup simmer until it has thickened somewhat and the pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes. Or let the soup simmer longer if you have time, over low heat, for up to an hour. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Note: To save money, use only 8 ounces ground beef in this recipe.
Jam-Filled Jelly Roll
Makes 12 servings
Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: 18 to 22 minutes
Assemble: 5 minutes
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
Parchment paper
1 tablespoon butter for greasing the parchment paper
1 package (18.5 ounces) plain butter recipe cake mix
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, divided use
¾ cup seedless raspberry jam
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 12- by 17-inch pan with vegetable oil spray then place parchment paper on top to fit. Brush the paper with melted butter. Set aside the pan.
2. Blend the cake mix, eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla with an electric mixer for 30 seconds on low. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 1½ minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.
3. Bake the cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
4. Sift 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar over the top of the cake and place a clean cotton kitchen towel on top of the cake. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack. Peel off the parchment paper. Using the kitchen towel, roll the cake, jelly-roll style, and let it cool completely, covered with the towel.
5. Meanwhile, melt the raspberry jam in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.
6. Gently and slowly, unroll the cake and spread the jam to completely cover the cake. Roll the cake back into the jelly roll. Cut off the two edges to give the cake a finished look.
7. Place the jelly roll on a serving platter and dust with the remaining tablespoon confectioners’ sugar just before slicing and serving.
[ Back to top ]
Next Issue: May
Summertime baking, news on the new cake book, and more good reader questions
[ Back to top ]
|
