Can You Fall Off a Log? Then You Can Make Granita!

I first saw a recipe for granita in Cooks Illustrated a number of years ago. I blew it off, thinking that it being a Cooks Illustrated recipe it would take a long time to make. (No offense, Cooks Illustrated, but the Mom version of me just doesn't have the hours to devote to cooking as much as the Pre-Kid version of me.) Then, when I was looking for a way to use up a pot of coffee that hadn't been drunk, I came across a recipe for Coffee Granita from Alton Brown. Basically, the recipe called for freezing sweetened coffee. It was cinchy and delicious! But it wasn't something I wanted to feed the kiddos just before bedtime, since I tend to brew me a pretty strong cup o' joe.

Now, all granita is is frozen liquid, agitated once in a while so that it doesn't freeze as solid as a brick. It's fat free, vegan, and appealing. It's as easy to make as boiling water, and the kids can't get enough of it.

Need I say more?

Super-Easy Granita

Ingredient: Your kids' favorite juice

In a 9x13 baking dish, pour enough juice so that it comes up to a depth of about 1/2". Put the dish in the freezer and wait a couple of hours. Take the dish out of the freezer and break up the ice with a fork. Put it back in the freezer, wait about another hour, take it out, and scrape the crystals again. Keep doing this until the juice becomes granulated and kind of fluffy. Tell the kids it's ready, then get out of the way!

Note: Tonight, Henry and I wondered what you would serve V8 granita with. He suggested carrots.

Unacceptable Chicken Patties

Henry has taken the specialization of his dislike for chicken to a new level. He tells me that he only likes Japanese chicken (whatever that is...he keeps referring to a long-forgotten dinner we once had) and the chicken patties they serve up in the school cafeteria. So I thought I'd create some chicken patties of my own that would win his heart and mind.

I had some leftover cooked chicken breasts, so I put them in the Cuisinart along with an egg, a little flour, and some salt. I puréed the crap out of it until it formed a little homogenous ball in the bowl. Then I formed these into little patties about two inches across, which I breaded and fried to a beautiful golden brown.

As experimental dishes go, I had a decent hit rate: 75% favorable, with Mike, Jack, and me declaring them "yum." Henry, on the other hand, didn't think they were anything like the school chicken patties and gave 'em the thumbs down.

I'm still very happy with this recipe, because using wholesome ingredients I was able to approximate something that resembled an institutional chicken patty, but without the laundry list of unpronounceable chemicals and weird fillers that are usually added. I created a healthful dish that pretty much any kid would enjoy. Any kid but Henry, that is.

But I'll soldier on, as I always do. The other day I resubscribed to Everyday Food. The boys won't know what hit them when I start laying the new recipes on them!

Close-to-Institutional Chicken Patties

1 1/2 c. cooked chicken

2 eggs

1/2 t salt

1 T flour plus 3/4 c. flour

3/4 c. breadcrumbs

1/4-1/2 c. vegetable oil

In a food processor, purée the chicken, one of the eggs, salt, and 1 T. flour until the mixture forms a ball. Form the mixture into patties about two inches across. Beat the second egg in a small bowl, then put the remaining flour and the breadcrumbs into two separate bowls. Bread each patty by first coating it in flour, then dipping it in the egg then the breadcrumbs. Heat the oil in a skillet (it should come up to a depth of about 1/4"), then fry the patties until they are golden brown on both sides.

Toasted Kale? What Th'...

Today I noticed a recipe in All You magazine for toasted kale. "It tastes just like potato chips!" gushed the author. So since I just happened to have a bunch of kale lying around, I decided to take her up on her dare. Jack helped me to tear the kale into smaller pieces, but he let me coat it with olive oil so that he could keep his hands clean. Then he sprinkled the kale with salt, and we roasted it until it was dry.

Man, oh man, was it ever GOOD! I couldn't stop eating the stuff! It didn't really taste like potato chips, but the crunchy little beggars were very good and loads better for me than potato chips.

Jack, being the game guy that he is, tried one and immediately rejected it. Henry, however, really dug them! At least at first he did, then he gave the rest to me because he told me it had lost its flavor.

Just to let you know, I found this Web site that tells you how many nutrients are in a cup of boiled kale with salt (not quite the same, but close). How does 354% of the USRDA of Vitamin A sound? How about 89% of your Vitamin C? And just one gram of fat? Well, admittedly there's more in kale chips since they're roasted in olive oil. But that stuff's pretty good for you, too! Full nutrition data for one cup of boiled, drained kale with salt

Compare this to an 8-ounce bag of potato chips. Surprisingly high in Vitamin C, these little slices of Heaven pack 131% of the USRDA of fat into each bag, plus loads of other stuff your body could do without. Full nutrition data for potato chips

All in all, this recipe was a great find! I could picture myself eating a whole head of kale cooked this way. And with Henry kind of liking it, well that's a bonus.

Toasted Kale

by Lindsay Benjamin, All You editor

Fresh kale

1T olive oil*

Salt

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Tear the fluffy part off of the "stem" of each leaf of kale into potato-chip sized pieces and put them on the cookie sheet. Pour on the oil, toss to coat, then sprinkle with salt. Roast at 375° for 12 minutes or until dry. Drain on paper towels then serve.

Note: Ms. Benjamin originally called for 2T oil, which made the kale a little too greasy for my taste. Try it both ways to see which way you like best.

Another Failed Casserole

What's with my kids? They must be the only kids in the whole United States of America who don't like casserole. I guess it's too many flavors packed into a single bite. I don't know. All I'm sure of is no matter what kind it is, the kids eat it only reluctantly and with the promises of desserts ahead. Oh well.

I thought it was dynamite. Mike hasn't tried it yet, but I'm confident he'll like it.

I got the recipe from About.com Cooking for Kids, and I of course tweaked it a little. Best of luck to you. To those about to make a casserole, I salute you.

Mexican Rice Casserole

(adapted from About.com Cooking for Kids)

1 c. rice

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

1 14-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

1 t. cumin

1 t. coriander

1 packet Goya Sazón

1 t. Goya Adobo

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. chopped red bell pepper

1/2 c. chopped carrots

1 c. pre-cooked, shredded pork

1/2 c. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Preheat the oven to 375°. Bring the chicken broth to a boil. Spray a covered casserole dish with cooking spray. Combine everything but the broth and the cheese in a bowl, then dump it into the casserole dish. Pour the chicken on top, cover with the lid, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover the casserole, sprinkle with cheese, and put back into the oven for a couple of minutes until the cheese melts. Serve with hot sauce on the side.

Note: This came out of the oven pretty soupy, but the rice absorbed the extra liquid after a while.

Fail.

Hope Springs Eternal Crockpot Chicken hit 75% on the Foley Fail meter. The good flavor of the dish saved it from a 100% Fail, but its other attributes dragged it down:

• Flavor: Great! High fives all around.
• Consistency of Sauce: Decent, after I added a roux and boiled it in a pot on the stove. I fixed the recipe to include this step.
• Consistency of Chicken: Awful! It suffered the Crockpot Paradox: it came out dry and fall-aparty after cooking in sauce for too long.
• Remedy: Save the sauce to put on noodles or rice. Reimagine the chicken into something edible.

So tomorrow's project is to transform the chicken into chicken nuggets using a food processor, eggs, and maybe some mayo to add some moisture. I'll let you know how this little caper unfolds.

Hope Springs Eternal

Today I decided to dust off the ol' crockpot and play dinner roulette. This is how the game is played: I put good, decent ingredients into the crockpot, stir them up, put on the lid, and wait six hours. At dinnertime, I lift the lid off of the crockpot. An enjoyable meal that doesn't cause too much grousing = I live to cook another day. On the other hand, if I am the only cheerleader of the meal and nobody wants anything to do with it = well, you know.

I've played and lost many times before. Here's a photograph of Hoppin' John from All You magazine:

Boy, howdy, doesn't that look good?

And here's a photo of how it turned out at Chez Foley:

Sweet Mother of Mercy, where did I go wrong?

I swear, I followed the recipe word for word. But even I couldn't muscle this mush down.

This weekend my family and I went to McKinnon's Market in Somerville, Massachusetts, which is one of those butcher shops where they're practically giving it away. A chicken-leg-quarters-for-59¢-a-pound kind of place. We loaded up on chicken breasts, so today I found a dead-simple recipe at Cooks.com for crockpot chicken. I've added a few tweaks; we'll see how it goes. Here's the recipe, just in case it turns out well:

Hope Springs Eternal Crockpot Chicken
1 can Cream of Onion Soup
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. white wine
1/4 t. black pepper
1/2 t. paprika
2 carrots, sliced (I used a crinkle cutter. Marketing!)
1 small onion, diced
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 T. flour

Mix everything but the chicken together in the crockpot. Add the chicken and moosh it around until the chicken is covered in the sauce. Put the lid on the crockpot and cook on low for four hours or until done.

Remove the chicken from the sauce, then pour the sauce into a pot. Mix the flour with enough water to give it the consistency of heavy cream. Bring the sauce to a boil, then stir in the flour and water mixture, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat when the sauce has thickened.

Serve over rice or noodles.

Peeled Zucchini...Your Secret Ally

Who doesn't like zucchini? Well, it turns out the answer to that question is "Everyone in my house except me." I don't understand these people. It's green, it gets squishy when steamed, it's bland...oh, now I get it. But it got me thinking: with these qualities going for it, zucchini could be my secret ingredient in a lot of dishes, lending its nutritional value without standing up in the middle of the dish yelling "I am zucchini! Hear me roar!" Except for one thing, that telltale green skin.

You know where this is going, right?

Yep, peeled and grated, zucchini fades into the surrounding ingredients and takes a back seat to stronger flavors. And I know for a fact that it's undetectable because I've included it in a number of dishes lately and my supertaster husband, Mike, hasn't noticed it at all. I know that he reads this blog, so I'm only going to reveal the recipe for one of the zucchini hiders. Mike, I love you, man, but sometimes it's better that you don't know. I'm doing this for your own good. Really. Did I mention that I love you?

Try it for yourself, and you'll see that it works. But for goodness sake, get rid of those incriminating peels and zucchini ends before somebody sees them!

Garden Sauce for Pasta
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 bell peppers, seeded and diced (use red bell peppers for maximum invisibility)
1 c. zucchini, peeled and grated
1 T fresh herbs, minced (parsley, oregano, basil...whatever's handy)
Salt and pepper to taste

Put everything except for the herbs in a pot, cover, and cook over medium heat until all the vegetables have softened, stirring occasionally. Using an immersion blender, purée the vegetables until smooth. If the sauce seems too thick, add water to thin it out. Add the herbs, salt and pepper. If the kiddos don't like leafy green things, you can add the herbs before you purée the sauce.