Food by Jude   Eat well, live long and have more fun!

Strega Slaw, Black Magic Crostini, Captain Jacks Groggy Pumpkin Pudding

Halloween is almost here. It is the day and evening we celebrate the pranks of pint- sized pillagers roaming the neighborhood - and their sorties of candy extortion. It is symbolized by blood-sucking flying rodents; weird, wraithlike women; man-made monsters, and spirits of the dead, bent upon destruction.

It originated in Ireland – most likely dreamed up, after many a round of pints, by a habitué of a local pub, and I love it!.

On the 31^st of October, we can let our hair down – or put it up, depending upon our costume. We can be old, if we are young, and young if we are old. We can be whomever we please. It is a great time for a party!

A party, of course, is what you make it. Don’t let the middle of the week stop you.  Not going trick or treating yourself? Dress up anyway! When the “trick or treaters” come to your door, be a clown, a nurse, a soldier, or whatever costume you can throw together from what you have at home. The kids will love it!

There’s been a lot of focus on family dinners lately, and that’s a good thing. It only takes two to be a family. So, even if it is just the two of you, this is a good time to celebrate together, and have fun doing it. You don’t have to make an elaborate dinner. A simple one is actually better, since you will probably be interrupted by the candy commandoes.

Everyone has a favorite pasta dish. Whether you make your own sauce, or use one of the excellent ones in jars, substitute farfale (bowties) for the pasta you usually use, and call it “Bat Burgoo”, a specialty of southern Transylvania. I also love cole slaw. It is an easy salad to make, and one that can be made ahead, and lasts for several days. I call my Strega Slaw (strega is Italian for witch).

Since this will be a party, I want to serve an hors ‘d oeuvre. I’ve selected one that was a favorite of my little “pumpkin”, when he was growing up (his birthday is Halloween). Black Magic Crostini, another make-ahead treat is also very easy and made from ingredients we all have on hand.

And, what is Halloween without pumpkin? A pumpkin’s bright orange color is a “dead” give away that it is rich in beta carotene. Beta carotene, when consumed, converts into Vitamin A, which reduces the risk of certain types of cancers. It also protects against heart disease and works to curb the degenerate aspects of the aging process - insuring many, many Halloween parties to come.

I’ve added pumpkin to bread pudding, for a seasonal treat. And, here’s the trick to go with it: most bread pudding recipes are for 10 or more so, I’ve also given instructions for 4 servings.  When I made it the first time, I had pumpkin left over. So, I packed the remainder into those little plastic containers that come with applesauce and individual servings of fruit. They are exactly ½ cup, and well worth keeping after the applesauce is history.

Hope you celebrate Halloween this year, and if you have a rather tall redheaded witch come trick or treating, beware and be ready, she likes Mounds Bars.

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Fake and Fancy Butters, Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce II, Guitless Graham Cracker Crust, Lite Buttercream Glaze

I was having a cup of coffee and a piece of toast the other day, chatting with the Light Buttery Spread I was using. “Do you know you I can help you lower the fat in that special chocolate sauce you make?”, he asked. “You’re just trying to butter me up”, I replied.

“Seriously!”, he continued. “I have lots of other uses. For example, when mixed with crushed graham crackers, I make a dynamite pie crust with only 4 grams of fat per serving!”

“You’re teasing me, it says right there on your label, ‘not for baking or frying’”, I retorted.

“Yes, you’re right. But, I have lots of other uses. For example, I can be used in sauce packages that call for butter. I taste great when mixed with hot cooked vegetables, make really, really great spreads for breads and biscuits and, wait ‘til you taste my butter cream glaze. Try me, I dare you!”

He was so fired up, I was afraid he would melt, right there on the table! “Ok, I’ll try you out”.

The very next day, I picked up two different name brands of light buttery spread. Both are trans-fat free and have only 5 grams of total fat per tablespoon (regular butter or margarine has 11 grams of fat per tablespoon!). One spread is even lactose free and contains Omega-3, a valuable fighter against heart disease.

His first suggestion was the chocolate sauce. I love this sauce, and I was afraid that it wouldn’t be as good – I was wrong (I had already successfully modified it by using cocoa powder instead of baking chocolate squares, but this seemed to be quite a drastic measure).  But, he was right!  It worked great. This homemade chocolate sauce is really easy to make, and makes a great holiday gift. Be sure to make a label or a tag with the nutritional information.

Next I tried the graham cracker crust (the low fat graham crackers was my idea). He was right again. Then, I made some Alfredo sauce from a package – and voila, another keeper.

One of the unsung benefits of these spreads is that they last for such a long time in the refrigerator (don’t freeze them). So, we can have the regular no trans-fat spread for cooking and baking, and the ultra low fat - light buttery spread for toast, sauces and chocolate sauce.

I learned a lot talking to my pal “Lighty”. It is possible to enjoy all the buttery goodness of butter with out turning into the proverbial butterball. Some might think it unusual that I was chatting with my light buttery spread, but, if it’s ok to talk to horses and dogs, why not food? I am looking forward to more gabfests with groceries, and I’ll pass along what they tell me.

Maybe I will add “Food Whisperer“ to my resume!

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Bar T Barbecue Sauce, Bronco Barbecue Bread & Chuck Wagon Vinagrette

Do you ever feel like a jalapeno in a nuclear reactor, at the moment of meltdown? So it seems when you are stuck in a hot kitchen during a heat wave. Even barbecuing burgers in the back forty, can be a blistering business when the thermometer is on a collision course with Mars.

There are alternatives however; you can eat out, take out, order in, or make something quick, cool and nutritious, that your family will love. I call this the Salad Solution.

I don’t mean just a bowl of greens and some sticky dressing, I mean a creative repast based upon things your family likes. Open the door to the fridge. Do you have some lettuce, spinach or cabbage? How about some cooked meat, poultry or fish or cheese?  Do you see any frozen vegetables in the freezer? Now, look in the pantry. Find any canned beans? Do you have some bread, pasta, rice or couscous? If you answered yes to most of these questions, you have the ingredients for a myriad of interesting salads that require little or no cooking.

Let’s say your family loves pizza. Put some salad greens in a bowl, add diced tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, onions, diced salami, grated mozzarella or parmesan,  or what ever pizza toppings you like, and toss it with a vinaigrette or Italian dressing spiced up a little with garlic and oregano ( for the taste of Italian Sausage, add some crushed fennel seeds). If you have croutons, throw them in. Or perhaps stuff it into toasted and split pita bread; or fold it into a tortilla wrap.

Taco salad is a snap when made with a can of chili with beans, lettuce, shredded cheese, avocado, etc. and tortilla chips.

Left over chicken can be turned into a Chinese Chicken salad quicker than you can say “fortune cookie”. Slice the chicken thinly, toss with shredded cabbage or iceberg lettuce. Add whatever Asian ingredients you have on hand; such as frozen snow peas, canned water chestnuts, etc. and /or sliced celery, radishes, mushrooms, broccoli or bell pepper (microwave frozen vegetables). Add crunch in the form of bacon bits and sliced almonds. For a quick dressing, blend ¼ cup apricot preserves with ½ cup rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and 2 teaspoons soy sauce.

In the Mediterranean, entrée salads are very popular, and none more than Salade Nicoise which is essentially cooked and marinated red potatoes and green beans, heavily garnished with tuna, hard cooked eggs, Nicoise olives and tomatoes. I can hear you thinking already. Yes, you could substitute salmon, crab or shrimp! I also like it with sliced or diced ham. Green beans could be substituted with cooked asparagus, ripe olives could stand in for the Nicoise olives. Gorgonzola could be added instead of eggs. Boil the potatoes in the morning and chill until you are ready. Mix it up with a garlic infused oil and vinegar dressing.

The classic Elleniki Salatas, aka Greek Salad, is most welcome on a hot and muggy evening. Like its French counterpart, it is a combination of readily available ingredients, which are customized for the tastes of the diner. Typical ingredients are cucumbers, tomatoes, Greek olives and feta cheese, combined with lettuce and tossed with an olive oil based vinaigrette flavored with lemon juice and oregano. This is the perfect setting for some cooked plump prawns. Toss them with a little dressing before adding them to the salad.

Back to the USA, the always popular Caesar salad can be beefed up with chicken, seafood, and yes, even thinly sliced grilled steak. Imagine what a 4 ounce filet mignon could do!

I love salads, and I love the idea of tossing something together on the spur of the moment. It makes me feel “hot”.

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Walnut Apricot Chicken & Tomato Ricotta Bread

They say you can’t teach an old dog - new tricks.  Well, I’m not so sure. Maybe Rover is thinking, “these are the tricks, folks, like ‘em or leave ‘em”. Actually, this dog invested a lot of time in teaching his owner to give him a treat when he did some silly trick.  It works, so why change it?

A lot of people feel that way about technology. Just when we finally got used to VCR’s, some wise guy had to invent TIVO! Convection ovens are similar; many have them but alas, never fire them up.

I’ve been using a convection oven since the earth was still cooling. I was too naïve at the time, to realize this was a new and different approach to cooking. Someone showed me how it worked, and I say “okay, cool”, which was a really dumb thing to say about an oven.

But, I love it. I use my convection oven nearly everyday – just like the astronauts on the space shuttle.  When the shuttle was redesigned in 1991, a convection oven was added to the galley.

Let’s clear the air about convention ovens: you don’t have to be a rocket scientist or an astronaut to use one. A convection oven is a REGULAR OVEN with a fan in the back – pure and simple. Turn on the oven, and the fan comes on. The fan blows the hot air around the oven, eliminating cool spots, insuring even cooking and baking; and doing it a lot faster. Think of it like a hair drier. Your hair dries faster because the hot air is blowing on it.

There are two simple rules to converting any recipe to the convection oven:

1. Lower the temperature by 25 degrees
2. Reduce the cooking/baking time by 20%

For example, a casserole which bakes at 350 for 1 hour in a regular oven, will be adapted to 325 degrees for 48 minutes in a convection oven. In addition to faster cooking and lower temperature, you can save on utility bills.

A convection oven preheats quicker. And, you can cook or bake several pans or trays of foods at the same time, without worrying if they will cook or bake evenly. Think of the time and money saved during the holidays, when you’re making all those cookies.  You can bake 3 or 4 trays at a time!.

Because the air is blowing around the oven, I like to cover things like cheesy casseroles during the last ½ of baking time so they don’t get too crusty. This is not necessary with things like rolls, soufflés, roasts, cakes or pizza. If you’re the crusty type, you’ll love your convection oven. Prime Rib and bread, baked in one of these babies, are nothing short of sensational.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  If you use your convection oven, you could bake the yams, green bean casserole and rolls at the same time – in the same oven; while the turkey is resting (more on the turkey and trimmings in upcoming columns). Take the weeks before the holiday season kicks off, to experiment with using your convection oven. First, dust it off and remove the cobwebs, then read the manual.

See, you can teach an old dog, new tricks.  Just don’t roll–over and play dead on the kitchen floor, somebody might trip over you.

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