It’s meatball week here at Chez SGCC.  That’s because we love meatballs and think they make the perfect Super Bowl nosh.   They’re compact, easy to eat and can be made a zillion different ways.  So, as we count down to the big game, I’ll be sharing some different and delicious meatball recipes for you all to try out.

Let’s kick off with these yummy Asian-style Scallion Meatballs with a Soy-Ginger Glaze.

The original recipe for these tasty little morsels, from Canal House Cooking, calls for ground turkey.  I decided to make them with a combination of ground chicken and pork.    You can use whatever you want.  Turkey is perfectly fine.   I just think that Asian meatballs should be made with chicken and pork.   I also put a splash of fish sauce in my meatballs.  Don’t ask me why.  I’m just crazy like that.  I think it ups the umami quotient. 

I like to pulse the meat up a few times in the food processor before I mix in the rest of the ingredients.  You don’t have to do this either.  I find it gives the meatballs a finer texture, though.

There are no bread crumbs or other thickeners in the original recipe either.  I found the meatball mixture to be a little too wet for the balls to hold their shape, so I added a little cornstarch to it.  It worked great!

I love these gratuitous frying pan shots, don’t you?  The bubbles make me giddy!

Once your meatballs are all cooked, serve them with a drizzle of soy-ginger glaze.  They taste even better if you eat them with cute little curly-topped bamboo toothpicks like these.

When I served this Buffalo Chicken Dip last weekend during the play-off games, the hungry football fans at my house went wild!  In fact, Mr. SGCC told me not to bother making Buffalo wings anymore because this dish was easier to make and eat, and was just as delicious.  I don’t know if was just the beer talking, but it was quite a testimonial!

The first time I saw this dip was about a year ago at this time.  I was shopping at my neighborhood supermarket and my friend Jeanne, the Publix Aprons lady, was handing out samples of an almost identical dish.  Jeanne is great!  She was a caterer, food writer and cooking instructor in the Boston area before moving down here several years ago.  Now, she cooks up lots of tasty stuff at Publix.   I always stop by her makeshift store “kitchen” for both good food and conversation.  If you get a chance, check out her new blog,  Sola Gina Nella Cucina: Cooking On My Own.  It’s a good read with lots of great recipes.

Now, where was I?  Oh yes, the dip.  I remember thinking at the time that this dip was the perfect nosh for sitting in front of the TV, watching football.   It has all the great flavors of Buffalo wings, without the mess or the bones.  I slipped a copy of the recipe in my purse with every intention of making it.  Yeah, well the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and so, apparently, is the road to my kitchen.  Winter melted into Spring and football season was long gone.   That recipe card sat  in the corner of my kitchen counter for months and I never got around to making it.  When I finally was ready to make it, I couldn’t find that darn recipe anywhere!  I couldn’t find Jeanne anywhere either.  She had taken a few days off to spend some time with her kids.  

I remembered which ingredients I needed for the dip, but not the measurements.   I searched the Aprons web site – several times.  The recipe wasn’t there.   By this time I had become a little obsessed.  So, I turned to Google.  I found several different versions of Buffalo chicken dip, but none were exactly how I remembered it.   The closest came from the Baltimore Nesties Cookbook web site.  I have no idea who the Baltimore Nesties are, but I owe them one for that recipe.  I adapted it based on what I remembered of Jeanne’s recipe.

To make this dip, you will need a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, cream cheese, bottled buffalo wing sauce, blue cheese dressing, chopped scallions and shredded cheddar.   Just heat up the cream cheese, wing sauce and dressing, toss with the chicken and scallions, sprinkle on the cheddar and pop it in the oven.  That’s it!    You can serve it with crackers, tortilla chips or even crudités, if you want.  Personally, I think it would be fab served with those big scoop-shaped Fritos.  Wish I’d had some of those when I made it.

This recipe is super easy, and takes hardly any time at all to make. If you made it during the Super Bowl, you could probably pull it together during the half time show.   And, it is so, so good!  Creamy, cheesy and spicy all at the same time!

If Buffalo wings are a Super Bowl tradition at your house, why not try this dish instead?  Whether you’re a Giants or a Patriots fan, this Buffalo Chicken Dip is something everyone will root for!

I’ve never met a person who didn’t like s’mores.  Even my non-sweet eating husband has been known to sneak a bite or two behind the barbecue grill when no one was looking.  I’m not surprised.  What’s not to love about oozey melted chocolate and ooey, gooey toasted marshmallows sandwiched between crunchy graham crackers?   Nothing, that’s what.  Never mind that they’re sticky and messy and a pain to eat.  That’s part of their charm.  They’re “s’mores”, and the name speaks for itself.

Although I found no concrete proof of this, s’mores are said to have been invented by a group of Girl Scouts on a camping trip, in the early part of the 20th century.  In fact, the first published recipe for s’mores appeared in the 1927 Girl Scout Handbook.  You’ve got to hand it to those Girl Scouts.  They’re an industrious bunch!  I wish I had been a Girl Scout when I was a kid.  My mother told me that that that they didn’t have Girl Scouts where we lived.  I think she made that up.  She said the same thing when I asked if I could take ballet lessons.  My mother was never much of a joiner.

Mini SGCC was a Girl Scout though.  She made it all the way through from Brownies to Cadettes.   Then she discovered boys, and that was the end of scouting – and s’mores. 

This S’more Pie is a slightly more sophisticated take on the original, though it has all of the same elements:  crunchy graham crackers, smooth, creamy chocolate and toasted marshmallows.  The graham crackers make up the crust and the chocolate comes in the form of a rich, velvety dark chocolate pudding.  And the toasted marshmallows…  Well, they’re still just toasted marshmallows.  I had other plans for them too, but I’ll get to that later.

The recipe for this chocolate pudding came from Gourmet Magazine.  It’s made with milk, cocoa powder, bittersweet chocolate, and thickened with cornstarch.  What I liked about this recipe was that it didn’t have a custard base, so there were no eggs to worry about tempering.  This made it all about the chocolate.  Sometimes, eggs can get in the way and muddle things up.  Feel free to use your own favorite chocolate pudding recipe, if you have one.

The graham cracker crust is just a mixture of crushed crackers, sugar and melted butter.  It’s one of the simplest things in the world to make.  Maybe that’s why I love it so much.  No rolling, and it always turns out right.

The chocolate pudding is really a cinch to make too.  You just heat all of the ingredients together in a saucepan, and whisk until they thicken.   Gotta love that!

Before the marshmallows go on, the pie needs to be chilled for a few hours.  If you skip this step, you might end up with chocolate pudding soup when you toast them.  Chocolate pudding soup would probably still taste good, but it would be a little  difficult to eat with a fork.

I had originally planned to be all fancy and pipe Marshmallow Fluff rosettes all over the top of this pie.  This was a great idea in theory, but not in application.    While you would think that Fluff has enough substance to stand up when piped, it does not.  At least, mine didn’t.    My rosettes kept flopping and falling, and I’d have to keep pulling them off and start over.    I went through an industrial sized vat of the stuff before I finally gave up.  Burnished little peaks would have definitely been prettier, but sometimes you have to cut your losses and move on.  Besides, the pie looks more “s’more-like” with mini marshmallows on top.  I think it has a certain “rustic charm”, don’t you?

I will also tell you that this pie is not easy to cut.  The marshmallows are way too sticky and gooey to get a neat slice.  Of course, if you aren’t planning to photograph it, it doesn’t matter.  If you are, like I was, then use a really sharp knife moistened with a light coating of flavorless cooking oil.  I didn’t figure this out until after I had already massacred half of the pie – which is why I don’t have a shot of any of the slices.  I make these mistakes so you don’t have to.  You can thank me later.

All glitches aside, this S’more Pie is really some kind of wonderful!  And, you don’t even have to fire up the grill to make it.   But, don’t take my word for it.  Make one for yourself and you’ll see what I mean.

I have been dreaming about this cauliflower soup ever since I first saw it on the Food 52 site last month.  I don’t know why.   There’s nothing at all that’s fancy about it.   And, it’s probably one of the simplest soups in the world to make.   But, something about it just spoke to me – or rather gently whispered in my ear, over and over again.  It looked so light and bright and pure – almost cleansing, in a way.   I filed away the recipe, knowing that I would get back to it as soon as I found some beautiful, fresh cauliflower that was worthy of it. 

This recipe for this soup comes from Paul Bertolli’s book, Cooking by Hand.  Bertolli was a chef at the famed Chez Panisse for over ten years, so it’s not surprising that he knows exactly how to make a cauliflower sing.  And, sing it does!  There are only five ingredients in this soup, and one of them is water.   None of them are butter or cream.  Yet, it is so smooth and velvety, you’d never guess.  It’s the perfect little, guilt-free indulgence after eating your way through a long Holiday season.

To start, onions are sautéed in olive oil over low heat until they are tender and sweet.

Then, the cauliflower is added and stewed with the onions.  After that, the water is added to the pot and everything simmers.   I swapped out a cup or so of the water with some chicken stock.  You don’t need to do this.  I just did because I had some broth in the fridge that I needed to use.

Once the cauliflower has finished cooking, the whole pot is pureed into the smoothest, most divinely luxurious soup you’ll ever taste.  I swear!  But, don’t take my word for it.   Make a pot for yourself.  Then, slide into your fluffiest bathrobe, put some cool cucumber slices over your eyes and pretend you’re at a fancy schmancy spa.

On New Year’s Eve we celebrated Mini SGCC’s 18th birthday.  That’s right.  My baby is now legally an adult.

Of course, that means nothing to me. In my mind, she will always be my little curly-haired cherub.

One would think that Mr. SGCC and I can now sit back, relax and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.  But, I have a feeling that our headaches aren’t over yet!  Mini SGCC is a good kid, but she is fiercely independent and knows her own mind.  That is how we raised her to be.  Hopefully it won’t come back to bite us in the butt, now that we can’t really tell her what to do anymore.

I find it ironic that we parents spend all those years worrying and fretting over our kids, only to worry and fret even more when they grow up!  I now understand what my parents were talking about all those times they said that “A son is a son till he takes him a wife, but a daughter is a daughter for all of her life.”

In honor of the occasion, I decided to bake Mini SGCC’s favorite cake: a Black Forest Cake. I’d never baked a Black Forest cake before, and frankly, the prospect made me a little nervous. It’s a fancy schmancy German confection consisting of several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and brandied cherries between each layer. Originally called Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, the entire cake is decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings. When made well, it is a masterpiece. When made by me – I wasn’t so sure!  

The base of a Black Forest cake is a rich chocolate cake. Most of the recipes I found used a Devil’s food cake, so that is what I decided to do.  I used the Devil’s food cake recipe from Baked Explorations, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Everything I’ve ever made from that book has turned out great, so I was confident that this cake would as well.

Although traditional Black Forest cakes are made with sour cherries, I went with sweet Bings.  The canned sour cherries I found in the market were just sad, little grayish blobs that tasted like crap.  Very unappetizing!  Besides, we like big, fat Bing cherries better.  Plus, they are easier to find around here.

Since I would be serving the cake to children, I soaked the cake in a syrup that I made by reducing the cherry liquid and Kirschwasser, a cherry liqueur, instead of just using the liqueur alone.  I think it tasted better that way.

A Black Forest cake usually has several layers.  However, in the interest of time (and my sanity), I opted to only make a two layer cake.  It was fine, though.  This cake was plenty rich just as it was.

I frosted the whole cake with freshly whipped cream and decorated it with some Maraschino cherries and shaved dark chocolate.  I think it turned out very pretty, if I do say so myself.

Mini SGCC’s boyfriend’s birthday is just a few days after hers, so the cake was kinda for him too.  Here are Mini SGCC and The Boy blowing out their candles, as Mr. SGCC looks on with a grumpy look on his face.  All together now:  AWWW!

I have to say, I don’t know what I was so worried about with this cake.  It was really quite easy to make, and it was amazing.   The cake layers were wonderfully dense and moist, and the cherry filling was absolutely to die for!  Everyone who tried it was wowed.

If you’re looking for a fancy cake for a special occasion, I highly recommend this Black Forest cake.  While it looks like it took all day to make, it actually can be pulled off in just a few hours.

Ever since Mini SGCC’s accident, it has been a crazy, hectic time around here!  Most of my time has been filled up with driving her back and forth to school, taking her to doctor’s appointments, physical therapy and everywhere else she needs to go.  In the midst of all that, Mr. SGCC had the audacity to develop pneumonia.  Can you imagine?  What nerve!  And, let’s not forget that we also had to get through the Holidays, which managed to pop up at the most inconvenient time.  Just between you and me, I feel like I’m living in a house of cards.

Cooking these days has consisted of throwing things together and dropping them on the table.  Trust me, there hasn’t been much I’ve wanted to share with you.   Those leisurely days of simmering, braising and roasting as I snapped photos along the way seem like a distant memory.  I know that eventually I’ll be able to get back into my normal routine, but it ain’t happening anytime soon.   And, boy is it frustrating!  

One interesting thing that I did manage to make are these healthy and delicious breakfast cookies.  They’re made with whole wheat flour, and are chock full of great breakfast-type ingredients like rolled oats, Cheerios, peanut butter and bananas.  To keep them a little healthier, I only used a minimal amount of butter, adding moisture with mashed bananas and applesauce.  Of course, the benefit of that was probably canceled out when I decided to add chocolate chips.  Oh well.  It’s the thought that counts… isn’t it?

Breakfast cookies are a great alternative to packaged granola bars.  They’re self-contained and portable, so you can grab one on the go.  They’re also full of wholesome, all natural ingredients, which you can customize according to your own tastes.   Plus, who doesn’t love the idea of having cookies for breakfast?

These breakfast cookies are very easy to make.  All you do is mix together your wet ingredients, mix together your dry ingredients, then put them all together and bake.  The cookies are dense and chewy, with a little crunch from the cereal.  I’m not saying that they’ll ever edge out a gooey glazed doughnut as my breakfast of choice, but they’re a satisfying alternative.  And honestly, at 6:00 in the morning, I could chew on a cardboard box and not really know the difference!

Looking for some great small bites to serve for New Year’s Eve?  Well, look no further.  Here are some delicious ideas from the SGCC archives.  Whether you’re hosting a big bash or a more intimate gathering, these noshes are sure to impress.  

This New Year’s Eve as I watch the ball drop in Times Square, I’ll be curled up on my couch and wrapped in fleece. That’s exactly where I want to be. I’ll also be munching on some of these tasty tidbits in between sips of cold, crisp champagne.

Here’s wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. May 2012 bring you all you ever dreamed of.

When Mini SGCC was a little girl, there was one Christmas Eve ritual that we never missed.  We would always bake one special kind of cookie for Santa Claus to enjoy as a snack when he stopped by our house during the night.   We had a special plate designated just for him and would leave the cookies on it, along with a glass of milk, under our tree before we went to bed.   We figured that with all of that racing around on his sleigh and heavy lifting all night long, he could probably use a little sugar rush by the time he got to our house.  After all, Santa is no spring chicken anymore!

On Christmas morning,  Mini SGCC would rush out to see if the cookies were gone, thus verifying that Santa had indeed been there.  I remember one year we forgot to take the cookies off of the plate.  Mini SGCC was a little upset.  She assumed that Santa didn’t “eat” them because he didn’t like them.  After that, we were never allowed to make that same cookie for Santa again.

I’m not sure where the tradition of baking Christmas cookies began.  Some say that their history can be traced back to medieval times in Europe.  Whenever and wherever the practice originated,  baking Christmas cookies has become a cherished holiday tradition for families in just about every corner of the world.  It’s a lucky thing for Santa too.  He must make out like a bandit!   

In the aftermath of Mini SGCC’s accident, there hasn’t been much opportunity for cookie baking.  Too many doctor appointments, physical therapy sessions and other running around have gotten in the way.  I have been able to make a few bathes of cookies, here and there, but not nearly what I usually do.  I’ve also had to pack up most of my makeshift photography studio for the time being.  Bella has been banished to my bedroom so that she doesn’t accidentally knock Mini SGCC down.  So, the cameras, lights and fragile props had to be moved to higher ground.   It’s definitely not an ideal situation for a food blogger!

Fortunately, I have some great Christmas cookie ideas from the SGCC archives to share.  I hope that you enjoy them and are inspired to go forth and bake!   I also hope that I’ll be back soon with some new recipes to share.

Every year, long before the Thanksgiving dishes are even dried and put away, the Christmas rush is on. That’s when so many of us find ourselves racing around, spending money we don’t have on lots of things we don’t need. It’s crazy! One way that I’ve found to minimize the stress of Holiday shopping – and spending – is to make delicious gifts for family and friends in my own kitchen. Not only are homemade gifts often more economical, but they can also be much more meaningful to their recipients.

Each year, I choose a different assortment of tasty treats to give as holiday gifts.  I package each in pretty decorative packaging and make up cheery goodie bags to deliver to the lucky recipients.  I usually choose a few easy recipes along with some that are a little more complex to get a nice balance in my bags.   I really enjoy doing this, and the whole process helps to get me into the Holiday spirit.  And, after all that has happened around here lately, I could really use some help getting my Christmas mojo on! 

When it comes to creating edible gifts, the possibilities are endless. From the simplest sugar cookies to more labor intensive items like candies or preserves, there are plenty of recipe options available, regardless of your level of culinary expertise.  Below are some of some of my favorite gifts from the kitchen from years past.  I hope you find a few that inspire you.

What are your favorite edible gifts to give and to receive?

For most people, Black Friday is that crazy day after Thanksgiving when hordes of otherwise reasonable people frantically swarm the malls looking to get something for practically nothing.    And unfortunately for me, from this year forward, Black Friday will always represent the agonizing day that I almost lost my baby.

What is it about this day that turns bargain hungry shoppers into deranged lunatics?  These seemingly normal people appear to lose all sense of reality as they camp outside of  Wal Marts and Best Buys for days, and then trample over each other for the honor of being one of the first inside when the doors open. The evening news reports are full of stories about innocuous soccer moms fighting like mad dogs over PS3 consoles and Let’s Rock Elmo.  Oh, and let’s not forget those silly Lalaloopsey dolls.   What is wrong with people?!?!  No, thank you – not for me!  There isn’t any material thing in this world that I want or need that badly.  It’s insane!    

At around 4:00 pm on Black Friday, I decided to stop by a local gift shop that a friend of mine owns. I spent half an hour or so visiting before I left to go home.  As I drove out of the parking lot, I noticed that there had been a car accident at the nearest intersection.  The fire department and a few police cars were already on site.  I remember looking at the crumpled cars, thinking that it looked pretty bad and that I should turn off as soon as I could so as not to get in the way.  I drove about six blocks when my cell phone rang.  I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered the call anyway.  A disembodied male voice asked me if I was Mrs. SCGG.  I started to get an uneasy feeling in my gut.  When I replied that I was, the man told me that my daughter had just been in an accident and was injured.  At that point, I think my heart stopped for a minute.  Then,  I asked the question that I suspected I already knew the answer to:  “Where is she?”   He told me that she was at the very intersection I had just passed.  My blood ran cold!   Filled with dread,  I turned around as fast as I could and raced back to the scene. I called Mr. SGCC on the way (using my hands-free Bluetooth).

When I got there, Mini SGCC was in the back  seat of the car.  She was obviously in  pain and I think, in shock.  She complained that she couldn’t move.  The man who had called me was with her.  He had witnessed the crash and rushed over to help.  God bless him.

Mini SGCC had been riding with her BFF and the friend’s father, who was driving.  Apparently, some stupid woman, probably high on shopping, had run a red light and plowed right into them.   Now, no one except her will ever know for sure why she ran that red light, but I’m betting it had something to do with a cell phone or some other distraction.  Drivers that are paying attention to the road do not randomly run red lights.

When the EMTs arrived, they told me that Mini SGCC might have a broken back.  I thought I might die right there and then.  They strapped her to a cold, hard spine board and lifted her into the ambulance.  At the Emergency Room, we were elated to learn that Mini SGCC “only” had a broken right clavicle, a broken left wrist, a few cracked ribs and lots of bumps and bruises.  Hah!  Imagine being elated about several broken bones?  Well, as bad as that was, I was happy to hear it because it meant that my baby would eventually be okay.

Mini SGCC is in for a long recovery.  In the meantime, her right shoulder and arm are in an immobilizer sling and her left arm is in a cast.  She had surgery on her wrist a few days ago.  They put a huge steel plate in her arm and screwed it into what was left of her wrist bones.  The prognosis is good, but she will never be whole again.   And, for the rest of her life she will have the dubious distinction of setting off metal detectors wherever she goes.  But, I’m not complaining.  It’s a small price to pay.

Hopefully, Mini SGCC will be able to go back to school soon, though she will need a full time aide for a while.  With both of her arms out of commission she can’t do anything for herself.    But it’s her senior year, and I don’t want her to miss any more of it than she has to.

I realize that this post has nothing to do with cooking or baking, but I had to get this out.  In fact, I think the Thanksgiving leftovers are still in my garage fridge waiting to be transformed.  But, I don’t have the energy or desire to worry about them right now.   As incredibly thankful that I am that Mini SGCC wasn’t hurt worse than she was, I am also angry – so very, very angry.  I’m angry at that reckless woman who wasn’t paying attention and ran the red light.  I’m angry that my child was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I’m angry that she’s had to suffer from so much pain.  I’m angry that the memories of what should be the one of the happiest times of her life will be now marred by these events.   I’m angry for her scars.  I’m also angry that our society has become so engulfed in commercialism that Black Friday even exists.  And, I’m angry at the Wal Marts, Best Buys and other stores in this country that whip consumers into a frenzy promising “doorbusters” that can’t be passed up.  I don’t remember it being like this years ago.   Seriously, people, is a good deal on a TV really worth risking someone’s life?