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Braised Short Ribs I’ll follow up with full recipe. Served it over wide egg noodles. You’ll need beef short ribs, parsnips, purple top turnips, carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, thyme, beef/veal stock or demi glace, salt and pepper, red wine. 8 … Continue reading
I am recovering from knee surgery so won’t be posting much for a few more days.
I did actually make the boys and I a wonderful chicken, mushroom and zucchini dish last night which was very similar to the one posted here. My middle son now loves zucchini (yippee!— he “hated” it only months ago) and my youngest loves mushrooms so it’s a win-win dinner. It only took me 20 minutes from start to finish (chopping and all), so it’s great for a quick and nutritious meal and easy while using crutches! I served this one over brown rice (cheated here— frozen TJ’s Organic brown rice takes only 3 minutes in microwave).
Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones. May the New Year be full of peace, happiness and health.
V
I believe that we learn to eat what we consider normal food by our parents at an early age. Our customs, nationalities, and localities influence what we eat. I didn’t grow up eating venison, rabbit or duck but they are now some of my favorite meats. But I only began eating them as an adult. My kids are eating these foods since we cook them more than is customary for where we live. Duck and rabbit are not regularly served in our area restaurants and I think most locals would consider them odd to eat. Deer is very abundant where we live, but still it’s not often eaten. But good food, no matter what type, can be viewed as normal, or just delicious, when it’s introduced early.
I actually began to enjoy venison while working at a wonderful restaurant in Wellington, NZ. Boulcott Street Bistro was one of the first places to regularly serve Cervena, the New Zealand-branded farm-raised venison. It is a low fat, rich flavored meat that doesn’t have the same gaminess as wild deer which is hunted here in Connecticut. I learnt to make a beautiful dish from Boulcott St’s menu in the early-mid 90’s: a seared Cervena venison filet with a black pepper port sauce. It was the first dish I made my husband when we were dating. It takes several days of prep if you make your own stock or just a couple of hours if you buy a good demiglace. It took me days of prep. I think it endeared me to him, since I made him a restaurant-quality meal from scratch.
More recently my husband was given a deer to butcher at his restaurant. He brought home a piece of a leg that he’d marinated for 2 days and a sauce made from venison stock, port and currants. It was so delicious and not too gamey. The boys loved it so much we didn’t actually have enough to fulfill everyone’s desired amount. We thought they’d like it, just not that much!
Two of the boys fighting over some of Daddy’s venison!
Pan Seared Venison with CurrantPort Sauce
Marinate 1 pound venison (leg loin, filet) in:
1/2 bottle red wine
1/2 cup water
1 carrot, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed
4 bay leaves
leaves off 6 sprigs of thyme
6 juniper berries, smashed slightly
Portion meat into 5-6 inch lengths, trimmed of silver skin and fat. Marinate at least overnight. Remove venison from marinade and pan sear in sauté pan over high heat. Once outside is browned, place in 350F preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes. Slice, serve with sauce. It should be medium rare especially if farm-raised.
Port Wine Current Sauce
1 cup rich veal stock
1/2 cup ruby port
1 1/2 cups currants
1 shallot, chopped
Combine all ingredients and reduce over medium high heat, turning down as needed but keeping a rolling boil until thickened so that sauce coats the back of a spoon. Add pat of butter and using immersion blender purée.
My kids loved this, but we put the sauce on the side so they could taste it first. Alcohol burns off so no need to worry about serving it to your kids.
We served the venison with mashed Yukon gold potatoes (with skins on), string beans and spinach.
Finger licking good!
Success!
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Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars (from Brown Eyed Baker) These are like blondies with an added crunchy-saltiness. Yum! I used the thin semi-sweet chocolate discs from Trader Joe’s. I coarsely chopped them in the package (while on the phone with a friend who wondered what on Earth … Continue reading
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At Trader Joe’s yesterday, my youngest son shouted out “Seaweed!” while pointing to the packs on the shelf. I threw 3 packages into my cart and opened another one for him. (They’re only 99 cents each!) A woman saw us … Continue reading
One of my fears when I write this blog is coming off as pretentious. I am not trying to show that my kids are better than others or that I am better than others. What I’m attempting is to show that if I can do it, so can you. Ok, except if there are food allergies or aversions, texture problems or other issues, but for the most of everyone else, I do believe it’s possible. And this is not to say it’s always easy. Sometimes there are struggles, but they needn’t be huge, horrible or drawn out. Learn when to stay your ground and when to be flexible and when to give in.
The other night my middle son came home from friends at dinnertime with food in hand— his dinner “to go”. He was given chicken nuggets, ham, and mac and cheese. My husband said the host offered the kids snap peas but they all declined. When we sat down to eat our dinner he refused to have any, because he’d eaten, so I let him skip it. We’d made salmon, TJ’s Harvest grains (orzo, Israeli couscous, quinoa and baby chick peas), spinach and snow peas.
After dinner the two eldest boys ran out to cub scouts with my husband. Upon their return and while they should have been getting ready for bed, my middle son cried that he was hungry. I offered him what we had for dinner. “No, I want something else.” He repeated a couple of times. “I don’t want that. I want something different.” as he kept pointing at the refrigerator. I was resolute and he acquiesced fairly quickly and said he wanted it all. All of dinner, not just the salmon or just the grains, but all. I actually had no spinach and only a tiny piece of salmon left, but I gave him what I had plus a piece of broccoli left over from last night’s dinner.
Minutes later my youngest son, while finishing his dinner that he’d abandoned when his brothers left the house, shrieked because he thought his brother had taken one of his snow peas. I grabbed a couple off my middle son’s plate and then he cried out, “No! Those are mine!” So back to the fridge for more snow peas…not a bad thing. I thought to myself, “Ok. They’re arguing over snow peas.” Not that I like the arguing or crying for that matter, but my kids like these foods. I know not every child will like every food… I’ve never said that. But I do believe that if you give in to the chicken nugget/mac & cheese rut you’ll be stuck trying for much longer to get them to eat well and especially their veggies. Plus if you offer kids foods they’re more likely to say no. If you give them the vegetables without the option to say no, then they’re more likely to eat them. Getting them to eat well doesn’t need to be fraught with struggles, just need to forge ahead with determination knowing that one day they might just eat the healthier stuff.
Sometimes people think I’m radical by my zealousness in getting kids to eat healthily, but for me I know it’s best for their long term health. I still try to maintain a healthy attitude and not panic over every little thing and I hope I’ve figured out which battle to choose. And believe me, I’m not here trying to preach from high above but right in the trenches with you all.
A great big thank you for recommending this blog!
I’m working on some posts and should have new photos, tips and recipes up very soon.
Wondering why I insist on baking with so many disasters? It’s not masochism; it’s my way of ensuring the ingredients are what I don’t mind my kids ingesting. Plus I do get some fabulous results. My mother’s birthday is a week after my son’s and they both fall around Thanksgiving. Mum was visiting my brother in California for Thanksgiving so I promised to make her birthday dinner upon her return. The dinner, a grilled Moroccan leg of lamb with Moroccan spices was enjoyed by everyone but my mother (because of the grilled part), was similar to the lamb my husband made for our potluck dinner over the summer. But she loved the pie I made for her. I took the banana cream pie I created the crust for, altered it slightly and added a layer of strawberry chiffon to the top. Plus only the crust is actually baked.
So, if you’ve read my blog you know I am into feeding my children healthier options but try not to go overboard especially on attempting to be perfect. I realize the balance that I desire so that my kids have healthier options while trying to keep our psyches in check. That said, many people are surprised that I let my kids have the occasional junk food and also that I let them have cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc. I keep the junk to a minimum and what I care about most is the ingredients in those treats.
That’s why I’ll often make desserts so they don’t have the stuff I do avoid (pesticides, growth hormones and artificial colors). I haven’t had to worry about weight issues with my kids or me (yes, I put on more than the freshman 15 when I went away to university, but it dropped quickly when I returned to eating better foods) so that’s one reason why I don’t deny them treats. I do insist they eat their main course before getting dessert and I try to limit snacking, but I’m not a tyrant about it. I believe that in healthy eating and keeping active keep people naturally fit. So go ahead, have and serve your desserts, just remember they’re treats.
This pie is not for the faint of heart. It is full of cream, but oh so delicious. It also takes some time to make the banana filling layer but don’t rush and you’ll be rewarded later. Heavenly.
Banana Strawberry Cream Pie
Crust
2 1/2 cups Banana Nut Cheerios
2 1/2 cups Strawberry Yogurt Cheerios
1 stick butter, melted
In food processor chop the cheerios until crumbs. While processor on, pour in melted butter through spout until well mixed. Press into pie plate and bake for 8 minutes at 350F. Set aside to cool.
Banana Filling
Find here. 
Once poured into pie crust, let set in fridge while you prepare the strawberry chiffon.
Strawberry Chiffon
12 oz frozen strawberries (organic)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups cream, whipped
2 tsp gelatin
2 Tbsp cold water
In a small bowl sprinkle gelatin over 2 Tbsp cold water. Let sit. Whip cream and set aside. Over medium high heat cook strawberries until they’re starting to break down. 
Use potato masher to puree. Strain seeds out. Pour into a metal bowl and place bowl into a cold water bath then whisk in gelatin and fold in whipped cream. Chill for 10 minutes then using a spatula spread strawberry chiffon layer onto the top of the banana layer. 
Serve or chill until ready to serve.
My kids were so excited about this during and after its creation. My mother loved it and I had some left over for when a good friend visited the following day. It was a hit with all and a perfect treat.
If you notice— pie plate was a sauté pan. I had the triple layer pumpkin pies in my only other two.
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I don’t call myself a baker for good reasons— I am often too impatient to allow the proper processes and I tend to improvise, which can often end in disaster. (Plus distractions can also lead to baking failure). Whereas cooking is actually open to not following directions as long as you have an idea of what flavors will go well together. I once had a flat mate that mixed too many different herbs and spices and each meal tasted like it was burnt but it wasn’t actually overcooked. Baking is a science with chemical reactions depending upon temperature and mixing the specific ingredients in sequence. If you stray from the sequential order, forget or add something, or if the weather is not right for what you’re working with… not the best outcome.
My youngest son turned four so I baked a cake for his party and make cupcakes to bring into his preschool class. I followed my friend Amanda’s chocolate cake recipe (adding white chocolate chips) but I missed the part about lining with parchment (or flouring) and just greased the pan. It stuck and broke and I was left with a horrible-looking mess.
Ugh. Looking back I remember when I’ve made cakes in the past and they always say to grease and flour or line pan but last time I baked a “real” cake (not quick bread or brownies) was a year earlier for his 3rd.
Well, I just thought I’ll try to save it by turning into an ice cream cake. So I made some vanilla ice cream and added chocolate chips (yes, made— I got an ice cream maker for my birthday last year and I knew I’d have to soften a store bought tub enough to spread on cake, which could end in an expensive mess). Now it would have worked nicely had I been patient enough to freeze the cake for more than 20 minutes (I wanted to take the boys for a hike) and wait to get the ice cream a little more frozen. But, I didn’t. I spread the lovely tasting ice cream over the mess of a cake and stuck it in the freezer. When we got back from our fantastic hike, I checked on the cake and the ice cream had mostly melted and then refroze into the cake. Man!
The next morning I made the frosting and actually got the cake looking pretty good considering its mistakes. 
But we had a 20 minute drive to the birthday party place and it was cold out— good for ice cream cake had it stayed outside instead of on the floor with 73F heat blowing on it! Now it was more like a chocolate frosted mess swimming in a cream pool. Luckily they had a fridge so the damage didn’t progress too much more.
It made me realize if I insist on baking I should give myself plenty of time and read all the directions. The cake actually tasted great to me and the parents who had some. The kids’ reviews were mixed of those that ate any as some wouldn’t have any. Since many children focus on aesthetics I completely understand why some would pass on even a taste. 
If you make this, put cake layer in freezer for at least an hour or two before topping with ice cream.
Vanilla with Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk or half and half
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tsp real vanilla extract (used bourbon vanilla)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
pinch of sea salt
Over medium-low heat mix cream, milk, sugar, salt and egg yolks. Stirring often until mixture is just about boiling. Lower heat and stir in vanilla. 
Keep stirring while it thickens slightly (for thicker ice cream increase egg yolk amount). Chill for at least half an hour before pouring into ice cream maker.
My ice cream maker takes about 25-30 minutes for a nice creamy yet frozen ice cream. Add chocolate chips in last few turns.
I didn’t want it too stiff so that I could easily spread it on the cake. (It was all for naught really, but the cake was super moist!) The ice cream itself was also super delicious!
