Columbus Foodie

I have got to say, I’m torn. The weather has been mild for the better part of the summer, and although it’s been perfect picnic weather, my garden (and local farms, too) have been suffering from poor growth this year. My poor tomatoes are just now starting to turn red. So produce has been a bit more pricey this year, but I’ve been able to eat my meals outside for the past couple of weeks. Like I said, I’m torn.

So I’ve been making a lot more picnic/cookout type dishes lately. This one is fashioned after the lovely salad of the same name at Hawa Russia, our local Russian restaurant. Great flavor, very unlike any other potato salad I’ve had. And the perfect thing to contribute to this month’s edition of Waiter, There’s Something in My…Picnic Recipes.

Salad Oliv’e
inspired by the dish at Hawa Russia

2 medium sized potatoes
1 c. frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 medium sized cucumber, peeled
1 medium yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 c. dill pickles
1 small ham steak
mayonnaise, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Boil potatoes in their skins, and when done (should still be slightly firm), allow to cool and peel skin off. Cut potato, cucumber, eggs, onion, pickles and ham into small cubes. Cut garlic very finely. Mix all together with peas and carrots, and then add mayonnaise to taste. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, then you all know how much I love the okonomiyaki at ZenCha. So much so that I’ve been going almost every weekend to get my fix. However, at $9.95 a pop, all that indulgence is adding up quickly, and I was almost going to end up being forced to cut it out due to budget issues. Almost. Before I decided to give up okonomiyaki for good, I thought I’d first try to make it at home, and see if it can be done.

The short answer? Yes, it can be done, and it was much easier and cheaper than I expected it to be. It came together in minutes flat, and tasted just as good (if not better, since I can control the amount of mayo/sauce here) as the stuff at ZenCha.

We stayed pretty true to the ZenCha version - adding just thinly sliced cabbage, sliced shiitakes and diced chicken - but I understand that you can add darn near anything you please to it. It’s really quite a versatile recipe. The specialty ingredients can be easily found at your local Asian grocer - just go in and get a 3-pack of okonomiyaki flour (180g each bag), a bottle of Kewpie mayonnaise, and a bottle of the Okonomi sauce of your choosing and you’ll be all set.

I’m submitting this recipe to be included in the Wine and Dine: Reisling and Japanese Eats event over at Joelen’s Culinary Adventures.

Okonomiyaki
makes 2 ginormous or 4 smaller pancakes

180 g package okonomiyaki flour
180 ml water
2 eggs
3-4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced
3-4 oz. savoy cabbage, sliced thinly
3-4 oz. diced chicken
Kewpie Mayonnaise, to taste Okonomi Sauce, to taste
Mix together the okonomiyaki flour, water, and eggs into a batter, and then add in mushrooms, cabbage, chicken and any other ingredients you’d like to incorporate. You want to add enough so that the batter looks about like this:

In a greased frying pan (I used olive oil spray) over medium high heat, ladle batter and spread out to fit the bottom of the pan. Allow to cook until underside is lightly browned and edges are set, and then flip over and allow other side to brown. Serve immediately dressed with Kewpie mayonnaise and Okonomi sauce.

Manestra is one of my favorite Greek dishes. I didn’t even know it existed until I went to Anna’s a few years ago and Anna herself whipped a batch made with beef, especially for me (her normal manestra has lamb, which I wasn’t fond of at the time). I loved it so much that I ordered it every time I went in. After a while, all that manestra ordering got to be a bit expensive (because, of course, when you go to Anna’s you don’t always just get an entree, right?) and I wanted to learn to make it here at home. This recipe is virtually indistinguishable from Anna’s, and the complex flavors hit the spot every time. I’m making it this week for Presto Pasta Night.

Manestra (Meat with Orzo)
recipe from “The Complete Greek Cookbook” by Theresa Karas Yianilios

1 tbsp. oil
1 lb. beef or lamb stew meat
2 onions, chopped
1 c. tomato sauce or 1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. spearmint flakes (I use about half as much)
4 c. boiling water
1 c. orzo
1 c. grated mizithra cheese (I use a bit less - use Parmesan if you can’t find Mizithra)

Heat oil in large saucepan and brown meat and onions for 10 minutes over medium heat. Add tomato, seasonings, and 2 cups water. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.

Add remaining water and bring to a boil. Add orzo. Stir once or twice. Simmer 20 minutes more. Serve hot with grated cheese. Makes 4 servings.

There’s a fairly new food blogging event called Homegrown Gourmet, that celebrates foods that represent your home area in some way, whether it be local food, a traditional dish from your area, or whatever. And the theme this month is soup. So we decided to make it “local” in two different ways. First, the dish is inspired by soup we had at The Refectory, a local restaurant. And best of all, the soup is made with almost all local ingredients.

The squash in this soup is from Wish Well Farms at the North Market farmers market, as is the onion and celery. The butter was from Hartzler Family Dairy, and the cream was Smith’s Dairy. Chicken stock is made in Ohio by Kitchen Basics. The soup was flavorful and rich (but not too rich), savory yet sweet, and nearly a dead ringer for the soup at The Refectory, albeit a bit thicker. Like theirs, we floated ours with a crostini made at the local Whole Foods, which was topped with goat cheese from Lake Erie Creamery. Since there are only two of us, we cut the recipe in half, otherwise it would serve 4 easily.
 

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
recipe slightly modified from BetterRecipes.com

1 (3 lb) butternut squash
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 medium white onion
5 stalks celery
2 tbsp. butter
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
Sat and pepper to taste
4 crostini rounds (optional)
2 oz. goat cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, seed and cut butternut squash into cubes, approx. 1″. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Place squash on baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes until fork-tender Meanwhile, dice onion and celery and saute in butter until soft, about 5 minutes. Add roasted squash to saute pan and pour in chicken stock to cover veggies. Cover pan and bring to boil. Once liquid is boiling, uncover and reduce. Puree in a blender or food processor, adding heavy cream, and additional salt and pepper to taste. Reheat and serve.

Notes: Sprinkle nutmeg on individual servings, if desired. If you’re serving it with the crostini, schmear the goat cheese onto the crostini and then float on top of soup. This soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

A few years ago, there was a little restaurant right on Rte. 23 in Lewis Center called Nacho Mama’s that had the best chicken tortilla soup I’d ever tasted. But, the Boyer restaurant curse (in which any restaurant we fall in love with closes months later) kicked in, and they ended up going out of business quite a few years ago. Not wanting to lose access to that spectacular dish, I came up with a copycat version, which I’ve improved upon over the years. In its soup-only state, it’s a very healthy dish, but the health factor decreases exponentially with the amount of high fat (cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips) garnish you use.

I posted the recipe at Recipezaar quite a while ago, the only changes I’ve made since then is that I use Penzey’s Chili con Carne seasoning (which is a mix of cumin/chili powder and other spices) rather than just chili powder and cumin, and in the latest batch, I threw in a bag of Trader Joe’s frozen roasted corn rather than adding a can of corn. Also, I’ve taken to adding a can of tomato sauce to the broth mix as well before throwing it in the crock pot. Keep in mind that the seasoning will intensify as it cooks, so don’t overseason. And you can get the thin tortilla strips (they come in an orange paper bag) at Kroger, or you can make your own with corn tortillas and a deep fryer, or if all else fails, you can use any corn tortilla chips/strips you want. Enjoy!

I’ve been wanting to try a Croque Madame for quite a while now, and while we were out at Easton this past weekend to make the Sur La Table stop, we decided to stop at Bon Vie while they were still serving brunch on Sunday and both ordered the Croque Madame - this recipe is based on that, with bechamel sauce in place of the traditional hollandaise. The recipe for the bechamel sauce is taken from a Rachael Ray recipe, but the rest of the sandwich is served open face like we had at Bon Vie, with poetic license taken on my part. Our version of it was abfab, better even than Bon Vie’s, I think. Not a pretty picture, but you can see all the layers here (french toast bottom, gruyere, ham, eggs, and bechamel). The recipe is a sum of its parts, so prepare each part individual first, to assemble at the end. This dish has the added benefit of being mostly local (2Silos guinea hen eggs, ham from Thurn’s, Challah baked at Whole Foods, Ohio butter).

Croque Madame
bechamel sauce courtesy Rachael Ray, rest of recipe inspired by the dish at Bon Vie

Bechamel Sauce:

2 tbsp. butter
2 rounded tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. Dijon mustard (I used whole grain Dijon)

Place a small saucepot over medium low heat and melt two tablespoons of butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute or so. Whisk in the milk and bring it to a bubble and then drop the heat to low. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, nutmeg and Dijon. When sauce thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, turn off the heat.

Fried Eggs:

6 eggs (we used Guinea Hen, but you can use any kind)
2 tbsp. butter

Fry eggs in butter to your desired doneness - we did ours over easy.

French Toast:

4 slices Challah bread
2 eggs, beaten with 1 tbsp. cream
2 tbsp, butter.

Additional ingredients:
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
4 slices baked ham

Instructions:

Prepare bechamel sauce and then set aside. Dip challah bread in egg batter, and fry in the butter. After flipping over the first time, sprinkle about 1/4 cup of cheese on each french toast slice and put one slice of ham on each. Keep on heat until bottom of French Toast is browned and cheese is melted and ham is warmed. Plate the sandwich open faced style, 2 pieces of bread to a plate. Fry eggs, and then top each pair of French Toast with three fried eggs. Spoon bechamel sauce over fried eggs and serve.

With all of the discussion about eating on a limited budget (with the governor of Oregon eating on a food stamp budget, and the Eat Local Challenge focusing on eating within a certain budget), I did a lot of thinking back to those times where I was young and poor and had to feed 2 people on a monthly budget of $105.

Eating on a very low budget can get very boring for a while. There’s only so many times you can eat hot dog and macaroni and cheese, or boxed mashed potatoes and gravy, or ramen, or spaghetti with sauce before it gets real boring, real fast. So early on, I experimented with different things, trying to replicate the taste of more expensive dishes on a limited budget.

Hence, the invention of the “mock beef stroganoff”. For all intents and purposes, it tastes just like the real thing. It’s beefy, creamy, and has a mushroomy vibe going on. And it’s super easy to make. And cheap, too. Simply prepare 2 boxes of beef Rice a Roni, toss it with a pound of browned ground beef, and one prepared packed of McCormick Hollandaise sauce. Back in the early 90’s, this meal cost $2.79 to prepare (.99/lb for ground beef, Rice a Roni on sale 2/$1, and .79 for the sauce packet), and fed us for 2-3 days. These days, it’s a bit more expensive to prepare ($2.99/lb for 90% lean ground beef, $1 per box of Rice a Roni, and $1.39 for the sauce packet, along with about .70 worth of butter), but at around $6 for 8 or more servings, it’s still very economical. I still make it from time to time (even though I can afford to make the real thing now) because of the comfort factor associated with this combination.

When money is tight, what kinds of things do you whip up from ordinary grocery items that most people don’t give a second glance to? I’d love to know!

Have you ever made a meal that, rather than just appealing to your taste buds, also appealed to your sense of nostalgia?

Having been on a nostalgia trip ever since discovering Philly cheesesteaks in Ohio a few days ago, I wanted to create a meal that would evoke the Jersey Shore for me, not in any traditional sense, mind you - just in a way that would do it for me personally.

For me, the Jersey shore (and hell, the shore in general) is all about Old Bay. Crab cakes, potatoes, corn on the cob. We don’t have fresh crabs here in Ohio, and corn is out of season, so I had to make do with what was available. My solution? Mini crab cakes, spicy potato salad, and corn on the cob.

The original recipe for the crab cakes came from the advertising section of one of my cooking magazines (can’t remember which one) - however, I only used it as a base for the recipe, and changed a few ingredients and steps, so this is my version of the original. The original called for a ton of butter and oil, and was fried instead of baked. In the interest of my waistline (this meal was by no means healthy, but baking the crab cakes pulled them from artery-clogging to pretty darn healthy on their own), I eliminated the butter, oil, and the steps that called for frying the crab cakes before finishing them in the oven. To be honest with you, I really didn’t notice the difference.

Zesty Mini Crab Cakes 

4 slices firm white bread, cut up
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2 tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. crab boil seasoning (Old Bay) 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper sauce
1 lb. cooked fresh jumbo lump crabmeat (I used canned), picked over
Vegetable cooing spray

Pulse bread in food processor to form fine crumbs.

Combine mayo, egg, celery, red bell pepper, shallot, parsley, lemon juice, seasoning, mustard, salt and red pepper sauce. Fold in crabmeat and 1 cup bread crumbs (I had to use more - don’t use too much, but make sure you use enough that the mixture will hold together to bake. Also, don’t stir - you don’t want to break up the nice big lumps of crab).

Pack 1 tablespoon with crab mixture and drop onto greased cookie sheet (I used a cookie scoop, which worked perfectly). Repeat - you should end up with about 35 crab cakes on 2 cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, switch the setting to broil, but keep the sheets in the center of the oven - this will allow the tops to brown.

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As for the potato salad, it’s inspired (heck, it’s almost identical, if you ask me) by the Spicy “Shrimp Boil” Potato Salad at Banana Bean Cafe. As always, this is just a guideline - adjust accordingly to your own taste levels.

Copycat Spicy Potato Salad

3 lbs. small red waxy potatoes
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
1-2 tbsp. spicy brown mustard
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 1 cup mayo, to start (will definitely need more)
1/2 can Niblets corn
Salt, to taste
Old Bay seasoning, to taste

Boil potatoes with skins on until done, but still slightly firm. Allow to cool. Chop potatoes into large bowl, sprinkle with lemon juice. Add red pepper, onion, green onions, corn, mustard and mayo (add until you’ve acheived your desired consistency). Season with salt and Old Bay seasoning to taste - you’ll have to add quite a bit of Old Bay to get it the right level of spice - probably about 1-2 tbsp. Chill and serve.

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As for the corn, it’s slim pickings right now - since summer is still many months off. If I have to have corn in winter, the steam in bag variety is quite good.

I’m really looking forward to eating seafood when I visit Jersey next month. While my attempt is yummy, it pales in comparison to the real thing. There’s nothing else like eating seafood right next to the ocean.

I started out yesterday morning with the most noble of intentions, naturally. After pretty much being stuck in the house for the past month hoping I’d feel better, I’ve actually had a glimmer of hope the past week or so when I started feel much better than I had been.

So, genius that I am, I had the bright idea to celebrate my feeling well by making my husband a gorgeous five-course dinner, of which only three courses I’d be making myself.

I started out the morning feeling fine. Did my shopping for dinner, stopping at Sam’s Club, Giant Eagle, and the North Market. Made it back home, but when it came time to actually start the prep work, I was totally knackered by the time I finished chopping the veggies. Luckily, I’m married to the sweetest guy in the world who completely understood, and ended up doing the cooking himself. So the dinner did go off without a hitch, thanks to him. Me? I think I need to stop overestimating my energy level and start working within the constraints of it.

Now, back to the dinner. The first course was ravioli al forno, which we developed as a copycat recipe to be just like the one they serve at Bravo. It gave us the opportunity to break in the individual sized Emile Henry lasagna dishes we got on discount at Amazon last month. Now, you can use store brands for the ingredients in this dish, but we used Pastaria’s pesto, tomato alfredo, and tomato-basil sauces, plus a combination of two different types of ravioli (six cheese and sundried tomato asiago), also from Pastaria.

Ravioli al Forno (Bravo copycat)

1 lb. ravioli of your choice
8 oz. alfredo sauce
8 oz. pesto sauce
8 oz. marinara sauce
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Prepare ravioli according to package directions. Brush bottom of baking dish with alredo sauce, and lay ravioli in a single layer. Place sauces in ziploc bags with corner cut to allow piping. Pipe sauce on top of ravioli diagonally, alternating alfredo, pesto, alfredo, marinara, repeating until entire pan is covered with lines of sauce. Mix the breadcrumbs and melted butter together and sprinkle on top. Bake in a 350 degree oven 30 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden brown.

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The second course was Italian Wedding Soup, which I’ve blogged about previously.

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The third course was a mixed baby greens salad purchased from Pastaria, although you can find the recipe for a copycat of it here, in my archives.

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The entree was a copycat recipe for Carrabba’s Chicken Marsala, found on Recipezaar. The sauce came out a little thinner than I would have liked, but the flavor was fantastic. In the future, I’d proably let it cook a little longer to thicken some. We served it with mashed potatoes, and substituted shiitake mushrooms rather than white mushrooms.

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For dessert, we each had a piece of tiramisu from Pastaria. While tiramisu is easy to make, we didn’t see the point of making a whole pan of it just to get two servings of a dessert which, when made by Pastaria, is just as good as our own.
All in all, quite an enjoyable meal - I highly recommend Pastaria as a place to get the ingredients for an Italian meal of your own. I pretty much collapsed exhausted right after eating, as heavy food will do that to you when you’re already tired. I’m really looking forward to eating the leftovers tonight.

Our usual host, Barbara, is still recovering from the birth of her daughter, so this month The Spice is Right event will be hosted once again by Habeas Brulee.

The theme this month is “Frankenstein’s Monster”, in which we’re challenged to “try using a spice (or blend of spices) with a technique or dish from a cuisine that typically never uses that spice (or blend).” I chose to feature Cincinnati-style chili, which uses spices that aren’t usually found in chili to create an entirely different vibe to an old favorite.

If you’ve never had it, Cincinnati chili is very hard to describe. Most people hear the words “cinnamon” and “chocolate” in conjunction with the word “chili” and make the yuck face. Trust me, it’s not that bad. It’s an acquired taste, of course, but one that I acquired quite quickly once I set aside my preconceived notions and gave it a try. The best way to describe it, tastewise, is like mole sauce or the sauce you find in Greek casseroles. It’s always amazing to me how a certain spice (cinnamon, for instance) is interpreted in the foods of different cultures - moussaka in Greece, mole in Mexico, five spice powder in Asian cooking, etc.

Which makes perfect sense, of course, when you consider that the whole shebang was created by a Greek immigrant who decided to tweak a typically Greek sauce and start serving it over spaghetti and hot dogs. Traditionally, it’s served with a side of oyster crackers. Also, traditionally the ground beef is boiled rather than browned - unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do it that way, as that would have required me chilling it overnight to skim the fat. I did it the “quick” way, as you’ll see below.

There are several ways to serve it, and each person who loves the dish prefers it a different way. A “one way” is a bowl of chili alone, a “two way” is spaghetti topped with chili, a “three way” is spaghetti, chili, and a mound of finely shredded mild cheddar, a “four way” a three way with either diced onions or kidney beans, and a “five way” is spaghetti, chili, cheese, beans and onions. My personal preference is a four way with onions, in case you were wondering.

Even though it is a regional dish, you can get Cincinnati chili in cans, although of course it’s better fresh. Regionally, if you don’t feel like making it yourself, head on down to your closest Skyline Chili store.

Cincinnati Chili
Modified from several recipes on Recipezaar

As is, the recipe is soupy - if you like your chili thicker, eliminate the water. This is a double recipe, I usually serve half and freeze half for another meal.

2 lbs. ground beef
1 large white or yellow onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 c. water
4 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 oz. square unsweetened chocolate or 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. beef base or bouillon granules
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
Cayenne pepper or hot sauce, to taste (optional)

For serving:
1 lb box spaghetti, cooked
1 lb. package finely shredded mild cheddar cheese
1 large red onion, diced (optional)
1 can kidney beans, drained (optional)

There’s two different schools of thought on how to make this. Traditionally, you wouldn’t brown the meat first - you’d cook the raw beef in the wet ingredients so it would break up more evenly, and then skim the fat off the next day. If you’re short on time, though - use the method below.

In a Dutch oven over medium high heat, brown ground beef, and then drain off excess fat. Add the onion and garlic, and saute until browned. Add the next 11 ingredients, and cook until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and cover and cook for at least 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions, drain and set aside. To serve, spoon chili mixture over spaghetti, and top with cheese and other desired toppings (onion or kidney beans).