Care Package Cookies

The kitchen is my playground. It’s my place of cooking and virtual carthweels, meditatively mixing this and that to make good things to savor and share. Sharing is the best part. Anytime I am in crisis mode, the kitchen comforts. A poem my daughter’s boyfriend sent me from London referred to cooking as a ‘zipline to peace.’

Yes it is.

An unexpected trip to the O.R. for my daughter had me baking for the medical teams just yesterday. The saddest part was that she was required to fast after midnight the night before. Here I was that morning, infusing the whole house with the aroma of chocolate chip cookies. She admitted to being tortured. I apologized.

Most of the twenty-ish surgeries she had prior to this happened nowhere near home and we were more in survival mode than self-care. This surgery was different. We slept in our own beds the night before and didn’t have to make a hospital appearance at pre-dawn. (I even got to keep my morning hair appointment and do a little shopping)! This was a quick procedure to extract a misbehaving screw from a hardware plate from the lateral part of her left ankle. It looked like it might just erupt from the skin. Instead she got a tidy incision to remove it and will get back to walking after a little downtime.

When we escaped from New York almost three years ago and re-started her medical miracle here in Baton Rouge, just as we were promised, the care teams have treated us like family. We keep them on speed dial! BIG Shout out to Baton Rouge Orthopedic Clinic and their exceptional surgeons and all the support staff. Thank you cookies help spread our gratitude. Happy Cooking!

Packed in a pretty loaf pan, tied with a ribbon and hand-delivered — is there a better way to say thanks?!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know what you’re thinking: ‘another chocolate chip cookie recipe, really?!’ And the answer is yes! This one is worth its weight in gold and is the result of much testing by the award winning author David Leite of Leite’s Culinaria and I found it in The Essential New York Times Cookbook where they credit Leite’s exhaustive testing to create the best version of the beloved cookie. I give it my own little twist, making the cookies half the size suggested and giving the cookie sheet a whack on the counter as soon as I pull it from the oven. My mom taught me this trick a million years ago and it gives the cookies a wrinkly surface rather than domed tops. A couple of tips: —a kitchen scale is a baker’s dream! The recipe is infallible if you weigh rather than measure the ingredients and it is so fast! —King Arthur Flour is my preferred flour —My shopping had me in the cutest bakeshop in Baton Rouge, CounterSpaceBR where I found a cookie dough scoop and decorative loaf pans that are perfect for packing up cookies for sharing. I much prefer shopping local to the mega mailorder situation. —A word on chocolate for chips: my absolute fave is the dark brown bag of Ghirardelli bittersweet chips which are 60% cacao. They are less sweet and larger than the customary ‘semisweet’ chips and they stay melty even when the cookies are cool. —Lastly, this recipe makes a mountain of cookies. It halves easily if you’d rather just make a little hill of cookies. I’ll say it again—Happy Cooking (and sharing!)

• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 Tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

• 1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for sprinkling

• 2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, slightly softened

• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) packed light brown sugar

• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 1/4 pounds (20 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips or disks

COMBINE the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Use a whisk to blend the ingredients together.

CREAM the butter, brown sugar and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer) on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes. Turn off the mixer and scrape the bowl once or twice. When the mixture is creamy and light, add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Stir in the vanilla. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

TRANSFER the dough to an airtight container (or keep it in the mixing bowl and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap pressed against the surface of the dough) and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.

BAKE! Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop the dough into golfball sized balls onto the baking sheet, leaving a couple inches between cookies to prevent them from connecting in the oven. Sprinkle each cookie with a few grains of coarse salt and bake until golden brown with soft centers and set edges, about 8 to 12 minutes (timing depends on temperature of dough, the type of baking sheet and the oven. Truly no two are alike!) When the cookies are done to your preference, remove the sheet from the oven and give it a gentle rap on the counter to deflate the cookies into wrinkly perfection. (Careful if you have fancy counters).

COOL the cookies for a minute or two on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. OR enjoy them warm with a friend.

Makes about 3 dozen 3 -inch cookies

Merry Memories

It is true what they say:  A picture IS worth a thousand words.  Ever comfortable in yoga pants and a fleecy sweatshirt, I jazzed my uniform up a bit for the holidays--jeans and a sweater and I was ready to go.

My daughter Reilly, our resident fashion consultant urged, “Everybody!  Let’s get dressed up for a photo...”  We were going to cook dinner--Christmas dinner--at my in-laws’ home an hour away.  Comfort was key.  I reluctantly changed into a dress and tugged my signature ponytail loose to let my hair down.   We packed up the car with all the supplies to prepare our traditional holiday feast the moment we arrived:  beef tenderloin, tiny red-skin potatoes, fresh green beans, salad greens and acoutrements, and the piece d’ resistance:  a fresh-from-the-oven bar of espresso brownies and classic vanilla ice cream from Ellen’s Homemade.  I ran through the mental checklist, called it good and off we went.

Eager to get dinner started, I headed straight for the kitchen, pushed up my sleeves, and unpacked our goods.  No sooner had I preheated the oven than I was beckoned for the photo-op.  I took my time strolling from my mother-in-law Claire’s immaculate kitchen to the living room’s magnificent stone fireplace, the scene of our impromptu portrait.

“Stand here, look this way, SMILE,” and moments later I was allowed to get back to the business at hand.  Cooking.  With my family, for my family.  It’s my absolute happy place.  It’s in my blood and brings complete contentment.  The girls gathered in and went to task, snapping the stems from the green beans, scrubbing and halving the potatoes, spinning the lettuce for salad.  The fire crackled from the stone fireplace.  Over the river and through the woods.

“Six o’clock,” Claire answered, as if being surveyed.  “Let’s shoot for six.” We had ample time to prepare the components of our feast.  This menu never wavers, as much as I try.  My suggestions fall on deaf ears as far as our Christmas meal goes.   Any other day of the year, this crew is game to switch things up.  Not today.

With one oven, we stagger the cooking with an assumed timeline.  First the potatoes.  Classic, simply cut in half, tossed with olive oil and a generous sprinkle of coarse salt (our at-stove-and-table favorite is the locally produced JQ Dickinson Saltworks, handmade by seventh generation salt makers in nearby Malden, West Virginia).  The potatoes roast, cut sides down until they are golden on the bottom.

We pull the potatoes to standby position, ready to be quickly heated when the tenderloin is done. A holiday treat, the beef is rubbed with good olive oil fresh garlic, salt, and a shower of black pepper.  Pop it in the hot hot oven and it’s perfectly cooked 25 minutes later.  We let it rest while the potatoes go back in to reheat.

Italian green beans simmer on the stove with tons of fresh garlic, a bit of tomato and a kiss of Sherry.  The combination creates a fragrant dressing for the just-tender beans.  Delicious. For some reason I only make these at Christmas.  I make a note to put them in regular rotation.

If I insist, my crew will allow some level of variation on our salad.  I love simply dressed greens with red pear, Gorgonzola, and toasted pecans.  Or crisp romaine with a bright cranberry dressing and slices of tart apple.  This year the votes went in favor of a favorite weeknight recipe, “Dressed in the Bowl Caesar.”  The girls made big curls of Parmesan to jazz it up.

Six o’clock was fast approaching.  The table, a massive round that comfortably seats the 12 of us, is set with candles glowing. We, in the no longer immaculate kitchen, staged a buffet on Claire’s butcher block island.  The fireside crew filed in to fill their plates.

Each of the 12 seats filled instantly and glasses raised to good health and many blessings.  Then quiet, accented with the happy cadence of forks and knives.  The conversation resumes and someone announces ‘this is the best ever!’  Because more hands are involved?  Because we are together at one big table?  We have graduated, all grown up, grateful palates.

The fire, which has been carefully tended throughout, beckons.  The earlier fireside crew takes dish duty and the cooking committee breaks out dessert.  The bar of espresso brownie, once a staple I crafted daily at a local restaurant, is now on stage.  “One or two triangles?” the girls inquire.  They ornately plate the brownies with a scoop of Ellen’s vanilla and a spoonful of raspberry-cherry compote. 

I have begged to switch up dessert, offering centerpiece-worthy Bouche de Noel or one of those magazine cover desserts that taunts you, making you impulsively buy the magazine with every intention of getting around to the project (I vividly recall one such ‘cake project’ for my brother-in-law’s birthday, a genoise with multiple fillings, enrobed in a wide chocolate band and topped with huge curls of dark and white chocolate, while dutifully assisted by one toddler).  These festive ideas are always rejected in favor of The Brownie.

Once the kitchen is spiffed back into Claire’s preferred level of tidiness, no one is left standing.  The fire wins and those who do not succumb to the happy food coma launch into lively and fiercely competitive rounds of charades.  I’m a shoo in for the food coma and happily listen to the shouts of the revelers, “book!  Two words, first word, sounds like!” as I drift into dreams of total serenity, occasionally regaining consciousness when the fire pops like the Fourth of July or there is an exceptionally animated charades performer.  I accidentally engage in the game and am offered a turn.  I accept, sleepwalk to the stone hearth-stage, and do my best with my charades draw.  I want to freeze this frame. Christmas with family in West Virginia.

ESPRESSO BLONDIES

A family favorite for all occasions! These have had a seat at many tables since I hosted my first West Virginia Christmas in my Charleston home in…1995! We moved the festivities to my in-laws’ when they built their home near the rim of the Gorge in the early 2000’s. Our Merry Memories in Baton Rouge began five years ago when we left the mountains of WV for sunny Louisiana.

• 1 ½ cups unbleached flour*

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• 6 ounces (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cool room temp

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 cup light brown sugar

• 2 eggs (large)

• 2 Tablespoons instant coffee powder dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water (I use Maxwell House—can use ‘Sanka’ for decaf)

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 cup chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli)

Position the rack in the center of the oven.  Preheat to 325.  Butter a 13x9x2” inch baking pan (I use a metal pan, and I line it with foil to make cutting easier—but not necessary. 

Put the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.

Put the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer and mix on medium speed for 15 seconds.  Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat until the butter and sugars are creamed thoroughly, about 1 minute.  Decrease the speed to low and mix in the eggs, dissolved espresso, and vanilla, mixing just until the eggs are incorporated.  THE MIXTURE WILL LOOK CURDLED.  Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl once during this mixing.  Slowly add the flour mixture and mix just until the flour is incorporated and the mixture is smooth.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center no longer has liquid clinging to it, but the brownies still feel soft, 28-35 minutes.

Let cool completely, then cut into 12 squares (I cut each square into triangles)

*VERY IMPORTANT!!

Unbleached flour has a higher protein content than ‘all-purpose’ and is the best flour in this recipe.  

The mixing times are also important—I have ‘over-mixed’ the batter and it doesn’t turn out well.

Happy Baking!

Thanksgiving in May

May is a month of many milestones for our family. Our first two daughters were born in May, the first one arriving precisely on Mother’s Day! How did I get so lucky?! Our third daughter was due in May. Smart girl waited to make her debut on the first of June so she gets a special month to herself! We’ve celebrated three high school graduates in May and our first two college grads in May (June baby is graduating a semester early in December!) We eat a lot of cake in May, hooray!

We’ve added a new milestone to the month and I’m calling it Day of Thanksgiving, celebrating my daughter’s miracle. Two years ago on the fourth of May, Reilly Hamilton survived the unthinkable: an accidental seven story fall from the roof of her apartment in New York. When doctors and police are sharing this information over the phone, there is no believing it and two years later it sometimes still feels like a recurring nightmare. It’s real and the unexpected detour that has rattled us all has also made us stronger and forever grateful!

There’s a long list of love letters to write, really thank you notes from the bottom of my heart! We’ve been showered with gifts galore and had scores of visitors to various hospitals and our home. We have an unparalleled team of medical professionals who have reassembled Reilly and continue to shower her with praise. Then there’s a tiny pile of hate mail that could go out to nameless villains who have thrown barbed wire hurdles in our path. We forge ahead with our emotions skipping around like a scratched up vinyl record: Fear, joy, hope, frustration, patience. So much gratitude, occasional heart stopping despair. Repeat. 

The first year milestone came just days after Reilly had an incapacitating revision surgery, her twentieth trip to the O. R. She was motionless and emotional, choosing to cry it out in her dark bedroom rather than wheelchair anywhere. Now that we have arrived at the second year mark of this life-altering incident, things are looking a whole lot brighter!! When I brainstormed this concept of thanksgiving and shared it with Chuck, he didn’t skip a beat in asking, “Can we have turkey?”

Turkey it is! We made a quick version of a traditional Thanksgiving feast and it’s one I’ll file away any time the craving strikes! (Note: keep a turkey breast in your freezer for just such an occasion). Our rescuer neighbor friends Canette and Chris joined us to feast and toast. We have a lot to celebrate! I shared our plans with my friend Laura who had a turkey breast in her freezer. She said she’d join us from afar. Learning that my friend Pam had defrosted a turkey breast to grill the same day as my feast reminded me of the power of this universe and the forever friendships that have helped see us through this chapter I call trauma timeout. We are ready to close this door behind us, letting new light shine through to illuminate a sunnier path ahead.

Welcome to our new family tradition: Day of Thanksgiving in May! This one is start to finish in a couple of hours with a tiny prep step the day before. Read ahead for perfect turkey any time the craving strikes

Buttermilk-Brined Turkey Breast

From the exceptional cooking teacher and cookbook author Samin Nosrat via New York Times. Sharing her recipe with tremendous thanks for decoding the way to a super juicy turkey breast! I followed her steps almost to the letter (my boneless turkey was a pound larger than she suggests. It was cooked to perfection in one hour). While it roasted, I worked on my mashed potatoes and roasted some halved Brussels sprouts the last 20 minutes of the turkey time.

• 2 cups buttermilk

• 33 grams (2 Tablespoons) fine sea salt

• 1 half turkey breast (about 2 1/2 pounds), on or off the bone

One to two days before you plan to cook, place buttermilk and salt in a gallon-size resealable bag and stir to dissolve the salt. Place the turkey breast in the bag and seal, carefully expelling the air. Squish the bag to distribute buttermilk all around the turkey, place on a rimmed plate, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Samin says “if you’re inclined, you can turn the bag periodically so every part of the turkey gets marinated, but that’s not essential.” My turkey did not get this much attention.

Two hours before you plan to start cooking, remove the turkey from the plastic bag and scrape off as much buttermilk as you can without being obsessive. Discard buttermilk, set the breast on a rimmed plate and bring it to cool room temperature.

Position rack in the upper third of the oven and heat to 425. Place breast skin-side up on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a wire rack or parchment paper.

Place baking sheet on the oven rack and roast the turkey until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the breast without touching bone registers 160 degrees (Samin suggests 150, I went with 160 on my 3 1/2 pounder which took an hour and it was juicy!), about 40 minutes for a boneless breast or 50 minutes for a bone-in breast. (You may want to tent the breast with aluminum foil if it’s darkening too quickly).

Transfer turkey to a cutting board or platter and allow to rest at least 15 minutes before carving. Serve with your favorite giving thanks sides and celebrate life. Happy cooking!

Brown Butter Jam Bars

Buttery pastry that does double duty + beautiful jam = sweet happiness in finals week (or any time!)

My house is quiet for a change. I’ve gotten accustomed to turbulence and prefer it. Where did everybody go?! The empty nest filled up and just like the tide, the crowd receded again. I’m never sure if I’m cooking for two or ten, so I shop for plenty, just in case. Imagine my delight when my college junior called for a little meal prep assistance for finals’ week! She has been inundated with projects and presentations and now exams in another not exactly ‘in-person’ (read: super stressful) semester. She lives close enough to home to swing by for dinner any day of the week. Instead, I offered to deliver my care package in the name of her favorite comfort foods: hand-breaded crispy chicken tenders and mashed potatoes, whipped to fluffy goodness with a bit of peel to ensure the real potato effect. For an in between snack or breakfast or dessert, I baked a pan of jam bars which were inspired by a beautiful jar of St. Dalfour black raspberry jam that came home in my oversized grocery run. Toast and jam is nice, but brown butter jam bars are hard to beat! Any care package delivery needs a little sweet treat and these even freeze and ship well! Don’t delay, send a care package today:)

Cut these into little squares for serving or keep in larger slabs to wrap and freeze or ship!

Brown Butter Jam Bars

Not to worry, you don’t need to fuss with the browning of the butter here. It happens magically in the oven when you bake the bars. Use your best and favorite jam here. I used St. Dalfour black raspberry and every taste tester raved! In the past I’ve used a recipe from my trusty Betty Crocker cookie book which uses walnuts and raspberry preserves. I didn’t have any nuts on hand, so I searched for a formula that included almond flour and oats. Here’s my twist on a recipe from the Pioneer Woman.

• 1 cup unbleached flour

• 1/2 cup almond flour

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats

• 1 cup packed brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (2 sticks/8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into large cubes (cool room temp)

• 1 jar (10 to 12 ounces) of your favorite jam

HEAT the oven to 350. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with parchment paper*

COMBINE flour, almond flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Toss in the butter cubes and stir with a rubber spatula or clean hands (or the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) to blend the butter into the dry ingredients with some small clumps remaining. This will make a nice crumble on top of the bars.

SCATTER about two-thirds of the crumbly dough into the prepared baking pan and smash it into an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Spoon the jam in little dollops on top of the dough base and carefully spread it to the edges using the back of the spoon.

SPRINKLE the jam layer with the remaining dough crumbles.

BAKE until your whole house smells amazing! Actually you’ll have to peek in around 25 minutes in. The jam will be bubbling a bit and the edges of the crust will be caramelized brown and the top crumbles will be golden and almost set. Depending on your oven, it could take another 10 minutes for a total of 35. Let them cool in the pan on a rack before cutting and serving and certainly before wrapping and shipping. Using a long edge of the parchment, slide the whole bar onto a cutting board and cut into squares/slabs/shape of your preference. Store in an airtight container for up to a week or well wrapped and frozen for 3 months. Preferably, deliver to your student without hesitation.

Makes about 2 dozen

Happy Cooking!

*Forget about diamonds…parchment paper is a girl’s best friend! To make getting the bars out of the pan a breeze, line it with an oversized sheet of parchment paper. I turn my pan upside down and fold the sheet to the size of the bottom of the pan with some overhang. Flip the pan back over and the sheet fits right in with edges extending above the sides of the pan. Ready for action.

Summer at Camp

When my youngest daughter was 10, she unloaded her backpack on a Friday after school as her fourth grade year was winding down. She handed over a flyer and ordered me to read it. “MOM!! Can I go?! It looks so fun! Mrs. Pancake told me about this and said all her kids go! Carli Sears goes! Can I GO?” My ten year old became a spokesperson for Camp Twin Creeks the moment she heard about this magical place.

I hadn’t sent any of my older girls off to camp for two weeks and the thought was difficult to process on the spot. I called the number on the flyer and a jolly Scottish fellow answered. He’s been spokesperson forever and I told him we’d talk it over. Best. Decision. Ever! Emma has packed up her camp kit almost every summer since that colorful flyer landed on my kitchen counter. It’s daily conversation, the friendships, the fun, the wardrobe of CTC gear, the Crocs.

Paving the way for campers like Emma, Carli Sears attended Camp most summers as well. Five years Emma’s senior, her presence at CTC had a West Virginia Welcome that no one could forget. I met Carli even before she was born and had the privilege of catering her baptism brunch when she was a tiny bundle. She swam with my oldest daughter Sara and played soccer with my next oldest Reilly at George Washington High School. I cheered with her parents at swim meets and soccer games. When she was in college, she helped with my friend Luisa’s catering company and was my assistant at kids’ cooking classes. I cherish these kitchen memories!

Carli’s life was tragically cut short in 2016 just days before her twenty-first birthday. Though she is not here physically, her personality and contagious smile remain! Her family, friends and Camp Twin Creeks community didn’t miss a beat in honoring her life with a Carli Sears Camp Scholarship for a student from Charleston, West Virginia to attend their first year of camp for free with all kinds of bells and whistles. Read: a little camp kit shopping spree and of course a pair of Crocs! The scholarship recipient can contribute back to the scholarship to keep the fund going, all with the ultimate goal of keeping Carli's memory strong at Camp and keeping a camper presence in her name each summer and beyond.

Carli’s mom Julie told me that Carli loved Camp so much that she would bring home bottles of that sweet mountain spring water to freeze and enjoy the taste of Camp any time she was missing it. We miss you, Carli! Thank you for leaving so much sparkle!

Savoring camp memories with a cake project. Hope you’ll follow along for some campfire cake fun and also help keep the scholarship fund in Carli Sears’ name going strong.

Campfire Cake

My girls all have late Spring birthdays which is the perfect time to go camping or do some pretend camping with this festive cake. When I asked Emma about a recipe to include with this love letter to Camp and Carli she finger wagged me for suggesting s’mores. So we are going next level here and hope you’ll cook up some family fun in your own kitchen. It’s a raid the pantry or the snack aisle at Target and no holds barred. Emma and I constructed this together, laughing, crying, hugging.

Our decorations included: twisted pretzel sticks for the border, stacked firewood and logs in the fire; Chocolate graham crackers for the sleeping bags and dirt and rocks; Teddy grahams for the campers; Quick toasted mini marshmallows for the firepit marshmallows; assorted life savers (or other hard candy—red, orange, yellow) for the ‘fire’ and campers’ pillows (you melt these on foil in the oven, see below for the ‘how-to’); ice cream cones, the sugar cone style, for the trees; sprinkles!

First: bake a cake in a 13x9-inch cake pan. We made the ‘birthday cake’ recipe on the King Arthur cake flour box and it’s a good one! If you are a fan of Red Velvet cake like Carli, go with that! Anything goes, really. It’s your canvas for cake decorating fun!

Next: frost the cake as you desire. We went with green to emulate the lush grass at Camp Twin Creeks. Since you can cover as much of the surface as you desire, the frosting is not super important…it’s mostly the ‘glue’ to anchor all your landscaping and such.

For the fire: Heat the oven to 350. Place a small sheet of foil on a rimmed baking sheet and brush it with a little canola oil. Smash some lifesavers, red, yellow, orange and sprinkle them like a little mosaic on the oiled foil. You’re looking for a rough shape about 6 inches square. For the pillows, you can smash a couple more lifesavers of your favorite color and make a small shape on the foil, away from the ‘fire.’ Place the baking sheet in the oven and like magic, the candy melts into flames in minutes. CAREFUL!! It is hot. Remove the baking sheet from the oven to cool on a rack and handle when it’s cool. You can break it up as desired to make your flames.

For the trees: frost the outside of a sugar cone and sprinkle with green sugar. Stack 2 cones and frost, then sprinkle, for a taller tree.

Now get to the really fun part, putting it all together with your creative flourishes! You can use the photo as a guide or go your own way. The most important part is to ENJOY!

Happy Cooking!

20 Questions with April

Hello reader! On this day last year as I was driving my daughter Sara from Baton Rouge to the MSY airport in New Orleans, I ran an idea past her: Me: I’m thinking about a 20 questions blog series, one post each week for the year, and I’ll interview friends…” She: 20 questions is too long/will you be able to get that many people to interview?/will you be able to do this every week? 

Valid questions from a smart girl. While I drove, she wrote the questions as I thought them up. Then we brainstormed a list of cooking friends from the different chapters of my life and the blog series was born. The exercise was just what I needed after spending the second half-plus of 2019 in what I call trauma timeout with my daughter Reilly who had a life-altering accident in May. Having spent most of my life in the kitchen and much of it cooking with friends and family, that ritual was lost (temporarily!) while Reilly healed in three hospitals from May to September. 

Now she is healing at home and at 20 months and 21 surgeries and counting, the finish line is coming into view. Much of my healing has been in the kitchen where I can brew coffee in the morning, make meals around the clock, and every week, catch up with a friend and then cook their ‘20 minute’ recipe. Cooking is my therapy! I could keep going with interviewing friends into the next decade. For now, though, I shift my focus to a book to chronicle family and healing post-trauma. Of course there will be recipes to comfort and nourish!

I would like to thank everyone who played along with my interviews and all you readers for joining the fun. We now have a collection of simple recipes and some great ideas for restaurants, cookbooks, cooking schools, family traditions and more! Many many thanks and always Happy Cooking! ~~April

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Fresh squeezed orange juice. I was raised on it and the hum of the citrus juicer gets me giggling! I know a glass of sunshine is on the menu when I hear it. Living in Louisiana has the bonus of beautiful citrus all winter. When my husband challenged that this isn’t really a ‘recipe’ I reminded him of a quote he shared with me years ago from the great Spanish chef Ferran Adrià:

If you go home and you eat an apple, is that cooking? For me that's not because there's no aptitude as far as cooking goes. That might be gastronomy. Because if you want to eat it and enjoy it, make it pleasurable because it might be a really good apple, there might be some gastronomy aptitude there. But if you were to put that very same apple on a plate, for me that's cooking.

What’s your favorite city? Tough question! I love to explore and never dreamed I would leave my beloved Florida where I was born and lived until after college. It’s still home to me. To find myself now living just an hour from one of the world’s greatest food and music destinations is pretty dreamy! I’ll say New Orleans. Oh but I probably need an ocean so maybe San Diego where the weather is perfect and there’s sand, sunshine and saltwater, just a stone’s throw from Mexico.

What’s the best meal you’ve ever eaten in an airport? I had a HOT chicken sandwich with some pretty incredible french fries at Chicken + Beer in Atlanta, with iced tea. 

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Jar of pickled jalapenos from the farmer’s market. 

Who taught you to cook? My mom! She was feeding a big family and everyone helped in the kitchen. As the youngest, I was her shadow. I say I was born in the kitchen.

What’s your go-to dish for company? We love to do some good Mexican food and no matter the menu, call it a fiesta! People go wild for the simplest well-cooked black beans and rice. I make them per Rick Bayless. The beans start with some almost-browned onion and the rice first gets sauteed with onion and olive oil before the liquid goes in.

What’s on your cooking playlist? I am the worst DJ! There is a world of amazing music at our fingertips and I’m not that great at navigating it. I do love some NPR and am happy to wash dishes to the tune of The Splendid Table. Also, streaming Mountain Stage always makes me smile! And at this moment it’s Todd Snider singing Sanity and Madness. That sums it up!

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee! I’d rather not live without it. Brewing a pot in the morning is like stoking a fire.

Date night--at home? or out? Date night is almost always at home unless we’re traveling, and sometimes even then! Good bread, hunk of cheese, bottle of wine. When our girls were little, we would tuck them in by 8:00 and cook up a little storm together. 

Most stained cookbook? I have a well-loved copy of Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen. It’s a textbook of all the ingredients and regions of Mexico and I read it like a novel when Chuck gave it to me for Mother’s Day in….1997! Now I have all but one of Rick’s cookbooks. Yes I am obsessed. 

Surf? or Turf?. Surf! My love at first bite seafood was blackened mahi-mahi. I can pass on the mollusks unless it’s chargrilled oysters.

Indispensable kitchen tool? I have a tiny kitchen that’s well stocked with all the tools. I’d be lost without my collection of rubber scrapers and my long OXO tongs. When I moved to citrus-rich Louisiana, I got a Breville juicer that lives on the counter all winter long. It brings me such joy!

Staple childhood comfort food? Mom’s fried chicken.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Long list. I’ll say Molly O’Neill who I have adored since long before she taught me to be a food writer. I’ve shared many meals with her which seems so implausible. She left us too soon. I am so grateful to have her voice in my head and for the community of Cook N Scribblers I met through Molly. I fantasize about a big reunion of all the people Molly could assemble at a never ending table.

Ideal grilled cheese? I’ll go with the classic white cheddar on good wheat with summer tomato. Cook it in the cast iron skillet with plenty of butter. 

Favorite pizza topping? We’ve been making a spinach and garlic pizza since we first tasted this combo at Star Pizza in Houston as newlyweds. It’s always a hit! We have the good fortune of living two doors down from an outdoor wood oven. Pizza night al fresco is hard to beat!

Where would you want to take a cooking class? Can I go on a one year odyssey and take classes all around the world?  

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Cook with kids. 

Three things next to your stove? My pretty butter dish from Anthropologie, Tabby’s fleur de lis spoon rest, big pitcher of tools.

Favorite Sports Team? I love my Florida Gators! Living next to LSU is exciting and I’ve become a fan unless they’re playing the Gators. It’s really fun rooting for the Saints, too!

Squeeze a glass of vitamin C and sunshine! Satsumas from the neighborhood pictured here for an almost neon shade of orange and cut in half on my favorite cutting board, a gift from my daughter Emma.

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

Is it really a recipe?! Absolutely! It’s a day maker, a game changer, truly a luxury!

Gather some fresh citrus into a colander and give the fruit a good rinse. Cut in half through the horizon and squeeze with your juicing device of choice. Sip sunshine. Repeat. Refrigerate any extras in a mason jar for tomorrow morning. Happy Cooking!

20 Questions with Janet

Charleston, West Virginia welcomed me with a first and unforgettable friendship the moment I walked into Cucina Luisa on Bridge Road. Janet Wakefield paused her work at the pastry station to greet me. (Maybe the entrance door had a bell that chimed?), a hungry newcomer temporarily living in a hotel while house hunting. I remember in crisp detail Janet describing every delicious dish in the illuminated takeout case. She helped me load up to feast with my husband when he finished his workday: Luisa’s famous Lasagna Bolognese with her Caesar salad, a crusty baguette, and Janet’s irresistible white chocolate raspberry tart. Taste memories are some of the best! 

Janet changed gears after Luisa closed her shop, returning to the healthcare field as a massage therapist. With gifted heart and hands, she works wonders to heal aching muscles, pinched nerves, you name it! She is an instructor at the Mountain State School of Massage where she blends her talents for massage technique with teaching and is a walking talking encyclopedia of every muscle, bone, and function of the body.

Janet and her husband Jeff love to ski as much as they love the West Virginia Mountaineers and they are quick to travel in search of both. 

What’s your 20 minute recipe? I’m kind of an on the fly cook. Pasta alla vodka - it's so quick and easy and you can put it with anything. Everybody has the ingredients for it, I mean because everyone has the vodka, right? Good vodka. I use the recipe from New York Times Cookbook or Marcella Hazan. I prefer it vegetarian without ham.

And always save room for dessert! I’m here for dessert more than food, but my food is good, too! Espresso tortoni or chocolate mousse.

What’s your favorite city? Rome! The first time I went was after Luisa closed her catering business in 1998 and Jeff and I went to stay with her and her sister. They lived by the Spanish Steps. I could walk out of the apartment and be at the Spanish Steps in 5 minutes. I feel like I’m home when I’m in Italy.

What’s the best meal you’ve ever eaten in an airport? Pastries in Venice. 

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Limoncello, I brought some back from Val Gardena years ago. I always keep some on hand at my home here and at our house at Snowshoe, it’s delicious! 

Who taught you to cook? My paternal grandmother. She was originally from Alabama. She would come to our house for four days with no recipes and just cook. She loved to cook and feed people! She could feed an army. I really take that from her. She had a teeny tiny little kitchen and could cook large amounts nonstop. She was happiest when she was cooking and so am I! Cooking has saved me during this pandemic.

What’s your go-to dish for company? Anything they want, any kind of pasta! I don’t really have a go-to, I'm used to winging it. I feel like it’s a gift! I keep my pantry stocked so I can make just about anything. Planning too much stresses me out. 

What’s on your cooking playlist? I change a lot, right now I’m trying to be really cheerful and move more! I find myself playing more jazz and hip hop. Lebanese Blonde channel on Pandora. Echophlekz band, Thievery Corporation band. They use a lot of synthesizers, it’s really interesting. You’ll like it! I also like Caro Emerald.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee for sure. Cappuccino! I got familiar with cappuccino when I was in Rome in 1998! Cafe Greco, It’s like a museum! I’ve always chased the perfect cappuccino after that experience. It’s a memory! I get euphoric recall with food.

Date night--at home? or out? Definitely out! We will travel an hour or two for a fine dining meal and turn around and drive home. We are the type of people who will travel  for a meal! Though we do have date nights at home, with candles and everything. 

Most stained cookbook? It’s my own cookbook. When I stopped working at Luisa’s I wrote down every recipe that we had been preparing in her shop. I have notes to serve four or 250. I put it all down, it’s my go-to for everything. Also my Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook, it’s a big beautiful coffee table book and it is stained! 

Surf? or Turf? I’m surf, for sure! I had the BEST langostino risotto in the British Virgin Islands that I dream about. Oh and I had branzino in Rome that was killer! These are things I can’t get here.

Indispensable kitchen tool? Chef’s knife for sure, but can I say convection oven?! Lots of people have a convection oven and don’t know how to use it. Quick tutorial: it’s rare that I don’t use convection, I’ve learned how to modify everything I do and it comes out perfect! It gets rid of the oven’s cold spot and makes it heat evenly.

Staple childhood comfort food? My grandmother’s homemade yeast rolls, her strawberry jam, fried chicken, lemon meringue pie and butterscotch pie. I’ve tried to recreate her fried chicken and it doesn’t come out the same. I think it’s because she’s not here.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Anthony Bourdain for his food experiences and exploration of culture. I would want to eat, talk food and culture with him. It would be fun and spiritual! 

Ideal grilled cheese? OK here’s my grilled cheese. Charleston Bread’s Blue Monday bread with browned butter. I take asparagus spears and saute or roast them with garlic, s&p and olive oil. In the same pan I do my grilled cheese. Freshly grated havarti. Spread dijon on both slices of the bread, sprinkle with havarti on both sides, put the asparagus in the middle and cook it with the browned butter on the outside of the bread. It sounds hard but it’s really simple. Cook it til it’s really brown and gooey. The asparagus spears stick out and so it’s really pretty. I like visuals. I like to sprinkle it with parmesan on top and a balsamic drizzle is really good. You can improvise from here. 

Favorite pizza topping? If I could get some fresh mozzarella di bufala, I’d have to be in Italy, that would be it! 

Where would you want to take a cooking class? I know exactly where. It’s on the Amalfi coast. It’s in a place called Villa Montepertuso. Gastronomic Trekking, it’s all about walking, cooking and eating. You go on tours, find where the food is! Cook with the people and drink and eat and talk! Doesn’t it sound like the BEST?! This is more than doing a class in a restaurant kitchen. It seems like the most fun thing to do! We should do it!!

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Here’s my main tip! Read a recipe as a template. It’s only a guide. Go beyond the confines of the recipe and experiment and document so you remember. I do better without a book in front of me trying to follow something to a T. With that, turn your failures into opportunities! If something doesn’t turn out how you expect, you can probably turn it into a success. 

Three things next to your stove? Villa di Trapano olive oil, Maldon and JQD salts and a good balsamic. Can I do four things? I have Kurbiskernol Pure Styrian roasted pumpkin seed oil.

Favorite Sports Team? WVU Mountaineers! For sure! Any sport they play. I’m a sports junkie! I could be a referee!

Can I add one thing? I have a little story. We were skiing in Chamonix and had this pasta e fagioli and it was delicious! After lunch you pass around this tribal bowl with grappa and orange slices and when it’s your turn, you say “sante bonheur! Que grand bien te fasse” and then take a drink. HEALTH AND HAPPINESS, much good may it do you. It’s a universal statement there in Chamonix. You say this when you drink the grappa and then you go back out onto the slopes. 

Janet’s legendary grilled cheese is not her ‘official’ 20 minute recipe but it qualifies and is crazy good!

Janet’s Grilled Havarti Sandwiches with Asparagus

When Janet described her ideal grilled cheese I was prompted to make it straight away. My husband called it legendary, so here goes! Here’s a rough formula for one. Treat your family and make a whole skillet full, and as Janet suggests, improvise at will! Pasta alla Vodka is delicious. Make that, too! 

For this grilled cheese masterpiece you will need 2 slices of good bread (Charleston friends, the Blue Monday from Charleston Bread is the perfect loaf for this sandwich and more! Consider yourself very lucky to have access to this exceptional bread!) some cooked asparagus (steam, saute, or roast and while you’re at it, cook the whole bundle and add to your morning egg scramble), some grated havarti cheese, some Dijon mustard, browned butter (like the asparagus...if you’re making a little browned butter, brown a whole stick and keep it handy for more tasty projects). 

BRUSH the outside of your bread with browned butter. Spread the inside of the bread with some Dijon mustard and top each slice with some grated havarti. The Dijon will help the cheese stick to the bread. Lay a handful of asparagus on top of one bread slice and top with the other slice. Slide this into a skillet heated over medium low. Cook on both sides until deep golden and cheese is melting out a little bit. Go the extra mile and serve your sandwich with reduced balsamic vinegar. Happy cooking!

20 Questions with Natalia

My daughter Reilly has an amazing group of friends from the different chapters of her life. I include Natalia Ghorbani in the ‘college friends’ category since they met while studying abroad in Spain their junior year. After a fun-filled semester in Valencia with extended European excursions, their farewell was not good-bye forever, but a see you again soon. Who knew they would actually live in the same city?!

We met Natalia when we visited Reilly in Valencia and reunited with her again last spring when we were in New York to see Reilly. Two weeks later, Natalia witnessed Reilly’s accident and has been by her side through this ongoing recovery (physically, virtually, the thick and the thin!) Their plans to be roommates hasn’t come to fruition just yet.

Natalia is from San Francisco and stayed close to home for college. Ready for something completely new, she moved to New York City after some post-graduation travel. She works for Yelp as a bilingual account executive. We love it when she comes here as a ‘work from home’ option and celebrate her success with her career.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? A Mediterranean salad bowl with Persian cucumbers, tomato, pickled onions, arugula, a dollop of hummus. I kind of throw it together with what I have on hand. I love to throw some nuts or seeds on top for a little crunch. I have a super quick way to add protein with frozen falafels from Trader Joe’s. I drizzle hot chile oil for some spice and a simple olive oil vinaigrette. 

What’s your favorite city? That’s such a hard question, can I come back to it? I’m the type of person who goes to a city and says I’m gonna live here! I say that everywhere I go. The answer changes. At the moment the one that’s coming up is Tel Aviv. I went last year for Thanksgiving, that was my last big trip before Covid. 

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? DOMODOMO, a Japanese restaurant in Soho is my current favorite. They make amazing omakase. I even get their takeout. It’s super fresh fish with a modern twist. My favorite is their scallop nigiri. 

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Pickled onions, I put them on everything! I eat them right out of the jar, even in the morning. I love pickled anything and I love onions! 

Who taught you to cook? Can I cook is the question! Where I’ve gained the most knowledge of cooking is from my roommates over the years. I’ve lived with a lot of different people. In college we would go to the Asian market May-Wah in San Francisico and get everything to make Summer rolls. Those are so fun! We would cut up all the ingredients and I was in charge of making the sauce. We’d have a DIY bar to make the rolls. 

What’s your go-to dish for company? The last time I had friends over, it was sushi. I like to get the ingredients and make it a DIY dining experience. I got the fish from a Japanese supermarket in East Village.

What’s on your cooking playlist? The Bee Gees. They are my first memories of music. That’s what shaped my music influence. I love 70’s and 80’s music! It’s the most feel good, I turn up the music really loud and do a little dance.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee! Coffee every day! Now that I’m working from home, I knew I couldn’t spend $8 on an iced oat latte, that wasn’t sustainable for every day. So I bought a Nespresso machine and it changed my life! I’m not kidding! I make myself an iced coffee with hemp milk. It feels like I’m treating myself!

Date night--at home? or out? Out. 100%. There are too many good places to try in New York CIty.

Most stained cookbook? Yours! 

Surf? or Turf? I’m for sure more surf.

Indispensable kitchen tool? My wine opener. Pour myself a glass of red. I’m gifting myself a glass of wine at the end of the workday.

Staple childhood comfort food? Beans, refried pinto beans. Honestly my favorite childhood dish is a simple tostada smeared with refried beans, Mexican crema, cotija cheese and sliced avocado. I will eat 10 of those in one day! It’s so simple but so delicious. There was always a big tub of refried beans in our fridge!

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? My grandmother from Mexico. The older I get the more I appreciate our culture and wish I could learn more from her. 

Ideal grilled cheese? Sourdough with three cheeses and I don’t want to sound too California, but throw some avocado in there!

Favorite pizza topping? Onions. All onions!

Where would you want to take a cooking class? Mexico City. Or maybe South Korea in Seoul. I think those two are good examples of the foods that I love! My favorite cuisines are Mexican and a variety of Asian cuisines.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Take pictures of your food, of the things you randomly concoct, so you can remember how to recreate a dish.

Three things next to your stove? My Nespresso machine, my whole kitchen and my living room. 

Favorite Sports Team? If I had to answer I would say Golden State Warriors.

A bed of greens is the canvas for Natalia’s edible masterpiece.

Natalia’s Favorite Salad with Falafel

Natalia discovered a treasure in the freezer case at Trader Joe’s: frozen falafel. She heats them in the oven to get them crispy and crowns a bed of greens and veggies with them. Follow along for her favorite combo and tweak with your preferences or what you have on hand. 

Put a handful of washed salad greens in a pretty serving bowl. Arrange cucumber slices, halved grape tomatoes, pickled onions, sliced carrots, dollop of hummus, toasted sunflower seeds or pine nuts. Top with a some toasted falafel patties and drizzle with olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Spice it up with a few drops of chile oil if you like. Concoct a masterpiece of your own! Happy Cooking!

20 Questions with Luisa

Luisa DiTrapano came back to her hometown of Charleston, West Virginia after college and adventure and opened her catering and gourmet take out business, Cucina Luisa, in the popular Bridge Road shopping district. Twenty-eight years ago, I was the new girl in town and wandered into her shop, first meeting her pastry chef Janet Wakefield. The rest is history and when I described how I met my dear friend Luisa to my daughter’s boyfriend he said, ‘ah, that sounds like a fairytale!’

Luisa and Janet created gourmet spreads for events all around Charleston and I eventually  joined them for catering fun. About 10 years later when Luisa started teaching cooking classes in a kitchen design showroom, I enlisted as her assistant, then added my own teaching topics into the mix. Such was the launch of our hundreds of cooking classes in three different showrooms and in home kitchens in Charleston.

Luisa hung up her chef’s coat a couple of years ago for a career change. Now she works at the Charleston law firm Calwell  Luce di Trapano as the facilities and events manager and says, “Everything I’ve done my whole life has all come together. I manage the building, plan all the events, book all the travel and do all the cheffing. I love it!” Booking travel is as natural to her as cooking Italian food. She has combed the globe and is eager to book a table on another continent the moment the current situation allows.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Probably Amatriciana sauce because I usually have all the ingredients. I alway have guanciale or pancetta in the freezer, Pomi tomatoes, onion, Italian crushed pepper flakes. I hit it with a little wine before adding the tomatoes. Fresh parmigiano reggiano. I never do the right pastas with the right sauce. I use what I have in the pantry. My grandmother used the classic pairing with bucatini but I prefer other shapes. Spaghetti or linguine is a good substitute. 

What’s your favorite city? Roma! Certo! I was 18 when I first went and have possibly been every year since then. I lived there for a year after I sold my first catering business in 1998. It was wonderful.

What’s the best meal you’ve ever eaten in an airport? I would have to say it was sushi in Tokyo. 

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? My cooking wines, marsala. It’s not in the fridge, it’s in the pantry. My italian grandmother put marsala on everything! When she made peas or sauteed green beans, or cooking a steak. Everything! A nice dry one. You use the sweet ones for zabaglione and I love to make that to put over fresh fruit for dessert. I really love that. Florio from Sicily makes a really nice marsala.

Who taught you to cook? My love of food started in both my grandmother’s kitchens. I was fortunate to have two grandmothers who were fantastic cooks, one from England and one from Italy. My English grandmother taught me to bake. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.  We had dinner every Sunday at my Italian grandmother’s house. She made a ciabatta style bread every Saturday. She made enough for her children and all their families for the week. With the same dough she would make the best pizza I’ve ever had in my life. She squished San Marzano tomatoes over the dough, put Italian sausage, fresh basil and mozzarella. My father’s friends used to beg him to take them over for Saturday pizza. It was an event!! Also, my mother is a fabulous cook! She can cook as good as any Italian.

I had some really good friends at college in Miami who were from Italy and relocated to Caracas, Venezuela. She’s from Florence and her mother taught me her amazing sauces. That’s when I really started loving to cook.

What’s your go-to dish for company? You know how organized I am, it’s not like anyone just shows up here on the fly! Everything is planned. I do love to make Thai food! Beef panang is always a favorite with lime leaves that I always keep in the freezer.

What’s on your cooking playlist? Sade

What’s your go-to olive oil? Villa Di Trapano made from the olives at my family’s property in Sezze.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee! I froth skim milk with my mocha crem, a little frother device and put in some sweetener. I pour in very strong coffee.

Date night--at home? or out? Out, especially when traveling.

Most stained cookbook? My Marcella Hazan The Classic Italian Cookbook. It’s my only cookbook that the cover is torn to shreds. Janet Wakefield and I call it the Bible. It is the best, most complete Italian cookbook ever written. She is the queen, in my mind anyway.

Surf? or Turf? Turf! You know, I really like T-bones, preferably in Florence, Italy. Bistecca alla Fiorentina. I’ve always loved T-bones, best of both worlds. You get the New York strip side and a bit of the filet.

Indispensable kitchen tool? Besides my chef’s knife, I use my kitchen shears a lot. I replace them regularly because they are hard to sharpen. 

Staple childhood comfort food? My mom is such a fabulous cook, I loved her leg of lamb with our family’s Veazey sauce. It’s a family recipe from when my mom’s father was growing up. Stick of butter, jar of apple jelly, ketchup and whole cloves. You know how delicious it is! I’m talking a long time ago, probably 100 years. Oh and her mashed potatoes which are phenomenal! I think I’ll call Luisa's mother to score her secret to phenomenal mashed potatoes!

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? That’s a hard question! Maybe my grandmothers. They used to go on vacation together. They never knew I learned how to cook,  didn't know I became a chef. I would like to cook dinner for my grandmothers since they never had a chance to eat my food after I became a chef. She got emotional 

Ideal grilled cheese? I make them all the time especially since I don’t have a lot of time to cook right now. Ezekiel bread, lots of butter, Swiss, honey mustard and hot sweet jalapenos. Made it for dinner last Thursday night. I may not have much in the fridge but I always have all those things!

Favorite pizza topping? When I'm in Sezze I get a pizza margherita. The best mozzarella di bufala is made right there. 

Where would you want to take a cooking class? Bangkok!

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? One thing I always said in my cooking classes, everything needs salt & pepper. There’s not a lot of things that don’t. With salad, kosher salt. For finishing, JQD salt,  and always fresh ground pepper from my favorite pepper mill

Three things next to your stove? Villa DiTrapano olive oil, JQD salt and my favorite pepper mill. And a bottle of good balsamic from Modena.

Favorite Sports Team? When I lived in Miami I loved the Dolphins and Hurricanes. And because my dad was a Notre Dame Double Domer, the Fighting Irish. 

Flecked with tomato and pancetta, Amatriciana sauce with pasta is a weeknight winner.

Amatriciana Tomato Sauce with Pancetta and Chili Pepper

Through her extensive cookbooks, Marcella Hazan brings classic Italian food into our kitchens and I will forever cherish making many of these recipes with Luisa! Guided by her ‘queen’ Marcella, Luisa has served delicious Italian dishes at hundreds of catered parties and has taught these recipes in her celebrated series of cooking classes. This one is close to 20 minutes. Marcella suggests simmering the sauce for 25 minutes. I used a deep pot so it could simmer with some vigor for 15 minutes and called it done. And delicious! Buon Appetito! 

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• A ¼-inch thick slice of pancetta, cut into strips ½-inch wide and 1 inch long (I used a 4 ounce package of diced pancetta)

• ⅓ cup wine, optional (I splashed some Sauvignon Blanc into my pot to deglaze, Luisa uses red wine)

• 1 ½ cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained and cut up (I followed Luisa’s lead and used half a box of Pomi chopped tomatoes with their puree)

• Chopped hot red chili pepper, to taste

• Salt

• 3 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

• 2 tablespoons freshly grated romano cheese

• 1 pound pasta

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for pasta. Time the cooking of the pasta to correspond with the sauce being finished. It is most important not to leave the cooked pasta waiting...so if the sauce is done, it can wait a few minutes for the pasta to finish. 

HEAT the oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion when the butter has melted and saute until it becomes pale gold, about 7 minutes. Add the pancetta and cook a few minutes to render its fat. Add the wine, if using, and stir to deglaze the pan. Stir in the tomatoes, chili pepper and salt and cook in the uncovered pan at a steady simmer for 25 gentle minutes, or 15 vigorous minutes. Taste and add chili pepper or salt if needed.

DRAIN the pasta and toss with the sauce. Add both cheeses and toss thoroughly before serving in heated bowls. 

20 Questions with Doctor Amy

Doctor Amy Rabalais relaxes at home (perhaps the crockpot is cooking her kids’ favorite feast while she takes 5 listening to Amy 2020 or Christmas carols??)

Doctor Amy Rabalais is my hero. She’s mom to two grade school children, an ear, nose and throat doctor with a director’s role at Ochsner, a kitchen designer and more, all wrapped up into an energetic and energizing woman. She has been on the front lines of the Coronavirus pandemic and, eyes wide, sums it up in a simple sentence: “This has been wild!” Adding, “homeschooling was not for us. I’m just so glad to have grass, we haven’t had grass since August,” referring to their backyard pandemic project.

Amy and I met two years ago, almost to the date. I worked with her mom Margie Gaudet and sister Sara MacDowell at an event at Thrive Academy and Sara had a thought: ‘could you do a surprise birthday cooking class for my mom at my sister’s house? It’s her birthday, too.’ And so I did! We made a warm cheese dip, French onion soup with homemade stock, a seasonal salad with local greens and chocolate soufflés for dessert. It was a delicious evening of new friendships for me and we long to recreate the occasion when life allows.

Amy’s kitchen is a showstopper and when she told me she designed it, I suggested she consider that as a profession. The doctor detail hadn’t been disclosed until dessert. When I visited on her day off for this interview, she was unloading groceries that had been delivered while she was out to assist with a surgery. Do doctors really get a day off? Not this doctor! When she’s not in her scrubs, she is managing her household with finesse and loves traveling with her husband Mike and their two young kids. She is also an accomplished cook and participates in a supper swap co-op with two of her friends.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? I feel like everything I do takes more than 20 minutes. Crockpot turkey meatballs. You make the meatballs with egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan and herbs from the garden. Put them in sauce raw and cook them in the crockpot. They’re done in four hours on low and IT WORKS!! They stay in little balls and it makes the whole house smell good!! My kids LOVE it, it’s their favorite! Its’ my embarrassingly easy go-to. It doesn’t make sense that they hold together but they do! I make the meatballs a little smaller. 

What’s your favorite city? Taos, New Mexico. That’s my place. Four or five years ago we got a house there. My son had a writing prompt at school, ‘describe a place that makes you feel comfortable’ and he wrote about being in the hammock and reading his book in the mountains. 

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? I do love so many restaurants! Going out to eat in the pandemic has been a nice change of scenery. We have only done outdoor dining. I’d say we have blown up Curbside! We can ride bikes there. My overall favorite in Baton Rouge is BLDG 5. We got our Thanksgiving dinner from Rocca. It was awesome! I had two days off at Thanksgiving and I really wanted to have some time to relax with my kids. We put the silver and china on our porch table and it was really great, Rocca cooked! We even ordered a cocktail mixer and it was delicious! 

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? I always keep pecans in the freezer. Bergeron pecans. Katey Bergeron is my PA. Her husband’s family has the pecan business. She gives me a box of them every year. We toast them to put on salads or top our desserts. I love having my big box of go-to pecans. 

Who taught you to cook? My Mom, definitely my mom! Big smile

What’s your go-to dish for company? It’s gonna sound weird, shrimp and grits. I do the grits ahead of time. The grits casserole from the old River Roads cookbook. I do a vodka cream sauce for the shrimp and you can do that ahead, just add the shrimp at the end. Grits souffle. I keep that cookbook with no cover just to get to that recipe. It feels fancy for a dinner party but the components don’t have to be timed. It works for company-- gluten free, pescaterian. It’s just easy and feels festive, I also deliver this meal to someone who’s had a baby. Deliver the grits, the sauce and the shrimp.They can add the shrimp when they heat everything up. 

What’s on your cooking playlist? Kind of a long story. Mike is so into music. That’s how he communicates. He spends hours making playlists. He makes me a playlist every year and the theme is that he takes songs from the the previous decade. So the 2016 playlist had songs from 2016, 2006, 1996 and so on. He spends months on these. His family is so music oriented. Right now we are playing the Amy 2020 playlist. It has all the songs he thinks will make me happy. We are listening to the 2020 mix right now. Very eclectic mix. It lost the theme, just happy songs. And right now we are listening to Christmas carols. Have you listened to the She and Him mix? They have two Christmas albums. 

OH the sun is out

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee. 100% coffee! I’m obsessed with the Trader Joe’s almond peppermint mocha creamer. I haven’t been able to find it recently.

Date night--at home? or out? Right now I’m thankful for date nights at home. I don’t know if it’s happened here, but it would be awesome to have date night at home while the kids are away, when things get back to normal.

Most stained cookbook? It’s the River Roads, one two or three. It doesn’t have a cover.

Surf? or Turf? Surf. I enjoy having other people cook me seafood. My mom is really good at cooking seafood. My parents have a home in Gulf Shores and we can get really great seafood there. I love the red shrimp in a boil, they are huge and taste amazing! 

Indispensable kitchen tool? Chef’s knife. 

Staple childhood comfort food? Pita bread, my granddaddy made it every week and we ate it with butter. I still make it and have been making it more during pandemic. My brother John who is in his residency in Boston makes bread all the time. When he was in town before Thanksgiving he made crawfish bread! it was divine! I remember grandpa’s pita bread and my kid’s love Uncle John’s bread, they talk about it all the time. Do you know about the yeast podcast? It is soooo good! Gastro Egyptology. Talk about going down a rabbit hole! 

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Right now, Anthony Fauci!! I just want to tell him thank you!! He has done so much for this country that people don’t even understand! I’d like to know what has gone on behind the scenes. I would like to cook him dinner, now I’m super intimidated. I think I would be too nervous! I think we would end up ordering pizza. 

Ideal grilled cheese? My favorite grilled cheese to buy is at BLDG 5. It’s a mixture of different cheeses on really good bread. In pandemic we have had some Rabalais bootcamp classes! The best grilled cheese is the one I don’t have to make. My son got a mild burn on his arm, it was a teaching moment. Use kitchen safety and plow ahead! It’s a big milestone. It’s whatever cheese we have, whole wheat bread and butter. 

Favorite pizza topping? I like the salty ones. Prosciutto, capers, dressed arugula. 

Where would you want to take a cooking class? MMMMM Napa. That is on our list! There are two places. In Bhutan they make these dumplings. We were there last year, in retrospect I wish I had taken a class to learn to make those dumplings. Bhutan is a vegetarian country. It’s an amazing country to learn about! They are the only carbon-neutral country in the world. Actually carbon negative! It’s an incredible place. They do a happiness survey: gross domestic happiness. It is beautiful!!

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Like a secret cooking tip? Everything is better with cheese! You know, if something isn’t working out so great, just put some cheese on it!

Three things next to your stove? Olive oil always, salt and pepper.

Favorite Sports Team? LSU!

just add garlic bread and Amy’s turkey meatballs are a meal in a bowl

Amy’s Crockpot Turkey Meatballs

Embarrassingly easy is right and equally delicious! Combine ground turkey with breadcrumbs, egg and cheese, season to your preference and shape them into petite meatballs. Drop these into some red sauce in the crockpot and put your feet up while dinner cooks itself. Amy shares ‘my crockpot liner can go on the stove, so I sizzle some crushed garlic in a little olive oil, add crushed canned tomatoes for sauce. Then the liner with sauce goes into the crockpot cooking element, I put the meatballs in and dinner is done.’ When I recreated her recipe in my kitchen, I went with a jar of good marinara that began heating right in the crockpot while I mixed and shaped the meatballs. Since I was trying to beat sunset for the photo, I rushed things and turned my crockpot to high. Two hours, done and so delicious!

Whisk 1 egg in a mixing bowl, add 1 teaspoon garlic salt, ½ teaspoon pepper and a tablespoon or two of chopped fresh herbs basil or oregano or Italian parsley, or even a combo, or even dried (reduce amount to 2 teaspoons) Crumble in a pound of raw ground turkey (I used the breast meat). Sprinkle with ¼ cup each of breadcrumbs and grated parmesan. Gently mix together and form into small balls (you should get about 24 one-inch balls, and a cookie dough scoop makes it easy!) Place the balls into 3 cups of your sauce of choice that’s waiting in your crockpot. Cook at low for 4 hours or high for 2, checking to see that the meatballs are cooked through. Your house will smell so good! Serve with your choice of pasta or some garlic breadsticks for dipping. Add a salad for balance. Happy Cooking!