SPINACH

SPINACH
Spring’s arrival is trumpeted by fresh asparagus, spinach, fiddlehead ferns, ramps at the local farmers’ market, and Georgia’s renowned Vidalia sweet onions in supermarkets. They are all so simple to cook. Removing their sand is the only inhibitor to their delicious appearance at the dining table. Washing it all as part of the marketing day, not as part of cooking, removes the onus and makes it a welcome table treat. Varying spinach with the alternatives below surprises and delights guests.

Iron skillet or wok

1 large Vidalia onion, diced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 pound spinach, rinsed 3 times, spun dry, stored in the refrigerator drawer
freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg

1. Heat the skillet or wok. Add the chopped onions, then the oil. Sauté until onions are soft and have begun to tan.
2. While the onions are cooking, chop spinach in all directions. Medium chop. Cooked, this will produce a texture between frozen chopped spinach and baby food.
3. Pile all of the chopped spinach on top of the onions. Do NOT stir. Lid the skillet, if desired. Cook about 3 minutes.
4. Begin to toss until spinach stems are soft. Season and serve hot.
ALTERNATIVES:
*Whole Leaf: Wash & Spin. Refrigerate. Heat pan very hot. Add oil, then icy cold spinach. Toss spinach only 2-3 times. Serve tepid, heaped dramatically high and glossy on plate. Spinach should retain its leaf shape and intense fresh flavor.
*Creamed Spinach: Add 3 Tablespoons cream cheese just before tossing. For a more moist product add a Tablespoon or two of sour cream as well.
*Poultry Stuffing: Add 1/4 cup cooked rice or bread crumbs, ½ cup grated parmesan cheese and dried oregano before tossing. Raw or cooked mushrooms can be added, too.
*Arugula, Mustard or Dandelion Greens: Add one bunch of any of these, chopped, to the spinach for a more flavorful dish of highly nutritious dark greens.
*Leeks: Add the washed, cut, green tops of 1 bunch of leeks to the onions and cook until they are soft before adding rough-cut spinach. Food process until smooth. Reheat and serve hot. White parts of leeks can be steamed in broth and served on top of spinach mixture or saved, cooked, for later use as a salad.
*Ramps (Wild Leeks): Wash, skin and cut roots off bulbs. Add chopped bulbs to onions, giving onions a slight head start. Chop leaves and add to spinach.
*Asparagus: Wash. Pare stems. Cut 1" off bottom of spears. Place in rapidly boiling water (either steam or submerge spears) for exactly 8 minutes. Drain immediately and serve attractively on or beside a bed of spinach.
©NANCY BOOKMAN HOFFMAN
May 16, 2008
RECIPES\SPINACH.VEG

ROASTED PEPPERS

pre-heated broiler
½ sheet pan covered with foil
covered container or
brown paper bag

3 peppers
**************************************************************************************
1. Cut the tops and bottoms off of the peppers at the end of the natural curves.
2. Remove the stems and discard.
3. Place tops and bottoms, skin sides up, on the prepared sheet pan.
4. Slice the body of the pepper open lengthwise at a place where the pepper humps.
5. Lay the pepper skin side down. With the tip of a knife remove the pithy white ribs and seeds. Discard them.
6. Place the cleaned pepper centers skin side up, flat, on the baking sheet.
7. Broil the peppers until they are evenly black all over.
8. As the pieces blacken, transfer them to lidded container or closed paper bag to steam.
9. When they are cool enough to handle, place one piece at a time, skin side up, on a plate or cutting board. Peel off blackened skin and discard.
Use a napkin or a piece of paper towel to keep hands clean. Messy work.
10. Cleaned roasted peppers can be served as is, or sliced in strips, diamond patterns or cut into shapes with miniature cookie cutters. Full of vitamins, they add wonderful flavor and color to any dish, cold or hot.
©NANCY BOOKMAN HOFFMAN
March 11, 2008
RECIPES\ROASTPEP.VEG

TEMPERATURES

There are a few temperatures to know by heart. They are particularly important for cooks. It's good to see them on a list making special note of normal human body temperature.

Fahrenheit Temperatures
32 degrees Freezing
45 degrees Temperature of City water entering a house
68-72 degrees Comfortable daytime room temperature
98.6 degrees **** Normal human body temperature
110-115 degrees Best water temperature to activate dry yeast
212 degrees Boiling water
325-375 degrees Oven temperatures for most roasting/baking
500-600 degrees Commercial pizza ovens

Note that water entering a house must be brought up to boiling to produce steam for heat.
The solar panels on my house in the north-east heat that water to 85 degrees in winter and 110-115 degrees in summer. That saves a lot of expensive fuel. Installation of a solar hot water system represents a very small percentage of the cost of building a new house. We wish the world would catch on faster to this enormous energy saver.

Baked Ham

This is one of the easiest of all dishes to prepare. Be sure to have it in the house over holidays when schedules are abandoned and people traipse in and out of the kitchen hungry. It can be eaten hot or cold, any time of day or night. Best of all, it keeps well and seems to serve many meals and/or snacks.

212 F
1 hour
325 F.
1 hour

1⁄2 bone-in smoked ham
sherry (New York State Taylor Golden, or any medium domestic brand)
cloves
1 1⁄2 teaspoons dry mustard
currant jelly
fruit decorations (pineapple slices, candied cherries, kumquats)


1. Optional for salty hams: Boil ham in water to cover for one hour. (@ 212 F). (Eliminate this step if label says ham is fully cooked and tough outer rind is missing.)

2. Place ham in a deep baking pan that just fits the roast. Add half and half sherry and water (or fruit juice, ginger ale or coca cola) to a depth of one inch to the pan.

3. Bake at 325 F. for an hour. Remove from the oven. While the tough outer rind is hot, quickly peel it back from the ham, using a butcher's knife. Discard. Score the remaining fat lightly in a diamond pattern. The score marks will deepen with cooking. Stud the intersections of the pattern with whole cloves.

4. Return ham to the oven and continue to cook the number of minutes per pound written on the package, if the ham is only partially cooked. So long as there is liquid in the pan, the ham can easily remain in the oven longer.

5. Thirty minutes before serving ham, spread the entire surface with currant jelly or jam ... any kind will do.

6. Remove ham from oven. Decorate with fruits, using 1⁄2 toothpicks to hold them in place. Let ham rest at least ten minutes before carving.

7. To the pan juices, add 1⁄2 teaspoon dry mustard and a teaspoon of Guldens mustard. Sherry can be added, too. Taste for balance. Reduce juices to thicken over heat. Pour into a tall container to allow fat to rise to the surface for easy removal. Serve hot gravy with cooked ham.

©NANCY BOOKMAN HOFFMAN
November 21, 2000, December 5, 20007
RECIPES\HAM.MET

Ham & String Bean Casserole

HAM & STRING BEAN CASSEROLE

At the end of the BAKED HAM, when there is still plenty of meat on the bone, but no real slices, cut off all the bits and pieces and combine them in this recipe for another meal. Meanwhile freeze the bone to use to make a great SPLIT PEA, LENTIL, BLACK or other BEAN SOUP.
Alma Bookman

350 F.
30-40 minutes
deep skillet
oven casserole

ham fat
1 1⁄2 - 2 cups leftover ham, cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion, sliced or chopped
4 oz. cream cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1⁄2 Tablespoons wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Worchestershire Sauce
1 cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated or chopped
1 cup Swiss or Emmenthaler cheese, grated or chopped
freshly ground black pepper
1 1⁄2 pounds string beans, trimmed and cut or 2 10 oz packages French-cut frozen
Parmesan cheese, grated for topping

Optionals:
garlic, minced
eschallots, minced
fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
mozzarella cheese, grated or chopped
bread crumbs to combine with Parmesan for topping
butter to dot the top


1. Pull any pieces of fat from ham and render them in the skillet to make a Tablespoon of fat. Discard rendered fat pieces. Add the onions (garlic and eschallots) and sauté in remaining ham grease until just starting to brown.

2. Turn off flame. Add cream cheese to the warm pan and stir with a wooden spatula until it is melted and all the brown bits from the pan are combined in it.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the ham, beans and topping. Stir to combine.

4. Place cut-up ham in bottom of casserole. Add green beans. Pour mushroom soup mixture evenly over the beans.

5. Distribute topping evenly and dot with bits of butter, if desired.

6. Bake in a pre-heated oven. Serve piping hot by digging to the bottom and including ham with each spoonful. Add good black or rye bread on the side for a one dish meal.

©NANCY BOOKMAN HOFFMAN December 2, 2003, December 5, 2007 RECIPES\HAMBEANS.MET

Boston Baked Beans

This dish is a great accompaniment to BAKED HAM. The beans are also wonderful served inside an omelet, or, just eat them with frankfurters.
from Marie St. Louis, Bostonian

250 F
1⁄2 hour, then 4-5 hours, then 1⁄2 hour
large pot
crock pot, or oven-ready pot with lid

4 cups dried pea, navy or Great Northern beans
3 medium onions
2 teaspoons salt
3-4 cloves (stuck in onion)
1⁄2 cup molasses
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 cups water
1⁄2 pound salt pork


1. Cover beans with water. Bring to a boil. Let soak in that water one hour.

2. Bring to a boil again. Add 1 onion and salt. Cover and simmer slowly 30 minutes.

*3. Drain water and onion. Heat oven to 250 F. Place a few pieces of the salt pork on the bottom of crock. Set onion stuck with cloves on top of them. Cover with beans. Combine other ingredients (less 1/4 cup brown sugar), plus 2 cups water. Add to crock. Push salt pork just below surface. Cover tightly and cook 41⁄2-5 hours.

4. Remove crock from oven. Remove lid and add remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Return to oven and bake 1⁄2 hour. Serve.

Editor's Notes: Beans get better each time dish is reheated, therefore they can easily be made at least a day ahead of serving time. Beware: adding salt can toughen beans and prevent them from ever softening. Salt at end. Bacon, cut into tiny bits can be substituted for salt pork. *Alternatively, soak dried beans overnight in twice the amount of water as beans and start cooking at #3, above.

©NANCY BOOKMAN HOFFMAN
July 6, 1999, December 5, 2007
RECIPES/BKDBEANS.VEG

Valentine Hearts - COEUR À LA CRÈME

1 pound cream cheese
1 stick vanilla bean
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 quart heavy cream, whipped


Beat together cream cheese, vanilla bean seeds and sugar. Whip cream separately and fold in. Pour into **pierced heart molds lined with wet cheese cloth. **Try putting a double paper towel under doubled cheese cloths if the molds are not pierced. Allow molds to drain in the refrigerator over night.

SAUCE
¼ cup dry sherry
3/4 cup currant jelly
1½ cups sliced* fresh strawberries soaked in
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
orange peel *

Cook sherry and jelly slowly until jelly is dissolved. When cool, add the rest of the ingredients.
NOTE: Leave the leaves on several strawberries. * Slice a strawberry in half from the stem down to the tip. Using the tip of a sharp tipped knife, make several small slices from 1/4 inch down from the hull to the tip. Fan strawberry out decoratively on the heart(s). Add finely julienned orange peel strips for additional glamour.
© NANCY BOOKMAN HOFFMAN
February 28, 1993, February 10, 2008
RECIPES\COEUR.DES