Jazzing Up Store-Bought Tomato Sauce

Luke and I have always made our own pasta sauce from diced tomatoes, tomato paste etc. Until this fall when our local grocery store put a premium brand of sauce on super-sale. When we crunched the numbers, it was less expensive to buy the bottled sauce than make our own. But we still like to "personalize" it. This is what we did for lunch today:
saute a chopped onion in olive oil until super soft
add a carton of sliced mushrooms, saute until onions are almost caramelized
add 3 cloves minced garlic, saute for a few minutes
Dump in the tomato sauce, heat until warm, and adjust seasonings as desired.

Homemade Bread

My standard sandwich bread recipe calls for no dairy products. But Heather, my very talented friend, passed along this family recipe and I was intrigued by the addition of milk - something I use in egg breads but have never tried in sandwich breads. Her recipe makes a moist, yet substantial loaf. Here's to eating half a loaf of fresh baked bread within the space of a few hours!

Homemade Wheat Bread
Yields 3 loaf pans

1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup olive oil
2 T salt
1 T instant yeast
½ cup water
4 cups milk (non-fat dried milk works great)
4 cups white flour
7+ cups wheat flour
1.Combine white flour, yeast, honey, milk, water, salt, and oil. Mix well.
2.Add white flour. Mix thoroughly.
3.Add wheat flour one cup at a time, mixing after each addition.
4.Knead well (by hand or let your stand mixer run for 5 minutes.)
5.Put dough in greased bowl and let rise until doubled, at least an hour.
6.Divide dough and place in greased baking pans.
7.Let rise until doubled, at least 45 minutes.
8.Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Fancy the schmancy

During our first week in Austin, Luke trolled the restaurant reviews and found a place that featured a wild game plate (venison, rabbit, quail, buffalo). And, of course, the restaurant also featured Texas-size prices. Once I got a look at the dessert menu I agreed that we just had to save our pennies in order to make a trip. We finally went this weekend and wow! The game plate was excellent but oh the desserts! (Of course I skimped on eating a "real meal" so that I could justify ordering two desserts.) A rosemary olive oil cake layered with lemon curd and buttercream AND a caramel pecan pie dipped in Belgian chocolate. I called them up today to find out what chocolate they use on the pie, as it was one of the most memorable desserts I've ever eaten. The answer is: Callebaut's semi-sweet, thinned with hazelnut oil. The chef confessed that they use every chance they can get to add flavor to their dishes, thus the hazelnut oil instead of the usual flavorless vegetable oils. You know, I've used nut oils in salad dressings before, but hadn't thought of using it as a thinner. Brilliant, yes? Lucky the person who invites me to Thanksgiving next year because I foresee a pie pan full of chocolate-dipped pecan slices....

Quick Chocolate Glaze

It seems like I whip up a couple of cakes a month for church activities, and sometimes I just don't want to go to the trouble of creaming butter for a butter cream frosting. Nor do I want to go to the expense of buying heavy whipping cream for another of my favorite frosting alternatives. This glaze, which I used on my sister's birthday cake in January, is sure to please harried cooks because most of us already have these ingredients in the house. (Well, at least we're never without dark chocolate at our place.) It's light yet rich. Double the recipe for drizzling over a bundt or layer cake.

Chocolate Glaze (adapted from Martha Stewart Magazine)
Enough for one 8” round cake layer

2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (or ¼ cup chocolate chips)

½ cup powdered sugar

2 T water

1. Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave for a few minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Let cool slightly.
2. Whisk together sugar and water until smooth. Add melted chocolate in a slow, steady stream, whisking until thickened, about 1 minute.
3. Immediately pour glaze onto center of cooled cake. Using an offset spatula, gently spread glaze over top and sides.

Roasted Green Beans

I adapted this recipe from Cook's Illustrated last year, and it's quickly become a family favorite. Roasting tenderizes the tough string beans you find out-of-season, and it is even better with fresh beans. However, be sure to adjust the roasting time if you are using fresh - you'll need even less oven time than the two 10-minute rotations.

Roasted Green Beans
Makes 2 healthy servings or 4 small servings

1 pound green beans, stem ends snapped off
1 T olive oil
Table salt and black pepper
1.Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 450 degrees. Spread beans on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil; using hands, toss to coat evenly.
2.Sprinkle with 1/8 t. salt, toss to coat, and distribute in even layer. Roast 10 minutes.
3.Remove baking sheet from oven. Redistribute beans. Continue roasting until beans are dark golden brown in spots and have started to shrivel, 10 to 12 minutes longer.
4.Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and serve.

Healthy Nachos

Let's make it clear right off the bat that my wussy version of nachos consists of melted cheese over some chips, occasionally topped off with salsa verde. (My mother-in-law adds enchilada sauce to hers for some great flavor.)
Anyway, nachos are one of my favorite late night snacks. But the associated fat gram count is depressing - and as I can hardly get healthier than low-fat mozzarella for the topping, I had to consider finding a substitute for my chips. I've made my own chips out of corn tortillas, but they just don't measure up. I've tried Tostitos baked tortilla scoops. Blech - covered in salt, which still doesn't hide the fact that they taste like cardboard. Lucky me to discover, in the tortilla aisle at Walmart, Sanissimo's paper carton of baked tortilla chips. This is a chip with a satisfying "hey, this is really corn and not a bazillion other filler ingredients" mouth feel, it's low in sodium, and has 1 gram of fat per serving. And let me tell you, covered in cheese, I don't feel like I'm missing a thing! (And their tostados are great for scooping up the Indian food I highlighted yesterday.)

Indian Buffet

So if your house is anything like ours, at least once a month we are dying for a visit to our local Indian Buffet. But, if your house is like ours a) the urge hits when your child has settled down for an extended nap session or is unbearably fussy with teethiness and/or b) you don't want to scrap together the $20 for a meal. Well...what if I told you good Indian could be yours for $2.88/person + tax. That's how much Amy's Indian frozen entrees cost at WalMart. Our favorite is the Mattar Paneer (curried peas & cheese with rice and chana masala). Although like many frozen meals, it's a tad watery when it's removed from the microwave, it honestly is very good. Sure, it's only one serving, but it makes for some great cost and time savings. (According to their website, they also offer a low-sodium version, but I've never seen it at local stores - and what's a good Indian meal without the urge to drink a gallon of water afterward, anyway?)

A casserole worth making

Our family has been experiencing a dinner rut, so I followed up on a friend's recommendation to check out www.bustameal.com. I came across this recipe first thing, and we've had it every week for a month. This meal has become our "de-tox" meal if the previous day we spent too much time in the carb or meat sections of the food pyramid. All these veggies are so satisfying and delicious to boot; my husband and I eat a fourth of a pan each for lunch and dinner.

Tomato Vegetable Casserole (adapted from www.bustameal.com)
Makes a 9x13 pan

1 medium potato, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (optional)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 small zucchini, thinly sliced (or yellow squash)
5 tablespoons olive oil
½ red onion, chopped
2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
grated Parmesan (or other cheese)
Whole-wheat bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Basil
Oregano
Garlic Powder

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the potato, sweet potato, bell pepper, carrots, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the baking dish to coat.
2. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss until coated. Spread vegetables evenly over the bottom of the pan.
3. Sprinkle layer with bread crumbs, oregano, and cheese.
4. Arrange the onion evenly over the vegetable mixture.
5. Arrange the zucchini over the onion; drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with breadcrumbs, basil, and cheese.
6. Arrange the tomato slices over the zucchini. Top with breadcrumbs, garlic powder, and cheese.
7. Bake uncovered until the vegetables are tender, and the topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Pie Slice Bakery

This joint on South Lamar is worth the trip beyond yuppied-up Barton Springs. Their display case of pies and cakes made me weak in the knees - and kept my toddler entertained - she spent her time running back and forth from the chocolate chip cookies to the coconut tres leches cake. The draw for me was their black bottom banana cream pie. I expected a small drizzle of chocolate pudding on the bottom, but holy cow this pie exceeded all expectations - my slice literally featured a half inch thick layer of chocolate ganache. Crazy awesome taste combination. However, the banana flavor was a bit weak - more like a great homemade custard with a few banana slices tossed in. But no matter, this is a slice I will happily order again. The coconut cream was excellent - no cloying sweetness in this creation which, unfortunately for my waistline, made it easy to polish off the entire piece. Their vegetable shortening pie crusts are better than most. Eaten on its own, a chunk of their pie crust reminded me of the pastry on a grocery store cream horn. Not awful but could be a bit better.

I have a position that I don't eat cake laced with shortening; mercifully the enthusiastic woman behind the counter came back with "it's butter in the chocolate ganache". The Death by Chocolate cake was a surprise with its alternating layers of chocolate and chocolate-chip studded white cake. But the ganache and chocolate mouse ensures that your PMS needs will be met.

I only chose one savory to balance our sugar splurge: the turkey croissant was yummy. After seeing the happy pile of home fries on a patron's plate, I will so be back for breakfast - with pie on the side, naturally!