Spinach Bisque & Biscuit Topped Pot Pie

The Food Nanny
December 29&30, 2009 Meal 1: Spinach Bisque, Moroccan Meat/Cous Cous Loaves, Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges
• Warm the cous cous loaves and sweet potatoes gently at 325° until warm – maybe 20 minutes. Be careful to not dry them out. The meat loaves can be heated at 350° until hot – about 15 minutes.
• Warm the soup on the stovetop.

Meal 2: Biscuit Topped Vegetable Pot Pie and Escarole Salad
• Heat the pot pie in the oven at 350° until just bubbling, then unwrap and add the biscuit lid and cook for 5 minutes more. Serve.
• Dress and toss the salad.

There are reasons that meatloaf is an American classic.1)They are fast and easy 2)They are satisfying and economical 3)They are as eclectic and diverse as our country itself.

The meat or meatless loaf should be an important technique in your mental toolbox of culinary skill. It is the epitome of recipe free cooking. All you need to compose your loaves is: a body, a filler, a binder, and flavorings. In this week's offering local ground beef is the body, whole wheat cous cous is the filler, egg serves as a binder, and the flavors are composed of herbs, almonds, paprika, currants, cayenne, vinegar, and honey. The binder is sometimes optional with meatloaves as the meat binds pretty well to itself. It was however imperative with the vegetarian cous cous loaves.

So how can this translate to helping you on a busy night? Well, the body can be canned, fork mashed beans, leftover Chineese food rice is a great filler, bind with some cheese, crushed tortilla chips, or cornmeal, season with fresh cilantro, onion, and hot sauce, and there you go. pan fry or bake in the oven. Use a loaf pan if they are too soft to shape easily.

It doesnt matter if you are making a meatloaf from hamburg and Heinz 51 with hard boiled eggs tucked inside, 'pah-tay' with cognac and perigord truffles, or sweet potato and quinoa patties on cumin seed slaw. This is a go to technique to rounding out dinners and making use of what you already have on hand or leftover to get good food to yourself and family, fast.

Acorn Squash Spanikopita & Rigatoni with Chevre

The Food Nanny
December 22 & 23, 2009
Meal 1: Acorn Squash Apanikopita, Sweet Bulghur Salad, Roasted Hakuri Turnips and Sweet Potato
• Preheat the oven to 350. Unwrap the ‘kopita and transfer then to a baking tray. Bake at 350 until golden brown –about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, they round the doneness corner quickly.
• If there is room on the tray warm the roasted veg near the ‘kopita or warm it in the oven in a different vessel.
• Serve the bulghur at room temp.

Meal 2: Rigatoni w/ Chevre and Collards in Sun Dried Tomato Sauce, Whole Wheat Baguette, Spinach Salad
• Either: spread the cheese out over the top and warm the whole dish at 325 for 20+ minutes, or remove the cheese to another dish, and warm the pasta in a sauté pan with a little water. Stir to heat through and thicken the sauce. Serve and top with crumbles of the cheese (this is the better method).
• Warm the baguette.
• Dress and toss the salad.

Stir Fried Bok Choi & Black Bean Chile

The Food Nanny

December 15&16, 2009

Meal 1: Stir Fried Bok Choi, Fried Rice with Red Cabbage, BBQ Tofu

· Heat a sauté pan with a little oil and quickly heat the rice. Add a little water if necessary. Next heat the vegetables in the same manner.

· Heat the tofu in the oven until hot and a little crisp, but be careful to not burn it.

Meal 2: Black Bean Chili con Carne or Maize, Broa Rolls, Spinach Salad

· Heat the roll in the oven.

· Warm the chili in a sauce pot. You will need to add some water. Adjust the seasoning and the veg. chili is ready when hot. Allow the beef chili to simmer for 10 minutes or so.`

· Dress and toss the salad.The Food Nanny

Upon the cusp of seasons.
And, our cuisine can reflect it. Who wants ratatoiulle now? Roast up some pumpkin, bake some beans, pluck some frost sweetened spinach and kale from the cold frame and tuck into the best tucker of the year. As grateful as Washington was for the springtime arrival of our founding fish Alosa sapidissima at Valley Forge, and as important as the descent of the first fruits upon our palates at the summertime festival of Shavuot there is a reason that the great feastivals arrive in the late autumn. The rich, nourishing, savory harvests of meats, dairy, grain, fruits, and roots are in and we need to buffer ourselves with their nutrient gifts from the assails of the dark months to come. So gather round the hearth with wine, bread, and friends...food's roasting anyway.

The Food Nanny
December 8&9, 2009

Meal One: White Bean Florentine with Roasted Carrots, Pumpkin Seed Rolls and Fusilli with Roasted Red Pepper

• Warm the soup on the stovetop being careful to not let it sit hot for too long or the spinach with brown. Thin it with a little water if necessary.
• Serve the pasta at room temperature or lightly warmed in a saute pan with a little oil and a splash of water.
• Warm the roll in the oven.
• 
  Meal 2: Big Fat Burrito of Brown Rice, Red Beans, Chiles, Sweet Corn & Winter Squash with a Roasted KAle Salad
  Heat the burrito in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes until hot and tortilla is a little crisp.
  Dress and toss the salad.

I told you I wanted to get that kale out front, and a salad of sauteed leaves in a base of Blue Moon's frost kissed spinach seemed perfect. Some hard boiled eggs as a rich foil, and carrots for color.

In your quest to get good dinners on the table fast do not over look the salad/dinner. I was always disappointed as a youth when dinner was cottage cheese with mandarin oranges. "This is a salad, not a dinner!" I lamented to myself. Nonetheless combining the right types of items can help you whip together a greatmeal in no time from whatever you already have. Generally you need:

1. A base: fresh greens, shredded cabbage, noodles - whatever you have.

2. A key player of conrasting texture: kale, apples, cooked beets, roasted radishes, etc.

3. Something rich: egg, bacon or other meat, beans ( rinsed) -French lentils are one of the best- or all of the above. Hey even cottage cheese is good here!

4.Garnish: something bright, also herbs are welcome, so are crutons.

Remember, good cooking is like jazz: know the fundamentals and then improvise.

We're growing!

Yes, big can be be beautiful, and in the kitchen I have an acquired affinity for big. Big slabs of meat, big quantities of onions and potatoes, big honkin' squash that call for serious strength and care to butcher safely, and yes big cookwear that lets us ensure that your ingredients are prepared in the technique that best suits their flavor, nutrition and exceptional initial quality.

I thought that the piece de resistance of the stew was the kale. Sauteed and added at the end it was positively sugary. Just great great food here. I hope to really feature it next week.

Oh, and those carrots from Blue Moon... I think they are my fall favorite. Taste them and remember what carrots can be. Buy as many as you can and keep them in a spare fridge if you have one. A big tupperware works great. They will last months. I got 200#.

Winter Squash-Poblano Tamales & Black Eyed Pea Stew

The Food Nanny
December 1&2, 2009

Meal 1: Winter Squash-Poblano Tamales, Brown Rice & Sunflower Seed Salad, Baked Red Beans

• Warm the beans stovetop, oven or microwave.
• Serve the rice at room temperature or lightly warmed in a saute pan with a littl oil and splash of water.
• Place the tamales in a steamer insert for a sauce pan and steam for 5 minutes. They also reheat well in a microwave. Also, if need be place some water, and a bowl in a sauce pot. Place a dish atop the bowl. Allow the water to boil and place the tamales on teh dish in the pan. Cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes. All the imporve steamer to cool before disassembling it to clean.

Meal 2: Black Eyed Pea Stew with Sauteed Kale, Buttermilk Cornbread and Braised Turnips

• Heat the turnips of the stovetop. Add a little water if necessary. Transfer to a serving dish and heat the stew in teh same pot if you like fewer dishes to wash.
• Warm the cornbread in teh oven 5-10 minutes.