Participatory Eating (and Sun-Dried Tomatoes)

Getting kids to eat more than hot dogs and chicken fingers is the modern parent's dilemma. Kids are picky, and of course they love Oscar Meyer and Tyson. I would very much like to say something negative about these corporations but I fear that I might disappear or take a fatal fall.

But I do think there is a solution. You hear a lot of people say that getting your kids involved in the cooking process will perk up their food interest. Two summers ago, I made homemade pretzels with my nephews. They loved them. Granted, pretzels are not hard sell for kids, but their eyes lit up when we were making them. Children will want to eat the fruits of their labor. So obvious and logical, kids are so simple, I thought. What I didn't realize is that this is equally applicable to adults.

For example, I thought I hated sun dried tomatoes. They always seemed dry and chewy, and sometimes bitter. I had let a few bad sun-dried tomatoes ruin my perception. But then, I made them myself last week. And now I'm in love -- in love with the process and the taste. Perfectly simple to make, and the results are amazing. They are so versatile. You can put them on sandwiches or wraps, eat them plain, throw them in a salad, make a pesto, use them in spread, toss them with pasta, and much much more. I don't have the Tuscan sun available to me, so I made them in my oven.

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees
Halve and de-seed 3 lbs of plum tomatoes
Place them on a baking sheet
Sprinkle just the tiniest bit of salt
Let cook for 8 hours

Heaven! That's all you have to do. This is a seasonal recipe. The trick here is that the tomatoes you start with have to be sweet and ripe. Do not buy tomatoes at Safeway in December and try to makes this. I'm guessing that it will probably taste a lot like scotch tape.

After making these, my husband, who loves sun dried tomatoes, made a meatloaf. It was a Giada DeLaurentis recipe: "Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sun-dried Tomatoes." I have to say it was incredible. I also happen to be a sucker for meatloaf.

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped up sun-dried tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 lb ground turkey
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands. Then spray a 9" x 5" loaf pan with vegetable oil and pour mixture in.

Cook for 50 minutes at 375. Temperature in the middle should reach 165 degrees.

"The Butter Dish" brought to you by SaltySourSpicySweet

It's a name change, not a game change. After much discussion (two ten-minute conversations), Kristin and I have decided to change the name of our blog. SaltySourSpicySweet has treated us well, but we (meaning I) had trouble with enunciating all those words starting with the letter "S". I would stutter and stammer when trying to spit the name out, and more often then not I was mixing up the word order. As a brand, I was screwing up the whole thing. Kristin, being a dear friend and understanding co-blogger agreed to the change. "The Butter Dish" is new new name, and we are so pleased to have butter in our title. We aren't changing our blogspot web address as of yet, so no need to change your bookmark if you have this address saved. Isn't it funny that I think you have this bookmarked?


So welcome, to "The Butter Dish", a place where we will continue to "dish" about recipes and eating. It's a double entendre, but not the sexual kind.

Tomato and Summer Vegetable Bake

I am hoping this recipe makes the cut for the Washington Post's tomato recipe contest. Deadline is July 15. If only this was American Idol and you all (my two readers) could text in your votes. But thankfully, unlike American Idol, recipe contests are not really about votes but about taste. At least, I hope that's the case. I've never entered a recipe contest before and I am hoping I win right out of the gate. Winning is about talent and ego. I think I've got the talent, and I am working on an overblown ego. I try to never listen or learn from mistakes (because I never make them, duh). I'm smarter and better looking then most. I'm also very humble and really "f*cking nice". You might recognize that last line, I took it from Mel Gibson. I understand he's got a tremendous ego, and a real way with women.

And now, my recipe.

1 medium summer squash sliced, 1/4 inch thick
1 medium zucchini sliced, 1/4 inch thick
5 medium tomatoes, sliced, 1/4 inch thick
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (use whatever bread you have in the house)
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese

First you need these vegetables to give off a bit of their water so you should sweat out the zucchini and squash. Slice them and then toss them in a colander with a dash of salt. Let them sit in colander over a bowl for 60 minutes. After that lay them out on a clean towel and press another clean towel to absorb excess moisture.

For the tomatoes, lay out the slices on a clean towel, sprinkle with a little salt and let them hang out for 30 minutes or so. Then, just like the zucchini and squash lay another clean towel to absorb the excess moisture. This step may seem annoying but it prevents this dish from become watery. I wish I could take credit for the idea but I got it from an an article in Cook's Illustrated a few years back.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Grease a 9" x 13" baking dish with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

In a large bowl toss together squash and zucchini with salt, pepper, garlic, parsley and the remaining olive oil. Lay out a layer of squash/zucchini in dish. Then lay out a layer of the tomatoes. After the tomatoes are down add a couple cracks of pepper and a pinch of salt. You want all the layers well seasoned. Repeat this until you are out of vegetables.

Please in hot oven for 30 minutes. Turn oven up t 425. Combine cheese and bread crumbs and pour over top. Bake for another 15-20 minutes. When the top is brown it's done.


Let cool for 15 minutes. This is great as a side dish and main dish.

Baked Goods (and Orange Cake)

I love baked goods. Few things are better than a perfectly moist cupcake with a generous smear of frosting. Equal parts cake to frosting is not a bad thing. Recently, it has become cool to hate on the cupcake -- which I hate. I mean, "don't hate the player, hate the game". I thought everyone knew that. Cupcakes rule.

In addition to loving cupcakes, I love brownies, blondies, chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars, blueberry muffins, pumpkin bread, banana bread, pumpkin pie, apple pie, scones, rugala, pound cake, pecan pie, chocolate cake, cheesecake, danishes, crumb cake, strawberry rhubarb crisp and apple brown betty. This list is suppose to make you hungry. Is it working?

The problem with baked goods is the baking part. They are not easy to execute well. Pretty much everyone can make a decent cookie but to make a GREAT cookie is not easy. I read a lot of recipes, and many baking recipes (specifically cakes and cookies) call for precise measurements, oven temperature, cooking time, and room temperature ingredients. Now, I'm good at getting my butter to room temperature. My Irish grandmother never put her butter in the refrigerator. It always sat out in a cool corner in the kitchen. I don't do the same exactly, but I do put my butter out the night before I bake something or the morning before I have company over for dinner. Soft butter is just so awesome. But the one thing I'm not comfortable with is the room temperature egg. How do I get it room temperature? I leave it out all day? That seems wrong. I take a lot of pride in my cooking, and my wost nightmare would be to serve food that will make people sick. Some live dangerously, I do not. When the recipe calls for room temperature eggs, I ignore.

The following recipe I found online. It's a Mario Batali' recipe. The preparation and ingredients are simple. A few easy steps that I can put to memory. This is my favorite kind of recipe.

Olive Oil and Orange Cake

6 medium sized oranges
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 eggs
1 1/4 all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350

Zest the 6 oranges, and juice one of them. Combine zest, juice and olive oil in small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, sift flour with baking soda and set aside. In yet one more bowl (this time a large bowl), whip eggs, sugar and salt until fluffy (2 minutes). If you have a hand mixer use it, otherwise a whisk will do fine.

In increments combine flour with egg mixture, folding in gently with spoon until combined. Then do the same for the orange olive oil mixture.

Once fully combined, pour into an oiled 9 inch cake pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Let cook for about an hour, and then dust with some powdered sugar.

Perfect summertime dessert.

Granola Bars

I browsed a bunch of recipes before beginning my latest project -- granola bars. Alton Brown has a nice one, and so does Ina Garten. Making granola bars is kind of like making rice crispy treats. Both involve melting sugar and butter together (brilliant!) - then pouring that mixture over cereal (more brilliant!). My recipe is inspired by Brown and Garten, but I made it my own by adding more sugar and butter. My general motto is more butter, more sugar, more salt, more garlic, more more more.

Readers take note, when following a recipe don't be afraid to add a little bit more of whatever you like. I mean, what's one more clove of garlic, a teaspoon of sugar, another sprinkle of salt or a few extra shakes of red pepper flake (though not in your granola bars)?

Professional chefs know this well. They are already ahead of the game by not shopping at Giant for wilted vegetables and steroid-bloated chicken, but on top of that they are amping the flavor with more butter, more salt, more spice, more pork fat . . . more crack! There, I said it. There have been times that I wonder if the food I'm eating was sprinkled with some highly addictive substance, because I can't stop eating it! (A good example would be the fries at Blue Duck Tavern. Duck fat is a wonderful thing, but perhaps the chef is finishing them off with a shake of sea salt cut with cocaine.)

Moving on . .. .

Here's my recipe for granola bars. No drugs involved.

Turn oven on to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. And butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

In a large bowl combine the following:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw sunflower seeds (shelled)
1/2 cup flax seeds (available at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, etc.)
1 cup chopped unsalted nuts (use whatever you have. I had pecans and cashews so I used them.)

Once combined, spread mixture out onto lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Stir. Cook for another 8 minutes. When it's done cooking pour into large mixing bowl and add 1 teaspoon of salt. The cereal won't look brown but it should be fragrant.

On low heat, combine 6 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 1 cup of honey and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Once it's all melted, poor over the rolled oats mixture. Add 1 cup of dried fruit. I used golden raisins.

Pour into buttered baking dish and press down evenly. It's going to stick to your hands, so use a piece of parchment paper between your hand and the gooey mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Then let it sit for 3 hours to cool. You have to wait this long. It's terrible but it's true. You won't be able to cut them into squares if they are not totally cooled.

Try to cut them in 2" x 2" squares. These are very rich, you don't want them big.

Gorgeous Granola

I'm not one to brag but the granola I made on Friday night is GORGEOUS. I'm "making eyes" at it right now. The color is fantastic. The rolled oats, chopped cashews and chopped pecans have a beautiful golden brown color.

I'm composing this post at 5:30AM on Saturday morning. My 1-year-old son is not even up. I have no idea why I'm awake, but here I am staring at granola. Yes, I'm officially a weirdo. Not weird in all ways, but a bit odd when it comes to food.

My husband loves granola. We've sampled many supermarket brands, and we've dabbled in locally made farmer's market types. There are definitely some good ones out there, but after whipping up my own granola I might be hooked on homemade. There was a great article and recipe about granola in the most recent Bon Appetit, "Breakfast Outside the Box," by Molly Wizenberg. Her article spoke to me because as I stated above, I'm a weirdo. But her point being, you don't have to dread your hair or wear patchouli to make your own granola. Granola is delicious, it's easy to make, and it's way cheaper then buying it at the store. It's half the cost.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper

Combine the following:

6 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chopped cashews
1 heaping teaspoon of cinnamon
1 heaping teaspoon of ground ginger
1 heaping teaspoon of salt

Now taste it. Does it taste good? Then proceed. If not, add more cinnamon or ginger or whatever spice you like.

Now add 1 cup of honey and 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.

Stir vigorously. You want to get the oats and nuts coated with the honey and oil.

Pour out on to your baking sheets.

Place in oven and set timer for 8 minutes. Take out of oven and stir the oats around. They will already being browning. Place in oven another 8 minutes. Continue this process until the oats are the right color for you. Also, it burns fast, so keep on eye on them. Total cooking time for me was about 25 minutes.

Let cool, and store in Tupperware in refrigerator.

Serve with milk or yogurt. Delicious.

The only way to make garlic bread

I am not offering any twist on this. I'm sharing it with you directly as Ina Garten shared it.

It is dripping with olive oil, butter, and fresh herbs. It's a wonderful mess. I made this along with steak and salad for a few friends over Memorial Day weekend. The steak was marinated and perfectly cooked, thanks to my husband Ben, but the star of the show was this garlic bread. I had countless pieces. By piece number 2 I learned to sop up the meat juices with the bread. I don't even know know how the bread had any more sopping abilities considering it was already completely saturated with deliciousness.

Pre-heat oven to 400

1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup oregano, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, finely copped
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 loaf of ciabatta, cut in half horizontally.

Heat olive oil over a medium heat in a sauce pan. While that warms, smear the two tablespoons of butter on one side of the bread. Once the olive oil is warm, add the parsley, oregano, garlic and salt and pepper. Cook for a minute or two, then poor the mixture over the half of the bread without the butter. Then lay the buttered side on top, wrap in tin foil and place in hot oven for about 5-8 minutes.

Very easy.

My son Simon who is 1 loved it. Who wouldn't! He was going piece for piece like the grown-ups. Thank god I made more then one loaf. I did not intend on making the two, but sometimes I'm clairvoyant when it comes to food.