FROM THE COOKBOOK SHELF
Turn me loose in a Barnes and Noble and I'll buy books, cookbooks included! The Barnes and Noble on 5th Avenue in New York has to be my favorite B&N. They have moved to a bigger property on 5th Avenue since my last visit in 2006. I could have stayed there all day, but that might not have been a good idea. In a little over an hour, I purchased 3 cookbooks and another book called "Cat Flaps and Mousetraps, The Origins of Objects in our Daily Lives" by Harry Oliver. I was drawn to a chapter on food related topics. Did you know that the grocery where customers first enjoyed the novelty of serving themselves was set up in California in 1912? After World War 1, more of the characteristics of today's supermarkets developed in a chain of stores in Tennessee called Piggly Wiggly. A man by the name of Michael Cullen is credited with taking the Piggly Wiggly concept to the next level, opening a store on Long Island in 1930 that was 12,000 square feet. Revenue rose so quickly that he was able to open more stores and offer the lowest prices to Depression shoppers.
Other purchases were: Cooking with Flavor (McCormick & Company, 2007); Salad Makes the Meal by Wiley Muffins (Rodale, 2008); and Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook (Clarkson Potter 2007) because we ate at his restaurant the night before and recipes for the food we chose are in the cookbook. Most famous chefs have cookbooks but the recipes are not practical nor the ingredients always available. Bobby Flay's recipes are doable for anyone who takes cooking seriously. We thought Flay's Black Bean Soup, enhanced by three different relishes and dollop of flavored creme fraiche on top was exceptional.
Because I'm always looking for new salads to serve to Bryan Chief customers, I couldn't resist Salad Makes the Meal, featuring 150 recipes. I justified buying McCormick's Cooking with Flavor because Chief and Ray's carry the complete line of McCormick products and I like the recipes in their internet newsletter. You can see that I can always find a reason to buy another cookbook.
The first recipe to jump from the pages of the McCormick cookbook saying "try me, try me" is Overnight French Toast. What makes this one different is that bananas and frozen strawberries are baked with the other ingredients. Yum for summer or anytime!
OVERNIGHT FRENCH TOAST
- 5 eggs, beaten
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon Pure Vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 loaf of Italian bread, cut into 8 1-inch-thick slices
- 1 16-ounce package frozen whole strawberries, thawed
- 4 ripe bananas, sliced
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon Sugar
Mix eggs, milk, Pure Vanilla Extract and baking powder. Pour over bread to soak; turn to coat well. Cover. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Mix strawberries, bananas and granulated sugar in 13x9-inch baking dish. Top with soaked bread slices. Sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar. Bake in preheated 450F oven 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Recipe makes 8 servings.
Source: McCormick Cooking with Flavor; Time Inc., 2007; hardback/$24.95.
BERRY GOOD!
Berries help prevent cardiovascular disease in at least three ways, concludes a recent Finnish study of middle-aged people with high blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol. |
After eight weeks, those who added about 5 ounces of berries to their daily diet had lower blood pressure, higher HDL (good) cholesterol, and less "sticky" blood (an effect similar to aspirin). The researchers attributed the benefits to substances in berries called polyphenols, also found in red wine, chocolate and tea.
Source: University of California, Berkeley, Wellness Letter, June 2008.
Years ago when crepes were a culinary craze, I made sausage filled ones for our family. Although at the time I thought I could not live without an electric crepe maker, the easiest way to make crepes is in a 6-inch skillet. I had a 6-inch non-stick skillet for years for omelets and crepes but finally discarded it when the surface was badly scratched. I never found another 6-inch one but a friend gave me an 8-inch skillet with a bottom surface the size of a 6-inch and it works fine. By the way, the barely used crepe maker ended up at our Church Women United Thrift Shop in Bryan.
CREPES (pronounced kreps)
- 1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Beat ingredients with wire whisk until well blended. Heat a lightly greased 6-inch skillet. Remove from heat; spoon in about 2 tablespoons batter. Lift and tilt skillet to spread batter evenly. Return to heat; brown on one side only. To remove, invert pan over paper toweling; remove crepe. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing skillet or spraying with non-stick spray occasionally. Recipe makes 16 crepes.
SAUSAGE-FILLED CREPES
- 1 pound bulk pork sausage
- 1/4 cup sliced scallions
- 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 3-ounce can sliced mushroom, undrained
- 2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup dairy sour cream (can be reduced fat kind), divided
- 16 prepared crepes
Snipped parsley or chives for garnish In skillet cook sausage. scallions and celery until meat is browned and vegetables are tender; stir occasionally to break sausage into bits and to brown evenly. Drain off fat. Stir in 1 tablespoon flour. Whisk in milk, mushrooms, bouillon granules and Worcestershire sauce. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Combine 1/2 cup sour cream and remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Stir into sausage mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the sausage mixture along center of each crepe. Fold two opposite edges so they overlap filling. Place seam side down in 13x9-inch baking dish. Repeat with remaining crepes. Cover; bake in a 375F oven about 20 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with remaining sour cream and parsley or chives. Recipe makes 8 servings, 2 crepes each.
Source: Better Homes & Gardens recipe, 1979. |
