Cooking to Combat Cancer 2

April and May bring two very important events that mean a lot to me. Two events that will bring awareness to many people. These two events are part of the effort to kick cancer's ass. Because seriously? Cancer's ass deserves to be kicked. Thoroughly. This first post is for Cooking to Combat Cancer 2 - an annual event held by one of the most beautiful souls I've ever met.. Chris. She's the author of Mele Cotte, a wonderful friend, and a cancer survivor. Thank you for doing this every year, sweetie.. your contribution to helping us to never forget is so very important. Love you!! In November of 2005 I was diagnosed with cervical cancer.. one radical hysterectomy later, and I was cancer free without much physical fuss. Meaning, I did not get sick. Mentally, there was fuss.. lots of it. When you've always taken for granted that you'd have kids one day.. and then are told it ain't gonna happen.. yeah, that kind of messes you up some. But, as I've said a million times over, I'm alive. I'm (relatively) healthy. I'm lucky. And I'm grateful for the chance I've been given. Six years before my own brush with cancer, I was introduced to it's devastation when my great uncle was diagnosed with lung cancer. Coming from a large Italian family, I had many, many aunts and uncles. My father was 1 of 14. Yes, you read that right.. my dad had 13 brothers and sisters. And although I did love my paternal aunts and uncles very, very much.. it was my mom's great aunt and great uncle, who I was closest to. My Auntie Ann and Uncle Sol. My Auntie was and still is my mom's best friend. They are only 10 years apart, and they grew up together more like sisters than an aunt and her niece. So we spent a lot of time with them. I consider my Auntie as my second mom.. for it was easier for me to talk to her than my own mother sometimes. And my uncle.. well.. he tortured me. har! My uncle never passed up the chance to pick on me, to annoy me, or to embarrass me. But this predicament I was in wasn't such a bad thing. No, for all of his fun had at my expense, the only thing that I took from all of it was how much attention he lavished on me. As I'm told often, I was the first girl in a family of boys. My uncle adored me. And I adored him. When such an amazing man was taken away from us so abruptly, it felt like a betrayal. How could this be?? This was a man who loved his family so much, he was loved by everyone he met and he was such a wonderful uncle to my sisters and I. Actually, he was known to my youngest sister as her grandpa.. as both sets of grandparents had passed years before she was born, he and my auntie took on the role. I rarely ever told my uncle how much I loved him. I assumed he always knew. As a matter of fact, the only time I can remember actually saying to him how much I loved him was right after he had the surgery to remove part of his lung.. he cried. I'd never seen him cry before. And he told me he loved me back. This was our first and only spoken exchange of our feelings for each other. He passed a couple days later. To say I was devastated is an understatement. I was wrecked. I still am.. several years have passed and the pain isn't as constant as it was before, but I still can't control the tears and the hurt inside when I think about him. Oh how I wish that I would have told him how much I loved him until he was sick of hearing it! How I hate that I just assumed he knew. Although he didn't say the words to me either, and even though I knew from earliest memory that he loved me very much.. I still wish that I would have said the words out loud to him more than once. Just as I always knew his unspoken feelings for me, I can only pray that he knew my unspoken feelings for him. The recipe I am about to share doesn't really remind me much of my Uncle Sol.. no, we were more of the pizza, soft pretzel, Twix bars kinda eaters. hee! But this recipe contains a few ingredients known to help cancer stay away, so I find it very fitting. I also find it very delicious and I'm glad we finally tried it. It's a simple recipe for Salad Niçoise, which comes to us from Nice, France. This is a salad made up of seared tuna, blanched green beans, tomatoes, steamed red potatoes, boiled eggs and of course, Niçoise olives. Everything but the tuna is tossed with a simple vinaigrette which adds just the perfect tang. And the tuna is usually seared quickly on each side, then placed on the salad in thin slices. Never being one to follow a recipe to the T (Other than Daring Baker challenges!!!), I decided to coat my tuna in toasted sesame seeds first. We fell in love with this salad immediately and it will become a common quick dinner in my repertoire. The tuna is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for a healthy heart. The green beans have been shown to prevent or slow genetic damage to cells. The garlic and scallions in the vinaigrette contain a number of compounds believed to slow or stop the growth of tumors. And the tomatoes contain lycopene, which has been shown to be especially potent in combating prostate cancer. So all in all, this salad is not only delicious and quick, but very good for your body. Salad Niçoise Makes 2 generous servings, or 4 small servings 8 oz. fresh Ahi Tuna or Albacore - (try to find sushi grade - you won't be sorry) 1 TBS olive oil or cooking spray (recipe for sesame seared tuna below) 1/4 pound green beans, trimmed and blanched - (I suggest salting the boiling water) 3/4 pound of new red potatoes, quartered and steamed until fork tender - (My trick here is to put 2 crushed garlic cloves on the bottom of the steamer basket.. it gives the potatoes a light garlicy flavor that's delicious) 1/4 c. red onion, either thinly sliced or minced 1/4 c. pitted Niçoise olives 1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved 1-2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and quartered Vinaigrette 2 TBS. Champagne vinegar - (I used Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar) 1 TBS. fresh tarragon, chopped 1 tsp. Dijon mustard 1 small shallot, minced 3/4 c. olive oil sea salt, to taste ground black pepper, to taste Arrange salad ingredients in separate piles on a large serving platter. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and then lay thinly sliced tuna on top. OR you can go non-traditional and put all ingredients in a large bowl with the vinaigrette and lightly toss (which is what we did). Serve alone, or with garlic toast. If you want to use the same tuna that we did the recipe is as follows (I cut the recipe in half for one 8 oz. tuna steak): Sesame Seared Tuna Courtesy of Allrecipes.com 1/8 c. soy sauce - (I used reduced sodium) 1.5 tsp. mirin (Japanese sweet wine) - (We omitted this because we didn't have any) 1.5 tsp. honey 1 TBS. sesame oil - (Sesame oil is VERY strong.. I cut this down to 1 tsp.) 1.5 tsp. rice wine vinegar 4 (6 oz.) tuna steaks 1/4 c. sesame seeds 1 TBS. olive oil In a small bowl, whisk together the soy, mirin, honey, sesame oil & the rice wine vinegar. Spread the seeds out on a plate or shallow bowl. Dip the tuna into the soy mixture, making sure the whole steak is coated and then press the tuna steak into the sesame seeds - coating both sides well. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron or other heavy skillet over high heat until it's VERY hot. Place tuna steaks in pan and sear for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. You can go longer, but you chance the possibility of burning the seeds and over cooking the fish. Slice thinly and place warm tuna over Salad Niçoise. And hey.. if the opportunity to share a Twix bar with someone you love arises afterwards.. why not take it? :) xoxo

WCC No. 25 - Nigella! Plus! Petites Bouchées!

One of my very favorite events that I try hard not to miss often - although I do miss quite a few. :( - is Sara's Weekend Cookbook Challenge. This month is hosted by Ani of Foodie Chickie and she came up with the theme of Nigella Lawson. I loves me my Nigella. I have lurved her for many years. Ever since I had trouble sleeping one night and was flipping channels.. I hit the Style! network and saw this drop dead gorgeous woman cooking up something fantastic. I didn't know what she was cooking when I flipped to her show and I don't think I ever found out during the show.. all I know is that she made it look delicious, whatever it was. There isn't another cooking show shot the way Nigella's shows are shot. The graceful way she stirs a pot.. the sexy sizzle when the Extra Virgin hits the smokin' hot pan.. the way she can make a straight women, like myself, simply swoon while watching her shove a very large spoonful of something creamy in her mouth making it look like a delicate nibble.. Ahhhh yes.. I do loves me my Nigella. I think Brilynn will agree with my next statement. Many of Nigella's recipes suck. Yes, Yes, I know.. in some circles that could be construed as blasphemy, and for that I do apologize.. but it is a true statement for some of us! I've just not had much luck with some of her recipes. Bechemel sauce - chicken & ham dice (and last night's washed dishes) - filling ready to go - Hubbs and his master rolling skillz (nevermind his tattered old sweatshirt and the sink full of dirty dishes) :P But it's for a WCC and I haven't played in a while, so I hadda suck it up and try a Nigella recipe again. I could have went with a sure thing and picked one of her decadent cakes.. but instead I decided to be DARING (it's not just for bakers, you know) and chose a savory recipe. To be specific.. Nigella's Chicken Pot Pies. But I went singular.. only because I don't own smaller vessels to make individual pies. And lookie there.. I just bold faced lied to you all. I did not cook this recipe. Hubbs did! He had a day off yesterday due to the spankin' we got from Mother Nature, so he offered to make dinner.. bless his steel toed boots. :) He followed the recipe to a T.. almost.. the recipe only calls for peas, chicken and ham.. but we need more veggies.. so he added a carrot and a celery stalk. The rest was made by the book. It turned out quite lovely.. awwwwwwwwww! How romantic is that chicken pot pie?? :)) I enjoyed this, actually. The filling was creamy and tasty and I liked that we could add a lil smokey ham to the chicken and veg mix. The only thing I wasn't too keen on was the pastry. I think I would prefer puff pastry instead of the pastry called for in her recipe.. but even so, it was a decent recipe that we'll he'll make again one day. :) Unfortunately, it's wayyyyy past my bedtime and I've got a very busy morning tomorrow.. Daring Baker reveal day.. it's right around the corner! :) Not to mention, there is another very important bit I'd like to add to this post.. so I am not going to type out the 3 page recipe here. If you'd like it.. just drop me a line at lamiacucina-AT-adelphia-DOT-net and I'll send it to you. Thanks so much for hosting and picking a terrific theme, Ami! And thank you, as always, Sara my love.. just for being you. :) Okay.. I had to share with ya'll something that many of you might already know.. I've been excited since I first heard she was going through the process of getting licensed to bake for profit and it's lead up to what I received in the mail today. My Sis - the gal who shares my same brain and my love of scary movies - Veronica, of Veronica's Test Kitchen has launched a new baking business! Today, I was one of the very lucky recipients of a "test" package of luscious macarons. She wasn't sure how they would ship, so OF COURSE, I offered any assistance she might need in being on the disovery end of that shipment - seriously, what are friends for, right?? :D My package arrived by a very careless delivery driver who dropped the box on our stoop (totally ignoring the giant FRAGILE written all over the box). But after opening her very carefully packaged box, I found a small, sleek, brown box with a gorgeous slim pink ribbon tied around it. The little box was encased in a pretty cello wrapper with Veronica's business name and logo attached. I carefully opened the little bag and then slipped the ribbon off the box and peeked inside. Twelve perfectly shaped, colorful and sinfully delicious smelling macarons nestled in pretty tissue paper were inside. Out of the twelve, only one was marred by a couple small cracks. Excellent packaging, Sis!! I demonstrated the utmost in restraint by slipping the pretty box into my fridge until after we ate dinner. Later this evening when my sweet tooth started nagging me, I retrieved the box and first choose a Hazelnut with Salted Caramel Cream. Oh. My. God. Like no other macaron.. the cookie was crispy on the outside, soft, creamy and chewy on the inside.. different from other macarons I've had (that were delightful as well!) in that they weren't shells. Ya'll know what I mean? When you bit into these macarons, the cookie wasn't a crispy/chewy shell that screamed meringue and crushed nuts. These cookies had substance. And the filling? Just the right amount of salt in the caramel and it was creamy.. perfection. I next tried what I think is Pistachio with Chocolate Ganache that also had me swooning. Finally a Vanilla macaron with Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Buttercream filling. I could have died right then and been declared a very happy woman!! Yeah, some of you might be thinking that I'm saying all these wonderful things about Veronica's macarons because she is my friend, but you'd be wrong. These are some SERIOUS macarons and you shant judge me until you've tried one (or a dozen) for yourself! Click on over to her business site, Petites Bouchées and order yourself up a box.. You Will! Not! be Disappointed! Thanks for lettin' me be one of your testers, Sis.. you've done a beautiful job and you've definitely MASTERED the art of macarons! :) xoxo

A Peachy Surprise!

This is the 2nd of the two posts in which I want to express my gratitude and sheer happiness to have the friends I have. A little over a month ago, I was painfully reading post after post of peach recipes. Why painful? Because here, in the Armpit Of The Midwest, a juicy, sweet and flavorful peach is almost unheard of. I know they've got to be out there, but they certainly aren't featured in any store I shop in. I always see the rock hard, dry and cardboard tasting variety. Ugh. So imagine how hard it was to get two peach pie submissions for La Festa al Fresco, you know that "virtual" party that Ivonne and I throw each year? Virtual meaning.. uhhh.. no real tasty tastes! Sure I've got a good imagination, but c'mon! I was being tortured! Well Chris of Mele Cotte, was one of my torturers, I mean that in the nicest way possible :P, when she submitted a recipe for Piled High Peach Pie. I'm pretty sure I broke down in her comments, all whiney and complaining about the peaches up here in Ohio. I probably *sob*'d a bit too, knowing me and my penchance for adding *actions* to get my point across. Can we all say, "Dork"? =) Wouldn't you know it a few days later Chris e-mailed me asking for my home address. She said she saw something that made her think of me and she wanted to send it along. I was curious and more than a lil excited when I wrote her back and asked, "Is he tall, dark and handsome???" ;) Well "life" butted in again soon after that exchange with Chris and by life, I mean my job, dealing with my Auntie and Alzheimer's and my Mom & a lil health scare (all is fine! Yay!) so any thoughts of Tall, Dark and Handsome, were pretty much crowded out. Until about a week or so after I received the quince from my sweet friend, Elle. Hubbs called me after he got home from work, AGAIN, to tell me that I had received a box from someone named Chris Asomething (he couldn't pronounce her last name teeee!). I squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'd in excitement and couldn't wait to get home to see what I got! And Ohhh my dear sweet Jebus, I was so not disappointed - laying on my kitchen table was a big box of.. yes, you guessed it - PEACHES! I don't think I've opened a box sealed with miles of tape so quickly - I couldn't wait to see them. And then there they were.. each one nestled in it's own cradle of foam, wrapped in pretty green tissue paper.. and the scent? Let's just say, if I could come up with an air freshener that was a cross between Quince and these peaches? I'd so blow Bill Gates outta the water in the next edition of Forbes. har! I ate one immediately and I couldn't believe how good it was. I believe these peaches came from Oregon (I'm thinking the prime peach season in Georgia was long gone) and all I could think of is if a true Georgia peach tasted even better than this Oregon peach, then I'd probably explode after tasting one. So juicy, so sweet and it tasted like A PEACH. I'll be damned. A peach that tastes like a peach. Who woulda thunk it? So without further ado, this is what I baked with my gorgeous peaches - the Piled High Peach pie - just like Chris! I wanted to take something special to my Auntie the next day when Mom and I visited her in the nursing home and I believe, although she's losing her memory at a rapid pace now - that it will be a long time before she forgets this pie.. it was phenomenal. The best peach pie I've ever had - and I believe it was because of the peaches and not so much the recipe. Thank you SO MUCH, Chris!! Not only did you make me one of the happiest peach-deprived people in alla world - but you made my Auntie very happy too. And each and every day she is happy means more to me than I could ever say. xoxo

The Mighty Quince

This is one of two posts that are long over due as the wonderful desserts I made were enjoyed by myself, Hubbs, my sister and even my mail lady - a few weeks ago. This is the first of two GIANT THANK YOU's!! from all of us =) Part I - The Quince Starting with some gorgeous quince that have an amazing aroma - oh dear lordie did my house smell WONDERFUL that week. =) My dear friend, Elle, of Feeding My Enthusiasms has a shrub on her property that produces this heavenly smelling fruit and she wrote a post about the quince jelly she made. I had an obvious question after reading the post - how does a yellowish fruit produce such a gorgeous dark pink jelly? Well - not only did she try to answer my question, but she offered to send me some so I could experience this fruit myself! A normal pie for me.. mishapen, rips in the crust, smooshied edges - just picture perfect doncha think? Gah. You may think I'm making this next part up - but I swear it's the truth.. I almost gave my mail lady a black eye when she delivered the sweet smelling box to my door. This woman wouldn't let go of the box! She said her truck smelled so good and she didn't want the source to be taken away. HAR! I thought she was kidding but when I reached for it - she took a step back! I thought there was going to be a rumble.. she was NOT going to keep that box - no fakkin' way. Finally, after I promised to make sure to leave her some of whatever I decided to make with it. I had to actually bribe the woman to LET GO! Sheesh. Well I immediately unpacked them and set them on my kitchen table and then I had to rush back to work. Hubbs got home about an hour before me and a phone call was immediately made to tell me that the house smelled like a fruit orchard and what the hell were those odd shaped yellow things on the table? hehehe So for the next 5 or 6 days they stayed in a bowl on the table fragrancing my wee lil house until I finally found a couple recipes that I wanted to try. The first was an apple and quince pie - I figured it was fitting since it's Autumn here in the Armpit of the Midwest. Course it's still 80º outside, but my calendar tells me it's Fall. Okay well, 4 quince and 4 apples were peeled, cored and sliced up for the pie - which, really is your basic apple pie, just sub some quince for some apples. Of course my house smelled even better as it was baking and I could barely wait until after dinner to try it. You can definitely taste the difference between the apples and the quince and there is also a very different texture. The apples bake down a little more than the quince but both fruits end up very tender. With a scoop of Dulce de Leche icecream, this pie was fantastic. We both enjoyed it very much - so much so that no one at work got any. My mail lady got a huge slab and my sister got a tiny sliver that was left by the time she came for a visit 2 days later. heee! I had about 5 quince left over and the next recipe I decided to try was called Quince Dumplings with Syrup. While the apple/quince pie was baking, I peeled, cored and sliced the rest of the quince and added them to a pot of simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar) and let them poach for 3 hours on medium-high heat. Where the quince in the apple pie didn't change color by much, they sure did in this syrup. Quince the first hour. Quince after the 2nd hour. Quince after the final third hour - gorgeous! After 3 hours I had a gorgeous dark ruby red syrup that was sweet with a floral hit in the background. I could have poured it over ice with a smidge of vodka at that point. *hic* But I behaved myself and allowed it to cool. Unfortunately, I had run out of steam that night so I packed up the fruit and syrup separately and put them in the fridge for another night that week. Well.. as time seems to get sucked away from me lately, I never did get the dumplings made - Hubbs and I picked at the fruit unti it was gone and I froze the syrup. I have about 2 cups of it so I think that I will follow Elle's lead and boil it down until I've got jelly. Won't be much, but at least I'll have my first taste of quince jelly. =) Elle, I can't thank you enough for being so kind to send me the fruit - it was such a great experience cooking with them and an even better experience eating them!! It was a wonderful gift from a wonderful friend.. thank you. =)