Pot Lucky! Sparkling Summer Punch & Spiced Pork Kebabs

Who doesn’t love getting together to share a meal with friends? In these economic times, with gas making itself way too comfortable at $4.00+ a gallon, we are tightening our collective belts in a variety of ways from cycling to work to cutting back on extras, like trips to Europe or dining out. Spending time with friends isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity, and you don’t have to break the bank to throw a wonderfully memorable party, or picnic!

Lucky for us a favorite nostalgic ritual is making a comeback; re enter the Pot Luck Supper, where each guest contributes to the fun by bringing a dish.

Recipe for a Pot Luck Party
1 generous host
1 lovely home
1 group of your favorite people
1 dish or drink per couple or person
plates, glasses and utensils
a few great cds

• Pick a date
• Combine ingredients
• Enjoy!

In all seriousness, Pot Luck parties really do make for a great time. As a chef, I love it when anyone besides me cooks, so a Pot Luck, where I get to sample an assortment of “yummies”, to quote my 18-month-old daughter, is a real treat.

You can go about it in a variety of ways, from picking a theme, foods and wines of the South of France, for example, or tapas and sangria, or comfort foods, or anything that moves you. It’s nearly impossible to go wrong, unless of course everyone brings dessert and no one brings a beverage or the other way around.

To get you started, here are a just a few recipes my friends, family and clients love.


Sparkling Strawberry and Lemon Punch
1 quart simple syrup
2 or 3 quarts chilled seltzer, or Sprite if you like it sweet
1 pint freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 quarts strawberries, sliced and frozen
ice
fresh mint

• Combine ingredients in a large punchbowl, or a glass cookie jar to improvise
• Serve in pretty glasses or plastic tumblers
• Feel free to add your favorite spirits

Quick Version
2 quarts lemonade
2 or 3 quarts chilled seltzer, or Sprite if you like it sweet
2 boxes of Strawberry “froze fruit” cut into chunks
ice
fresh mint

• Prepare as for above

Spiced Pork Kebabs
2 lbs pork loin, cubed **also can use chicken, beef, lamb, turkey, or even Portobello mushrooms
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
Old Bay Seasoning

• Toss the pork with lime juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper
• Sprinkle liberally with Old Bay Seasoning
• Thread on wooden skewers and grill until cooked through
• I serve this by removing the pork from the skewers; piling it high on a platter and serving it with toasted flatbreads, warm tortillas and assorted hot sauces. Soooooo good!!

Note:
If you don’t have Old Bay, you can use paprika, cumin, garlic powder, turmeric, onion powder, celery salt or any combination thereof. For a spicy kebab, add a good pinch of cayenne. Of course you can certainly also add vegetables like peppers, onions, mushrooms and zucchini, but these little spiced nuggets are so divine on their own the veggies actually aren’t necessary. For more of a “dinner-dinner” you might want to load up the vegetables and serve them skewered.

For more ideas or to learn more about Emily, please visit www.eatlivewell.net

Butternut Squash Soup & Lamb Tagine

Clearly this is hardly seasonal, though it was when I wrote it. While I'm all about regional, seasonal, and seasonally "appropriate" food, I came across this article written by me this past Winter and it cooled me off just thinking about it. So here it is...

When I was a child, the onset of Winter was truly my favorite time of year. Snow-days, especially, held, and still do, a very special place of magic and warmth in my heart. How splendid was the piling on of sweaters and hats and boots and scarves and mittens, such simple measures to enable my best friend at the time, Beth Ann, and I to go out and frolic in the snow for hours until we would return, at twilight, breathless and red cheeked, with snow crusted hair. We’d strip down just inside the back door, layer by layer, then sit cozily around the kitchen table to vast mugs of steaming hot chocolate with marshmallows and some sort of warm cookie, baked just for us with my mother’s new Kitchen Aid mixer, regaling her with tales of sled rides, snowball fights and angelic imprints left in the yard.

Now a “grown up”, with a child of my own, the idea of any form of forced recreation and snug relaxation holds a great deal of charm for me. Now I am the one with my mother’s Kitchen Aid mixer, nurturing my own family on Winter days both snowy and otherwise. As a working mom I am compelled to answer to both of those titles, “working” and “mom”. The working part of the equation is attracted to recipes that are quick and simple to prepare that can literally be created on the run. The mom part longs to nurture my brood with savory, slow and sumptuous cuisine, the kind that simmers for hours filling the house with perfume of the gods.

I think that many of us struggle with that dichotomy so for today, here are two recipes. One for each.

Baked Butternut Squash Soup
prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 30 minutes
serves 4

1 butternut squash
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
nutmeg
olive oil

• Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
• Cut the squash down the middle lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and drizzle lightly with olive oil
• Place cut side down on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until tender
• When cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh directly into the blender (if you don’t have a blender you can use a potato masher for a slightly lumpier though no less delicious soup)

For Soup

• Add stock, salt, pepper and a few shakes of nutmeg
• Blend until smooth
• At mealtime, heat through and serve with a crusty bread and simple salad

Moroccan Lamb Tagine
prep time: 30 minutes
cook time: 2 – 2 ½ hours
serves 4
2 ½ lbs lamb shoulder cut into 2” cubes
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup blanched, sliced almonds
1 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into medium dice
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into ½” half moons
1 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander, ginger and cinnamon
6 tomatoes (or one can peeld tomatoes), roughly diced
1 can chickpeas, drained
½ cup dried apricots
3 – 4 cups hot lamb or vegetable stock
pinch of saffron strands
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
juice of 1 lemon
couscous, to serve – see below

• Heat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
• Heat the oil in a large ovenproof pan and sear the lamb on all sides, remove from pan
• Add spices and almonds and stir to toast
• Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until tender
• Deglaze with tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes until all the good bits are melted back in
• Add lamb, squash, carrots, chickpeas, apricots, stock and saffron
• Season with salt and pepper
• Bring to the boil, then cover and place in oven for 2 – 2 ½ hours or until the lamb is melting and tender (if you don’t have ovenproof cookware, reduce the heat and simmer on top of the stove)
• Stir in the parsley and lemon, and adjust the seasoning
• Serve with couscous

Couscous
2 cups Plain couscous
3 cups boiling water
zest from 1 lemon
½ cup sundried tomatoes

• Pour couscous into a bowl, add chopped, dried tomatoes and lemon zest
• Cover with boiling water and wrap with plastic for 5 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed
• Fluff with fork and serve
• If you like, add chopped parsley or other herbs before serving

Hot & Cold Grilled Salad

For me the absolute best part of the change of seasons is the change of food. Because of where we live, we are actually “fortunate” enough to be able to get our hands on everything all year round. However, we don’t crave light foods in the winter any more than we desire bone-sticking dishes in the summer. When it comes to summer, light and flavorful is the ticket, and nothing says shouts it louder than deliciously grilled salads. Did she say grilled salads? YES! The following is my favorite and even my husband, a self-proclaimed tofu-phobe is a convert – of course you can substitute any number of things. Any left over meat or chicken or anything you have on hand will make a great addition as will any and all vegetable: corn – magnificent, radicchio – ridiculously good, leeks – love ‘em, bok choy – oh boy… You get the picture. The mind wanders, the mouth waters.

If you don’t have an outdoor grill, any countertop variety will do nicely.

Hot & Cold Grilled Salad
2 yams, peeled and cut into ¼ inch slices
1 large eggplant, cut into ¼ inch slices
1 zucchini, cut into ¼ inch slices
1 yellow squash, cut into ¼ inch slices
2 portabello mushrooms – or a big handful of button mushrooms
1 each yellow and red peppers, cut in half and deseeded
1 package Extra Firm Tofu (or other protein if you like)
3 beautiful tomatoes – any kind
2 kirby cucumbers
salad greens – I like romaine lettuce

Marinade
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
¼ cup sesame oil
¼ cup Tamari
¼ cup olive oil - reserve
freshly ground black pepper
sea or kosher salt

1. Combine marinade ingredients except olive oil
2. Brush vegetables lightly with marinade (you can use a brush, your fingers, or even just a quick dip) and grill until soft
3. Toss salad greens with tomatoes, cucumbers and grilled vegetables
4. Add olive oil to remaining marinade and dress salad

IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you are using any kind of animal protein, you cannot use remaining marinade for the dressing. In that case, make a little extra in the beginning and then reserve it.

Simple and Simply Delicious Lasagna

My purpose is to give people power and fulfillment in their lives through the food they eat.

I am always surprised by fabulously successful women, great haircuts, impeccable attire, women who wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a synthetic fabric, yet subsisting on Diet Coke. Technically, diet soda isn’t even food. Consider it “the acrylic” of the food world.

How does this happen? Gorgeous, brilliant people who have no concept of how to take care of themselves where it truly matters, on the inside.

It’s not their fault. None of us are taught this in school. Socially we learn that thinner is better and so we fat free, sugar free ourselves into oblivion. This Diet Coke diet is the socially acceptable, pop culture road to anorexia, and we wonder why we aren’t fulfilled.

I’m not a zealot and I’m certainly not perfect., but I do know a thing or two about food and how it works and I experience the joy of great food on a daily basis.

Imagine eating real meals, the kind that mom made for you growing up, maybe not that exact menu but that feeling of being cared for. Imagine that for yourself. Nothing says “I value myself” more than simple acts of humanity, like eating breakfast, or a real lunch or dinner, not ordered in from the Chinese takeout, again.

Last night I made lasagna and a huge salad. I used Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes, ground chicken, no boil noodles and low fat cheeses. The whole thing took maybe 30 minutes to prepare and because my ingredients were so good and simple it was clean and light and delicious. The best part was that my husband had a good, warming lunch to take to work today.

Here’s how I did it.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic
1 can Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes
1 pint part ricotta cheese, skim
1 cup grated mozzarella, part skim
½ box no boil lasagna noodles
whole nutmeg
fresh herbs - optional

1. heat the oven to 400 degrees
2. sweat the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent
3. add chicken and cook until opaque
4. pour in fire roasted tomatoes, season with salt and pepper
5. simmer for 10 minutes or so (at this point you have Bolognese sauce)
6. you also can season with oregano and basil if you like, but the fire roasted tomatoes are so flavorful I tend not to
7. while this is simmering, add a few gratings of nutmeg, salt and pepper, and any fresh herbs you have on hand to the ricotta cheese and give it a good stir

Assembly:

1. ladle a good layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9” x 9” baking pan
2. top with a layer of noodles, then a layer of ricotta cheese
3. add another layer of noodles, then a layer of sauce
4. continue until all your ingredients are used up and the topmost layer is sauce
5. top with mozzarella, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes
6. remove foil and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes or until the top is browned and bubbly

NOTE: This also freezes incredibly well, and is best if frozen before baking.

About Emily
Emily Klein, founder of Eat Well, Live Well, is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She has learned directly from master chefs in top restaurants in New York City, the Napa Valley and the Piemonte region of Italy, and has studied with naturopaths and educators in the alternative health field. She also instructs a range of cooking classes at the JCC of Manhattan.

Combining her eclectic training and education with her love for cooking and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, Emily brings her passion for “all things kitchen” into your home.

Emily is also founder of Your Kitchen Fairy, featuring fun and yummy cooking classes for kids. www.yourkitchenfairy.com.