Sometimes easy comfort food is what is needed

It has been a bit stressful around here lately. This past weekend, we found out that we have to drive to Alabama in less than 2 weeks to pick up my mother-in-law and move her to St. Louis to stay with us, for what we are hoping will be a short time. I know that doesn't sound nice, but her health is not good at all, and I have never wanted to be a nurse. As a matter of fact, I am probably the last person you want around during a crisis! When I panic, I have a terrible habit of laughing and babbling uncontrollably. So, we are trying to find all of the information about the local nursing homes. We are finding it difficult with her not being in state, and not having any local doctors. I never knew how hard it was to find nursing homes.

So, you can say that we are in definite need of comfort food. Comfort food is different to everyone, it depends mainly on what you grew up with. There are so many different dishes that I personally define as comfort food - chicken pot-pie, dhal, macaroni and cheese, chicken noodle soup... for me this could be a very long list.

I think that most people would not think of Sloppy Joes as a comfort food dish. My memories are of my mom every once in a while making a batch of Sloppy Joes, from a can of course! I remember those days as being special. Don't laugh - I told you that my mom wasn't a very good cook!

In doing research online, I found this wonderful Ode to Sloppy Joe that helps sum up some of that comfort food feeling that people get towards this dish. I guess that I am not the only one with fond memories toward this messy sandwich.

It has taken me a while to come up with a recipe for Sloppy Joes that I like, and I actually have two different versions. The one that I am giving you today is my full fat version. When you need comfort food, a lot of times you need the full fat version!I also love this dish because it's quick and easy. I like to serve this open-faced on lightly toasted good bread with an extra coating of garlic. I used to make a double batch so that I could freeze the extra in individual servings in order to have for those busy days when I don't want or feel like cooking.

Sloppy Joes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 large bell pepper, finely chopped (any color will do, I like red bell pepper personally)
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup beer
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup catsup
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tsp Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 - 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, to taste
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil over medium high heat, and saute the onion for about 3 minutes. Add the celery and the bell pepper and continue sauteing until the vegetables are soft and beginning to brown. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Push the vegetables to the side and add the beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until the meat is cooked through and no pink remains.

Add the beer, Worcestershire, catsup, tomato paste, mustard, vinegar, and hot pepper sauce. Reduce the heat and simmer approximately 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened up and the flavors are blended. Season to taste, and serve either open faced on bread or within hamburger buns.

It's Spring, so it must be Risi e Bisi

I knew when I started this blog that once April came, I would write about Risi e Bisi. I love making this part soup, part risotto dish of goodness. Risi e Bisi is an Italian dish, no, scratch that, it is a Venetian dish. It is the most Venetian of Venetian dishes as Nigella Lawson writes in "Forever Summer". It is traditionally served on April 25th, St. Mark's Day using the first new sweet peas of spring.

Both Patrick and I have a love affair with Nigella. For different reasons of course. She is a beautiful woman who loves cooking and food so much that it shows in everything that she does. Patrick loves her because, well - she's Nigella! I love her for her endless enthusiasm for food and life. You can find some wonderful recipes and much more about her on her website Nigella.com

"Forever Summer" is where I first read about Risi e Bisi. I made it almost immediately because like Nigella, I love frozen peas. I always have the ingredients on hand to make Risi e Bisi, it is a pantry staple of mine. It is served as Primi (or starter) in Italy, but I normally serve it with some good crusty bread and a salad on the side as dinner. This is a quick and easy dinner that I hope you will join me in making on the 25th!

Risi e Bisi

Adapted from "Forever Summer" by Nigella Lawson

3/4 cup frozen petits pois, thawed

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, very finely chopped

1 cup risotto rice (arborio, Vialone or Carnaroli)

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

In a small pan over a gentle heat, saute 1/2 cup of the peas until tender. Put in a food processor with another tablespoon of the butter and a tablespoon of the Parmigiano and puree.

In a heavy bottomed wide saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter together with the olive oil and gently cook the onion until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the remaining thawed peas and turn into the buttery onion. Stir in the rice until all the grains are coated, just like risotto. But here's the easy part: rather than adding the stock slowly and stirring all the while, with risi e bisi, you add all the stock at once. Stir everything together, add the petits pois puree, cover and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Pour into a large warmed bowl, and stir in the remaining Parmigiano. Season to taste. Serve in shallow soup bowls with additional Parmigiano at the table.

Espresso Chili Glazed Ham

I got this recipe from Tom Douglas' "Seattle Kitchen" when we lived in D.C. It is a great cookbook with wonderful recipes. Plus, when I am really homesick I can look at all the pictures of home and imagine myself back there. I have always admired Tom Douglas, but unfortunately have only eaten at Dahlia Lounge once. We have not had the chance to visit any of his other restaurants on our trip home, no matter how much I wanted to. I think back to the time when I lived in Seattle, and wish that I had spent more time enjoying Seattle's incredible food scene. Life is full of many would have, could have... isn't it? But as I remember back, I was much too young and much too broke to fully enjoy the pleasure of a truly wonderful meal out.

Now that is something that I have become better at. We are trying to enjoy the St. Louis restaurant scene, which may not be as well known as Seattle's, but is definitely lively. St. Louis has a terrific local restaurant scene, with many good places to eat. We have been to a few wonderful restaurants, and I am looking forward to trying more the longer we are here. They even have a free magazine and website called Sauce that is a terrific guide to eating out here in St. Louis. Hopefully I will even get around to telling you about some of them.

Every time I make this recipe, I wonder to myself why I don't make it more often. It is such a delicious combination of flavors, with the orange, chile and espresso adding a depth of flavor to the ham. Plus, ham is such an easy meal to prepare. It makes a wonderful presentation, it's less expensive than the larger cuts of beef roasts, and it is wonderful to use in leftovers. It is also very easy. I was cooking this for Easter this, in between working out in the yard! I served it with roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes. Tom recommends serving it as an Easter brunch with scalloped potatoes and hot cross buns or with warm cornbread.

Espresso Chile Glazed Ham

from Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen


Half a fully cooked ham (about 8 pounds)
1 quart fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur
1 tablespoon Chinese chile paste with garlic or sambal olek
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 shots (about 1/4 cup total) brewed espresso or 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder, like Medaglio d'Oro


Preheat the oven to 325F. Cut the thick layer of fat and the skin from the ham and discard. Place the ham in a roasting pan. For easier cleanup, line the pan with aluminum foil, because the glaze will drip off and burn on the bottom of the pan. Roast the ham for 1 hour.


While the ham is roasting, make the glaze. Combine the orange juice and zest, brown sugar, Kahlua, chile paste, and pepper in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer the mixture until it is reduced by about half and is as thick as maple syrup, about 35 minutes. Whisk in the espresso or espresso powder. You should have almost 2 cups of glaze. You are going to use half of this glaze to brush the ham while it is roasting and reserve the other half for brushing on the ham after it is sliced.


After the first hour of cooking, brush the ham with the glaze. Roast for another hour, brushing with the glaze every 15 minutes. Since the ham is already cooked, you just need to warm it all the way through. Check for an internal temperature of 130F to 140F using an instant-read meat thermometer. Remove the ham from the oven when it is nicely browned and warmed through.

Another holiday, this time it's Easter

When I was a kid I would celebrate the holidays much more than I do now. I have a vivid memory of being in high school and putting together a big Easter basket for Shazi. It had all the usual candy items that Easter baskets normally have, but then I also put in make-up and nail polish to make it special for her. I was originally planning on putting together a big basket and include things that I would want in an Easter basket. Books, and perhaps new kitchen utensils, handmade truffles and other candies. But as I thought about putting this basket together, I thought about the fact that I don't really need anything, and I especially don't need to eat all those handmade candies!

Instead, I decided to put together this small Easter basket to commemorate the season. We don't normally do much for the holidays - any holiday really. We usually cook a good meal, and open a nice bottle of wine. Now that I think about it, that doesn't sound so bad!

Tomorrow I will be making Tom Douglas' Espresso Chili Glazed Ham. It is a fantastic dish that I have made quite a few times. I think that you will like it, and I will write all about that on another day!

Happy Easter!

To the joy of friendship

I don't spend as much time on the computer as I probably should. I can usually find many other things to do with my time - reading, meditating, cooking and cleaning (well, perhaps thinking about cooking and cleaning is more apt) are the activities that take up most of my time. I spend a lot of my free time thinking of the many things that I want to write about - I even have lists dedicated to these ideas.

But one thing that I have really enjoyed about the little bit of time that I have spent online lately is the re-connecting with friends. With all the moving around that we have done in the last 13 years, we have lost touch with many of our friends. I have a suspicion that even if you are not in the military and moving around as much as we were - that would still be the case. I think it is normal to get so busy with life, that you don't realize that one or even ten years have passed since you spoke with a good friend!

I have been trying to be better at keeping in touch with friends, and I think that I am. I have been chatting online, calling and even getting a chance to see some friends. A few months ago I found my friend's Todd and Kathy on Facebook that we were stationed with in Korea. We had not seen or spoken with them since 1998. This past weekend they were here in St. Louis for their daughter Nicole's Rugby tournament. We got a chance to meet up with them and catch up and watch some Rugby. If you are like me, you may not have even known that their was women's rugby - but trust me, there is, and they can be as brutal as the men's teams! The weekend was of course, much too short - but it was great to meet up with them again, and I am hoping to be able to see them and many of my other friends much more often!

(Just as an ending, I really need to remember to take more pictures. I am still getting used to this, and that I need to take pictures of everything. I did not get any pictures of all of us together - or of their family together. Sigh... I am learning, even if it is taking me a while!)

Ginger Love

Do you love ginger? Than you need to talk with Patrick. He LOVES ginger. I am a little more ambivalent about ginger. I like it in moderation, but I wouldn't use the term love for it. When I say that Patrick loves ginger, I truly mean it. He has been known to eat or drink something that is defined as being ginger-y - ginger beer is a good example - and comment that it is not ginger-y enough. In Korea he used to drink this ginger honey tea, that made me gag, but he couldn't get enough of it. Ginger Altoids, ginger chews, candied ginger... you name it and he loves it.

Which is the one of the reasons why I decided to try this recipe for Pasta with Shrimp and Ginger Cream from "Fish Without a Doubt" by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore. As I'm sure you've heard, if you read anything about healthy living, that eating seafood several times a week is very good for your overall health. When I read about this book from "Gourmet" magazine, I realized that I needed to own it. Not only because we are trying to live healthier but also because I need to overcome my fear of fish!

Seafood is something that I have never been very comfortable cooking. I have had more practice cooking shrimp than I do any other forms of seafood. Whenever I think of serving seafood, I remember my mom's attempts at cooking fish, and quickly think of something else to cook! As I've mentioned, my mom is not a good cook - she will be the first to say it. I decided that I must overcome this fear, and this is a start. I am planning on trying to cook fish at least once a week, and will be sharing my trials and tribulations with you. Wish me luck!

Now, before I go on with the recipe, let me say that the ginger is very understated. The soaking of the ginger in the wine mellows the flavor. I was a little afraid when I took my first bite of the finished results and thought "Wow! This is really good." I think that you will be pleasantly surprised. It made a great light spring dinner, with the snow peas and tomatoes. The plum tomatoes did not look great when I was at my local store, so I bought grape tomatoes, and they added a wonderful extra sweetness to the dish. As for the fat content... well, we've got to splurge every once in a while, don't we?

Pasta with Shrimp and Ginger Cream

From "Fish Without a Doubt" by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore

1 (4 inch) knob fresh ginger, peeled and cut into very thin matchsticks

1 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth

Olive oil

1 pound large (21-30) shrimp, shelled and butterflied

Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup minced shallots

1/4 cup champagne vinegar

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 pound thin spaghetti

1/2 pound snow peas, tipped, strings pulled, and cut on an angle into thin julienne

1/2 pound plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

Soak the ginger in the wine for about 15 minutes

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta.

Heat a large skillet over high heat. When the skillet's hot, pour in a slick of olive oil. Add the shrimp, season with salt and white pepper, and add the butter. Saute the shrimp until pink and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm.

Put the skillet back on the heat and add the ginger and wine, the shallots, and champagne vinegar. Bring to a boil and boil to reduce the liquid to about 3 tablespoons. Pour in the cream, season with salt and white pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the cream simmers actively and cook until the cream has reduced by one third. Add the shrimp and any juices from the bowl.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta. When it is al dente, add the snow peas to the boiling pasta and then drain.

To serve, make a mound of the pasta in the center of four dinner plates. Spoon some of the sauce on the past and the rest around it. Arrange the shrimp in a circle around the pasta. Garnish with the tomatoes and serve immediately.