Of Women and Wellness

Monday Morning Recipe Club: A tomato sauce worthy of Tuscany

    With the farmers markets in season -- and lush red tomatoes and glossy purple
eggplants spilling out of boxes and bushels -- it's time to return to my Italian roots and make tomato sauce and eggplant Parmesan from scratch.

   One of my favorite Italian cookbook authors is Marcella Hazan. Before Mario, before Giada - Marcella has been teaching people how to make authentic Italian food for nearly 40 years.

   Her book -- The Classic Italian Cookbook, which first came out in 1973 -- is an old friend in my house. I have hundreds of cookbooks, but it is this one I turn to when I want to make the simplest and freshest tomato sauce. (You can tell by the oil-stained spots on the pages).

   In fact, the book has a whole chapter on tomato sauce, with five different variations
on the theme. I've tried Tomato Sauce I, Tomato Sauce II and Tomato Sauce III - and I
usually make Tomato Sauce II, with a few tweaks (tweaking a recipe goes with my Italian
and Greek heritage!)

   I made this a few weeks ago, with a box of about two dozen fresh-picked tomatoes that
my favorite farmer at the Coral Gables Farmers Market had picked the day
before. (You can ask the farmers at the market to save you tomatoes that are slightly bruised,
which are perfect for sauce.)

   If you have never tasted tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes, you are missing an 
epicurean delight. The freshness of the tomatoes beats anything you'll make
from canned. And the smell of the tomatoes, onion and olive oil slowly cooking
will transform your kitchen into a Tuscan farmhouse.

   I urge you to make the extra effort to get hand-picked tomatoes during South Florida's
growing season and make this sauce.

  It truly is one of life's simple pleasures.

  TOMATO SAUCE II
    By cooking the carrots, celery and onions along with the tomatoes, you save yourself the extra work of sauteeing them in oil ahead of time and it brings out the fresh, delicate flavor of the sauce. You can double the recipe and freeze the extra sauce. 

  2 pounds fresh, ripe plum tomatoes (I used a mixture of plum and regular tomatoes)
 2/3 cup finely chopped carrot (I used 1/3 as the carrot can overwelm)
 2/3 cup finely chopped celery ( I used 1/3)
 2/3 cup finely chopped onion (I used 1/3)
 Salt to taste
 1/4 tsp. granulated sugar
 1/2 cup olive oil

1. Wash the tomatoes in cold water. Cut them in half, lengthwise. Cook in a covered stockpot over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir them so they do not burn.

2. Add the carrot, celery, onion, 2 teaspoons salt and sugar and cook at a steady simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. (I use the food processor to pulse the vegetables.) Note: If you're doubling the recipe, you will need to cook longer - maybe 45 minutes or so. I also put in a dash of heavy cream, as I like more of a pink sauce - your call on that.

3. Puree everything through a food mill (I use a blender). Return to the saucepan, add the olive oil, and cook at a steady simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes more. Taste and correct for salt.

If you want the recipe for Eggplant Parmesan, let me know and I'll share with you tomorrow!

Source: Adapted from The Classic Italian Cookbook (Knopf) by Marcella Hazan.

Monday Morning Recipe Club: Risotto to die for!

   If you love Italian comfort food, then risotto is at the top of the list.

   If you've ever seen the movie The Big Night … with the two Italian brothers and their
struggling restaurant, you'll know how special risotto is in Italian culinary lore.

   Flipping through one of my favorite cookbooks, Giada's Kitchen, I came across a
Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto. She notes how she had a similar dish in South
Africa, and was intrigued by adding vanilla to a savory dish.

   The vanilla gives it a lovely aromatic texture, without being too sweet, and is the
perfect foil for the squash.

   I served it last night at a dinner party and it was a scrumptious hit.

   One tweak: I simmered the squash a bit longer until squash was tender, and added a bit
of chicken stock to the vegetable stock, cooking the rice a bit more as well.

    
    INGREDIENTS

   4 cups vegetable broth
   1 large vanilla bean
   3 cups peeled cubed (1-inch wide) butternut squash, about 12 ounces
   2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon
   3/4 cups finely chopped onion (from 1 onion)
   1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
   1/2 cup dry white wine
   1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
   1/2 teaspoon salt
   2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

  

   1. In a medium saucepan, warm the broth over medium-high heat. Cut the vanilla bean in
half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and add them, and the bean, to the broth. When the
broth comes to a simmer reduce the heat to low. Add the butternut squash to the simmering
broth and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the butternut
squash to a side dish. Turn the heat on the broth down to very low and cover to keep warm.

   2. In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add
the onion and saute until tender but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to
coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely
evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost
completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup
at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to of the broth to absorb before
adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is
creamy, about 20 minutes total. Discard the vanilla bean.

   3. Turn off the heat. Gently stir in the butternut squash, Parmesan, the remaining
tablespoon of butter, and salt. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl and sprinkle with
chives. Serve immediately.

Monday Morning Recipe Club: Shepherd's Pie

  Comfort food is what we're craving these days.

  For many, comfort food can mean pot pies, homemade soups, black beans and rice.

  For my husband Ken, comfort food means Shepherd's Pie, the mashed potato and beef stew casserole found in many pubs throughout England, Ireland, Scotland. Years ago we traveled to Scotland, birthplace of his father, and discovered a whole array of meat pies in every restaurant and pub.

  When I went to the farmers' market on Saturday and saw baskets of golden potatoes, I immediately thought of Shepherd's Pie. I pulled out one of my well-worn cookbooks, Favorite Comfort Food: The Best of Martha Stewart Living, and went to work.

 Now, Martha being Martha, she'll often make the recipe more intricate than called for. In this case, she uses both Yukon gold potatoes and rutabagas for the topping. I, on the other hand, just used my farmer's market potatoes, and the topping came out scrumptious. (And Publix has both boneless chuck round and ground sirloin on sale this week, so the dish was very economical to make.)

 I had friends over for dinner and they loved it. Best, you can prepare this dish ahead of time, put it the refrigerator then cook it when you're ready. A perfect weeknight solution for busy families, and there were plenty of leftovers, although my husband devoured them the next day over lunch!

 Shepherd's Pie
 I used both boneless chuck and ground beef - about 3 pounds total.  I skipped the rutabagas and only used potatoes. And I added the fresh herbs directly into the stew and pulled them out before I assembled the dish - forget the cheesecloth and bouquet garni!

Ingredients

Serves 8 to 10

• 1 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter, plus more for topping
• 2 pounds boneless beef or lamb for stew
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary, plus 1 tablespoon, chopped
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 1 2/3 cups Homemade Beef Stock, or low-sodium canned beef broth
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch lengths
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 rutabagas (about 3 pounds)
• 4 russet or Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds)
• 1/2 cup hot milk, or as needed

Directions

1. Over medium heat, heat a wide, heavy-bottomed lidded pan until hot. Melt butter, and brown meat in 2 batches. Add onions; cook until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the meat, and cook until well browned, about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often.
2. Make a bouquet garni by tying celery, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic in a piece of cheesecloth; set aside. Add wine, and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen brown bits. Add stock and bouquet garni, bring to a boil, cover, and cook on low heat for 1 1/2 hours, or until meat is tender. Remove lid after 1 hour; add carrots, and cook, uncovered, for the last 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Meanwhile, peel rutabagas and potatoes, and cut into chunks. Place in separate saucepans, and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to a boil, and simmer until tender, about 30 to 40 minutes for rutabagas and 25 minutes for potatoes. Drain; return to saucepans to dry for a few minutes.
4. Put rutabagas and potatoes through a food mill or ricer, or mash by hand. Add butter to taste, and enough hot milk to make a creamy puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in chopped rosemary.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove bouquet garni, and turn stew into a deep 2-quart baking dish. Top with puree; dot lightly with butter. Bake for 1 hour, or until the top is brown and crusty. Serve hot.

Monday Morning Recipe Club: Moosewood chili warms your soul

   A trip to the Coral Gables farmers' market -- and our recent cold snap -- inspired me to
spend Saturday afternoon slow-cooking my favorite chili.

   The market was full of fresh corn, eggplant, squash, tomatoes, peppers and sweet
onions -- all the things that would give chili its robust flavor.

   The recipe comes from one of my old favorite cookbooks, Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home, which won the James Beard Award for vegetarian cooking in 1995. Moosewood is one of the country's first eat-locally, eat-healthy, eat-organically restaurants. Founded in 1973 in Ithaca, N.Y., Moosewood is run as a collective, where 19 people, many of whom have been together since the beginning, run the restaurant, work on the cookbooks (11 of them) and develop food products.

   The menu is all vegetarian. Images of tofu and tempeh, right? Trust me.

   Seven of us, including three teenage boys, made a pilgrimage to Moosewood this summer
while on vacation in the Finger Lakes. Only one in the crowd was vegetarian -- my teenage
son, Cooper. The other two boys were not thrilled about dining in a place where no meat was on the
menu (and some of the adults were wary, too).

   But our meal was one of the best we had in our two-week New York vacation. The food was
fresh, picked from nearby farms, and it was scrumptious. No wonder Bon Appetit named it
one of 13 most influential restaurants of the 20th Century.

   Here, then, is the Moosewood recipe for Red, Gold, Black and Green Chili. I've tinkered
with it a bit -- added a few more veggies and some spices -- but its roots are in Moosewood.

  RED, GOLD, BLACK AND GREEN CHILI
     The recipe calls for bulghur wheat, which has a chewy texture and nutty taste.

   1/2 cup bulghur
   1/2 cup hot water
   3 cups undrained canned tomatoes (28-ounce can) or fresh plum tomatoes
   3 tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil
   2 cups chopped onions
   3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
   1 generous teaspoon ground cumin
   1 generous teaspoon chili powder
   1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
   2 tsp. dried oregano
   1 tbsp. Tabasco or hot pepper sauce
   2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped
   1 cup butternut squash or eggplant, peeled and cut into chunks
   2 cups fresh or frozen corn
   1 14-ounce can black beans, drained
   1 14-ounce can red kidney beans, drained
   1 14-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
   Salt and pepper to taste
   Grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
   Chopped fresh cilantro (garnish)

   1. Place the bulghur, hot water and about a cup of the juice from the canned tomatoes
in a small saucepan. Cove and bring to a boil on high heat, then lower and simmer gently.

   2. While the bulghur cooks, heat the olive in a large saucepan. Saute the onions,
garlic, cumin, chili powder, brown sugar, oregano and Tabasco or cayenne. When the onions
are soft, stir in the bell peppers and squash or eggplant and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.

   3. Chop the tomatoes right in the can and add them to the pan. Stir in the corn and
beans, and heat thoroughly on low heat. Taste the bulghur. When it is cooked but still
chewy, add it to the pan with its liquid.

  4. Cover and simmer for a few minutes for the flavors to meld. Add salt to taste.

  5. Serve plain or topped with grated cheese and fresh cilantro.
 

The instinct diet: Redirecting your inner signals to lose weight

    We all know what we're not supposed to do: Eat the whole bag of double-stuffed Oreos, drink one too many martinis, scarf down a bag of Doritos while watching McDreamy make his rounds in Grey's Anatomy.

    Yet, we somehow can't resist.

    A new diet book may help. Called The Instinct Diet, the book focuses on five basic food instincts that are responsible for our survival: Hunger. Availability. Calorie Density. Familiarity.

   These are primal instincts. But they can lead to our downfall if they're not managed well.

   The book's author -- Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D., who teaches both nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts University - uses her background in pyschology to help us change our eating patterns. Yes, we have to satisfy our hunger to survive, she says, but you can do that by eating fiber-rich foods vs. piling up empty calories. Fiber-rich, high protein, high volume and low-GI carbs will give you that feeling of fullness, which surpresses your hunger.

   The book details ways to change your behavior -- ie., tapping your forehead rather than giving in as a way to stop cravings! (This apparently leads to your thoughts moving to another part of the brain!) It also features a two-week getting started diet, a six-week "keeping it going diet'' and a bunch of healthy and delicious sounding recipes, from Carrot Ginger Soup - ginger has hunger-surpressing properties -- to chocolate pudding and orange flan.

  I'm up for trying it. I'll keep you posted and would love to hear your secrets for living a more healthy lifestyle.

   

Monday Morning Recipe Club: A hearty soup and bread

 I've just acquired a beautiful new cookbook - The Food of Italy: A Journey For Food Lovers -- that makes me want to hope on a plane to Florence. The book pays homage to Italy's Slow Food Movement, which, finally, is catching on in the land of fast food!

The photos in the book are stunning - not only of the finished dish, but the cooking steps and scenes of Italy. When I came across the photo for Minestrone Alla Genovese - and the zucchini, tomatoes, beans and pasta filling the bowl --  I knew I had to try it.

  On Saturday, I stuffed my bags at the Coral Gables Farmers Market with zucchini,
tomatoes, green beans, sweet onions, parsley, basil - all the good stuff for minestrone
soup. While this recipe calls for pancetta - the Italian bacon - you can easily omit it if
you want to make a vegetarian dish.

  The soup was a big hit with my family - even my two teenage sons, who are not always
vegetable lovers! And my colleague Howard Cohen, whose mother regularly makes soups, says
my minestrone was right up there with his mother's best soups.

  With the Super Bowl coming up on Sunday, this would be a perfect dish for your Super
Bowl Party. Serve it with warm crusty bread, and your guests won't leave!

  MINESTRONE ALLA GENOVESE 

  8 ounces dried beans (the recipe called for borlotti beans, but I used dried garbanzo
and cannellini)
  1 3/4 oz. butter or olive oil
  1 large onion, finely chopped
  1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
  2 sage leaves
  2 celery sticks, halved then sliced
  2 carrots, sliced
  3 potatoes, peeled and left whole (I used sweet potatoes)
  1 teaspoon tomato paste
  1 14-oz. can chopped tomatoes
  8 basil leaves
  12 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  2 zucchini, sliced
  1 cup fresh or frozen peas
  1/2 cup fresh or frozen green beans
  1/4 cabbage, shredded (I didn't use)
  6 ounces ditalini or other small pasta
  Pesto
  Grated Parmesan cheese

 Put the dried beans in a large bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak overnight.
Drain and rinse under cold water.

   To make the soffrito: Melt the butter in large, heavy saucepan and add the onion,
garlic, parsley, sage and pancetta. Cook over low heat, stirring once or twice, for about
10 mintes, or until the onion is soft and golden.

   Add the celery, carrot and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste,
tomatoes, basil and beans. Season with plenty of pepper. Add the stock and bring slowly to
the boil. Cover and leave to simmer for 2 hours, stirring once or twice.

   If the potatoes haven't already broken up, roughly break them up with a fork against the
side of the pan. Taste for seasoning and add the zucchini, peas, green beans, cabbage
and pasta. Simmer until the pasta is all dente. Serve with a dollop of pesto and the
Parmesan. (I skipped the pesto, and just added Parmesan Reggiano at the end.)

   Serves six.

  

 

Monday Morning Recipe Club: A hearty soup and bread

  With winter upon us - yes, temperatures have dropped in South Florida to the 40s (ok, we're wimps) - it's a great time to serve up soup and a hearty bread for supper.

  And I've just acquired a beautiful new cookbook - The Food of Italy: A Journey For Food Lovers -- that has lush photos of both the dish as it's being made, plus the finished product, with scenes of Italy scattered throughout. When I came across the photo for Minestrone Alla Genovese - and the zucchini, tomatoes, beans and pasta filling the bowl --  I knew I had to try it. Soup simmering on the stove creates a warm feeling in the house. No wonder Italy is the birthplace of the Slow Food Movement.

  On Saturday, I stuffed my bags at the Coral Gables Farmers Market with zucchini,
tomatoes, green beans, sweet onions, parsley, basil - all the good stuff for minestrone
soup. While this recipe calls for pancetta - the Italian bacon - you can easily omit it if
you want to make this a vegetarian dish.

  The soup was a big hit with my family - even my two teenage sons, who are not always
vegetable lovers! And my colleague Howard Cohen, whose mother regularly makes soups, says
my minestrone was right up there with his mother's best soups.

  With the Super Bowl coming up on Sunday, this would be a perfect dish for your Super
Bowl Party. Serve it with warm crusty bread, and your guests won't leave!

  MINESTRONE ALLA GENOVESE

  8 ounces dried beans (the recipe called for borlotti beans, but I used dried garbanzo
and cannellini)
  1 3/4 oz. butter or olive oil
  1 large onion, finely chopped
  1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
  2 sage leaves
  2 celery sticks, halved then sliced
  2 carrots, sliced
  3 potatoes, peeled and left whole (I used sweet potatoes)
  1 teaspoon tomato paste
  1 14-oz. can chopped tomatoes
  8 basil leaves
  12 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  2 zucchini, sliced
  1 cup fresh or frozen peas
  1/2 cup fresh or frozen green beans
  1/4 cabbage, shredded (I didn't use)
  6 ounces ditalini or other small pasta
  Pesto
  Grated Parmesan cheese

 Put the dried beans in a large bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak overnight.
Drain and rinse under cold water.

   To make the soffrito: Melt the butter in large, heavy saucepan and add the onion,
garlic, parsley, sage and pancetta. Cook over low heat, stirring once or twice, for about
10 mintes, or until the onion is soft and golden.

   Add the celery, carrot and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste,
tomatoes, basil and beans. Season with plenty of pepper. Add the stock and bring slowly to
the boil. Cover and leave to simmer for 2 hours, stirring once or twice.

   If the potatoes haven't already broken up, roughly break them up with a fork against th
e side of the pan. Taste for seasoning and add the zucchini, peas, green beans, cabbage
and pasta. Simmer until the pasta is all dente. Serve with a dollop of pesto and the
Parmesan. (I skipped the pesto, and just added Parmesan Reggiano at the end.)

   Serves six.

  

 
 

Food for Thought (and Good Health)

    So what foods will help you control your moods, get rid of cellulite, boost your brain power?

    A bunch.

    A new book, Gillian McKeith's Food Bible, catalogs food-based treatments for an array of ailments, from Alzheimer's to diabetes to depression to thyroid problems to even cellulite. She goes beyond medical issues - discussing what foods can help with losing weight, keeping your skin soft and fighting jet lag.

  I found it fascinating and learned quite a bit. Among the highlights:

  * Good foods for weight loss: Adzuki beans, almonds, apples and pears, blueberries, cucumbers, leafy greens, oats, miso soup, ginger, brown rice, quinona and raw shelled hem seeds, among other foods. And if you're suffering from water retention, drink plenty of water, herbal tea and vegetable juices to rid the body of excess sodium, which retains water. Potassium and B complex also are good for balancing your body's sodium levels.

  * Raging hormones: To quell those hormones, look for whole grains, soy, flax and pumpkin seeds, oily fish, green veggies, beans, oats, barley, yams, split peas, olive oil. Avoid coffee, chocolate -- both sources of caffeine - alcohol, added sugar, salt, spicy foods and red meat and dairy products.

  * Help with depression: While depression has many roots, diet is an important part of the puzzle. Foods that help boost the production of serotonin, the feel-good neurotransmitter, can help. Eat foods that are high in complex carbs: bananas, tomatoes, walnuts, dates, brown rice, rice pudding, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, yams and lentils. Fish, nuts, avocados, mangoes, seeds and vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage, plus flax, sunflower and pumpkin seeds also are good.

 * Foods that feed the brain: Salmon,  tuna, sardines, chicken, lean white meats, tempeh, tofu, eggs, avocados, spinach, peas, beans, kelp, berries, brown rice, wheat germ, whole grains, oats, barley, nuts and seeds and the spice turmeric.

  * Cellulite: Can't stand those dimples on your thighs? A build-up of toxins is thought to cause cellulite. Thus, look for these foods that can help rid toxins: Kale, collards, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy, turnips, mustard greens, wasbi, arugula, berries, grapefruit, goji berries (at left), broccoli sprouts.

Keeping Obama's energy alive in you

   On a bitter cold morning on Jan. 20, 1981, I stood crammed on the National Mall with my
classmates from Northwestern University, watching the first-term inauguration of Ronald
Reagan.

   Much like today, the country was mired in negativity … a nasty recession, double-digit
interest rates and a 444-day drama involving 52 Americans being held hostage by Iranian
student militants. (The hostages were released minutes after Reagan was sworn in.)

   A wave of change, buoyancy and positive energy filled the air … much like the mood of 
today's inauguration of Barack Obama. 

   Keeping that positive energy, however, is not an easy task. Life's demands wash over us us like an ocean wave -- keeping one's focus, goals and good feelings require more than just a little attention.

   An article in the February issue of Psychology Today sheds light on how to live a more satisfying, more positive life. It's something we're clamoring … last year, more than 4,000 books were published on happiness and the most popular course at Harvard is about positive psychology, according to the magazine.

    Here, then, are some thoughts to keep that positive spirit alive and well:

  1. Listen to your gut. Too often we quiet those voices that tell us something is not right. We make excuses over why we can't do something, as opposed to figuring out how to find our calling. Think hard about your values and try to live them.

  2. Recognize that pain is part of happiness. With light, comes heat. We can't escape
life's disappointments and sorrows, but we can confront them head-on and learn.
After all, happiness would not taste as sweet without the bitter taste of sorrow.

   3. Chase your dreams. Have you ever worked hard for something? A new job, a school you
wanted to attend, a trip you've been planning for months. Working toward something,
setting a goal and taking steps toward achieving it … that's what makes us happy, makes us
feel satisfied.

  4. Simplify your life. Too many choices can make us miserable. Think of the child who
has one special toy, who bonds with that toy throughout their childhood. A child with so
many toys often will get stressed by all the choices. Keep it simple and focus on the one
or two things that will lead you to a more peaceful state.

   5. Build strong relationships. Years ago, I tore off a page from a calendar called,
Girlfriends Get Together and have it pasted on my office cubicle. The inscription reads:
 îîOur lives would be a fuzzy dash from one obligation to another if we didn't pause
momentarily and mark our accomplishments, explore our challenges, and share our day-to-day
circumstances with our girlfriends.''

   In short, my life would not be nearly as rich if I didn't have friends and family to
share life's moments. They'll laugh with you when times are good and hug you when life
hurts.

   Celebrate life's moments. It could lead you to a whole new place.

Monday Morning Recipe Club: Chicken Pot Pie

    My family loves pot pies.
    The crust, the chicken and veggies swimming in the velvet sauce.
    Comfort food -- something we all need lately.
    But storebought pot pies are filled with sodium and saturated fats -- enough to raise
your blood pressure and clog your arteries. And they're not exactly chock full of hearty
vegetables.
    So, with the chill in the air and the Coral Gables farmers' market opening for the
season on Saturday, I pulled out one my favorite recipes over the weekend: Chicken Pot Pie
with Phyllo Crust.
   It comes from Cooking for Comfort by Marian Burros, a longtime food and nutrition
writer at The New York Times and a friend of mine.
   I love this recipe. The phyllo crust appeals to my Greek roots and eliminates making a
dough from scratch for the topping.
   Yes, a pot pie takes effort, but the results are definitely worth it.

   

   CHICKEN POT PIE WITH PHYLLO CRUST

      I doubled the recipe to make two pies, freezing the extra one. The original recipe
calls for red and yellow bell peppers, but I skipped those and used baby new potatoes.

  1 cup pearl onions
   1 1/2 pounds skinless chicken breasts
   1 1/2 pound skinless chicken thighs
   1 leek, white part only, trimmed and sliced -- (I didn't have a leek, so i used half of
a sweet onion, chopped)
   20 baby carrots, peeled
   4 sprigs thyme, plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
   20 baby new potatoes
   2 tablespoons oil
   1/2 pound shitake mushrooms, washed, stemmed and cut into 1/4-inch strips
   1 cup fresh or frozen peas
   2 tablespoons lemon juice
   8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
   1/2 cup flour
   2 cups chicken stock
   1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
   1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

   Phyllo Topping (recipe follows)

   

   1. Plunge the pearl onions in boiling water for 30 seconds and drain. Cut off the root
end and slip the outside skin off the onions. Set aside.
   2. In a large pot, combine the chicken breast and thighs, onions, carrots, and 4 sprigs
of thyme. Season with the salt and pepper. Add water just to cover. Cover the pot and
bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is
cooked.
   3. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes, cooking them until slightly firm. (As the potatoes are
small, I boil them whole, then cut them into quarters when cool).
   4. Heat the oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms and saute until
they soften, about four minutes. Set aside.
   5. About five minutes before the chicken is cooked, add the peas to the broth and cook
until tender. When the chicken is cooked, strain, reserving the liquid. Let the chicken
cool, remove the meat from the bone, and cut the meat into 1-inch chunks. In a large bowl
or pot, stir in the chicken meat. Mix in the mushrooms and pearl onions. Cut the carrots
in half and add. Cut the potatoes in quarters and add. Stir in the peas, lemon juice and
chopped thyme. Discard the thyme sprigs and chopped sweet onions from broth. Set chicken
mixture aside.
  6. Melt 8 tablespoons butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan, remove from the
heat, and stir in the flour. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring, a couple of minutes
until blended and bubbling. Remove from the heat and stir in the stock. Return to the heat
and cook, stirring until the mixture thickens. Take the pan from the heat, cool slightly,
and stir in the cream. Season with salt pepper and the nutmeg and stir into the chicken
and vegetables. Adjust the seasonings.
   7. Pour the filling into a 9-by-13 baking dish.

   
  PHYLLO TOPPING

     8 phyllo leaves - You can buy a box of phyllo in the frozen section of most supermarkets
     4 tablespoons melted butter for brushing

    1. Place a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

    2. Open the package of phyllo and cover with a damp towel. (It dries out quickly so you must keep it moist.)

    3. Place a stack of 8 phyllo leaves on a work surface. (Wrap the remaining phyllo in
an airtight bag and refrigerate or freeze. Phyllo will last about a week in the
refrigerator; three months in the freezer.)

   4. Remove one leaf, brush it with some of the melted butter, and place it butter side
up on top of the chicken and vegetables in the baking dish. Butter the next leaf and place
it on top of the first. Repeat until all the leaves are used and brush butter on top of
the final leaf. Tuck the edges of the phyllo into the dish. Cut a 1-inch hole in the
middle of the phyllo to allow steam to escape.

   5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and the top is golden brown.

   Note: The filling can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Bring to room
temperature before it is baked.

    If you want a thicker sauce, add 2 tablepoons of flour to the recipe.