Food 4 Thought

An eZine for People Who Eat

October 20, 2020

Roast asparagus is good. A heavy dose of Parmesan cheese can only make it better. Here's one of many great side dish recipes you'll discover in The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook. Peruse the Table of Contents on-line for inspiration planning your next holiday meal. Order a copy there for recipes that deliver quality restaurant taste without the lockdown hassle.

1-2 lb asparagus (about 25 spears)

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Break the woody ends off the asparagus spears and peel them if they are large. Lay the spears in a single layer on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the asparagus with salt and pepper. Rub the spears to coat them with oil, salt and pepper. Roast about 15 minutes—until barely tender. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and return to the oven for another minute

October 23, 2020

Couldn't wait to bake during the long wait for the serviceman. The barbecue became the oven. Baked a fine spinach quiche on it—just like they did in the old days.

Champagne brunch is not just another meal. It’s an event. No candles. No subdued lighting. But probably no event is more likely to be shared with significant others—or those we hope will become significant others. Seems like the perfect time for a special dish. Here’s a dish you’ll be proud to serve to that special someone on your next champagne brunch.

2 tbsp butter or margarine

½ lb. fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 cup small curd cottage cheese

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

¼ cup flour

1 tsp onion powder

¼ tsp salt

4 drops Tabasco sauce

2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

½ lb crabmeat—imitation works great here.

Preheat oven or the barbecue to 350°F.

In a medium skillet, sauté mushrooms in butter or margarine until tender.

Put the eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, flour, onion powder, salt and Tabasco sauce in a blender or food processor. Blend to mix the ingredients. Pour the mixture into a large bowl. Stir in sautéed mushrooms, Jack cheese and crabmeat. Imitation crabmeat works fine in this recipe. You may want to cut it into pieces before adding it to the liquid. Coat the sides of a 9 or 10" porcelain quiche dish or 9½" deep-dish pie plate with cooking spray. Pour the mixture in and bake 45 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Quiche should be puffed and golden brown.

Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.

October 16, 2020

Barbecued a fabulous frittata this weekend. My oven is broken and a replacement part takes two weeks—another casualty of the coronavirus. You can bake on your barbecue if you have enough temperature control. My Komodo cooker does. With the can-do spirit of The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook this frittata came out of the barbecue looking and tasting fine.

An artistic presentation can take your brunch from good to great. The aroma of a frittata baking in the oven tantalizes the whole house with the promise of great taste to come. The whole neighborhood enjoyed he aroma emanating from my barbecue, Pull this fancy frittata out of the oven or off the grill, and you'll want to dig in before it cools off. But don't. Give everyone a chance to admire this fancy frittata.

Serve this dish at your next special breakfast, or any time you feel like doing something special. You won't be disappointed. It tastes as good as it looks.

10-12 spears of asparagus

1 onion halved and sliced thin

½ red or green bell pepper chopped

½ lb mushrooms sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

8 eggs

½ cup cottage cheese

2 tbsp lemon juice

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Remove the woody stems of the asparagus spears. Put the spears in boiling salt water. Boil them 10 minutes and remove them from the water. Cut the top 4 to 6" off each spear. Select the prettiest ones for your design and set those aside. Chop the rest of the asparagus into 1 to 2" pieces

While the asparagus cooks, preheat the oven or the grill to 350°F and prepare the onions, the peppers, and the mushrooms.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 10 to 12" skillet. Add the vegetables plus the small pieces of asparagus. Cook for 8 minutes stirring occasionally.

Make an egg batter while that's cooking. Whisk the eggs, cottage cheese, and lemon juice together. Add salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the cooked vegetables. Array the reserved spears on top like the petals of a flower or the spokes of a wheel.

Bake 20 – 25 minutes and let stand 5 minutes. Let your guests admire your creation before cutting and serving it.

October 9, 2020

Asparagus has been looking especially good these days. The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook offers several delicious ways to serve this delicious vegetable. Many vegetables benefit from a trip outdoors, none more than asparagus. If you have some hot space left on the grill while cooking something else, consider using it to broil some asparagus. Marinate it in an oil and vinegar dressing, and then cook it hot and fast.

Oil and vinegar dressing

1-2 lb asparagus (about 25 stalks)

Break the woody ends off the asparagus spears and peel them if they are large. Lay them in a single layer in a shallow pan. Slather with the salad dressing and let stand for an hour or more.

Lay the asparagus on the grill over the hot part of the fire. They should lie perpendicular to the grill openings. Better yet, use a screen or a wire cage to keep from dropping your asparagus through the holes. Cook 5 to 10 minutes stirring regularly.

Remove from the grill. Serve hot with or without Hollandaise sauce.

October 2, 2020

Shrimp scampi is a garlic lover’s delight. Taking so much less time and effort, you can prepare this delicious dish without using the most expensive shrimp in the store. Recipes from The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook are like that.

3 tbsp butter or margarine

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tbsp white wine

2 lb shrimp, shelled and de-veined

Salt and pepper

Melt the butter. Stir in the garlic and the wine. Place the shrimp in a single layer in a flameproof dish. Pour the sauce over the shrimp, salt and pepper to taste, and broil 5 minutes.

Serve over rice.

September 25, 2020

Got champagne taste and a beer budget? Here's the cookbook for you. A great meal doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. For the cost of burgers out, you can dine on filet mignon at home. Woodrow Wilson's "The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook" shows the way. This small volume is full of recipes simple enough they're a joy to cook, and tasty enough they're a joy to eat. Whether it's an intimate dinner for two, or having the boss over for the first time, you'll be proud to serve from this fine cookbook.

Enjoy restaurant quality meals without the quality restaurant prices. One meal eaten in rather than eaten out pays for the book. With the money you save cooking with "The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook," you could serve filet mignon every night. Better yet, the money you won't be spending will add up as fast as an executive's paycheck. Best of all, the government hasn't figured out how to tax these benefits...yet.

Serve something fancy, like pork medallions stuffed with bleu cheese or onion-stuffed sirloin. Serve something basic like meatball stew or pot roast. Serve something great every time.

"The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook" is about more than just eating well and saving money. With instructions like "marinate significant other, set aside" and "open the beer, drink half" the book puts fun back into the kitchen. Here's a taste:

PORK FILET MIGNON

The most tender, tastiest morsel in the whole pig is the tenderloin. When it comes from a cow, the tenderloin is called fillet mignon.

Other languages use the same word for the cut whether if comes from a pig or a cow. Do they know something we don't? Treat pork tenderloin with the same tender loving care you would beef tenderloin, and it will reward your taste buds at least as well for half the price.

Slice the tenderloins into 1 1/4" thick medallions and cook them like beef tournedos. They're on the lean side, so they are best wrapped in bacon to increase their fat content and boost their flavor. Wrap them in bacon secured with wooden toothpicks. Cook them like beef steaks. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

1 lb pork tenderloin medallions

bacon

salt - kosher if you've got it

butter or margarine

4 or 5 cloves of garlic-crushed

Worcestershire sauce

lime juice

Add salt to a frying pan and preheat on high for several minutes.

Wrap 1 1/4" thick pork filet mignon slices with bacon and secure with toothpicks.

Cook the meat on high for 5 minutes. Flip the meat and drop the temperature to medium. Top the filets with the butter, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and lime juice. Cook 3 to 4 minutes more.

Move to a warm platter, and remove the toothpicks. Scrape the brown stuff from the bottom of the pan and pour over the meat before serving.

... WITH BLEU CHEESE SAUCE

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better ...

It's not just any sauce that can dress up filet mignon, but this bleu cheese sauce can. This is my most requested recipe. Friends tell me they whip up batches of the sauce and use it to boost the flavor of broccoli, cauliflower, baked potatoes and more. Double the sauce recipe if you like. It keeps all week in the refrigerator, though it seldom lasts that long.

Filet mignons

4 to 6 slices of pork tenderloin 1 1/4 " thick

6 - 8 oz Gorgonzola or Stilton cheese

fresh ground pepper

salt, kosher if you've got it

Sauce

3 tbsp dry sherry

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 beef bouillon cube or 1 tsp granulated

1/2 tsp soy sauce

salt and pepper

Cut a pocket in the side of each slice of medallion. Cut small slices of the cheese-one for each medallion. Reserve the remaining cheese. Place one slice of cheese in each pocket. Sprinkle with pepper. Seal with toothpicks.

Preheat a frying pan over high heat. Put salt - kosher if you've got it - into the bottom. Add the meat and cook it for 5 minutes on the first side. Flip the meat over and drop the heat to medium low. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the meat and keep it warm.

Add the sherry, soy sauce and sour cream to the skillet. Crumble the bouillon cube and remaining cheese and add them. Cook for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place meat on warm plate. Serve with the sauce.

September 18, 2020

Picnics are out; protests are in. Bring these beans to your next family protest. Not sure what the family will protest about, but it won't be your beans.

Beans are good for you. If there were big bags of Human Chow, they’d be filled with beans. Beans are a great source of energy, protein, and fiber. They also provide essential vitamins and minerals. Don’t let this "good for you" talk deter you: try them, they taste good too.

Here’s a popular bean dish for barbecues and potluck dinners from The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook. I used to make this three-bean pot with canned beans, but I could never find canned white lima beans. The dry beans are available. As long as I was going to cook those up, might as well do the kidney beans right along with them. The homemade beans are better.

Use baked beans from the can. They have to be baked 24 hours. That was practical when the stove stayed on 24/7 to heat the house. Running your oven all day for one batch of beans is impractical. Leave bean baking to the pros.

Canned or from scratch, you can do it either way.

1 cup dry lima beans or 2 1 lb cans of white lima beans

1 cup dry kidney beans or 2 1 lb cans of kidney beans

1 lb bacon

1 large onion chopped

1 large kielbasa sausage link—sliced

1 2 lb can baked beans

⅔ cup catsup

⅔ cup brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

If making the beans from scratch, place the lima beans and the kidney beans in a large bowl and cover with at least 6 cups of water. Let stand overnight. Drain and wash the beans in a colander.

I’ve read there’s a faster way to soak the beans. Put them in water to cover them. Bring to a boil and boil to two minutes. Let sit in that water for 2 hours, then drain and rinse the beans before proceeding. I’ve never tried that method, but if you’re short on time, you might give it a try.

Place the soaked beans in your soup pot and cover with salted water. Cook 1 hour.

Meanwhile, fry the bacon and drain it well. Chop the onion and slice the kielbasa while you are waiting. A mandoline works well for this. Pour off excess drippings, and then stir-fry the onion and kielbasa until lightly browned.

Put all three kinds of beans, the catsup, brown sugar and mustard in a large pot. Add the fried onion and the sausage. (Crumble the bacon and add it now or hold it until the end.) Bring the mixture to a boil on high, then turn down to low and simmer for 1 hour.

Serve with crumbled bacon on top if not added earlier.

September 11, 2020

When it's too hot to cook indoors, it's time for Plan B. Barbecue. Boiling cabbage may warm the house on cold winter days, but take it outside during the dog days of summer. Cabbage is a great grill mate for a roast, or other entre that takes an hour or so. This vegetable turns out tasty when it's cooked slow and cool. Try this at your next cookout. You'll surprise your guests with an exotic dish with a special barbecue tang.

¼ onion

¼ lb bacon

¼ cup barbecue sauce

1 head cabbage

butter or margarine

salt and pepper

cooking spray

Build a divided fire. Plan to roast your main dish on the hot side while you grill your cabbage over indirect heat.

Chop the onion fine, and cut the bacon into ½" slivers. Fry 3 to 5 minutes, until the bacon begins to brown. Stir the barbecue sauce in and set aside.

Slice the top off the cabbage. Cut the core out leaving a triangular hole about 3" deep.

Shape a bit of rolled up aluminum foil into a ring to stand the cabbage upright. Fill the cavity with the onion mixture. Top that a few pats of butter or margarine. Salt and pepper to taste. Spray the outside leaves with cooking spray.

Stand the cabbage erect on its holder over the cooler side of your barbecue fire. Cook over indirect heat until done—an hour or more. Remove any burnt or dried out leaves before presenting to your table.

September 5, 2020

Champagne brunch is not just another meal. It’s an event. No candles. No subdued lighting. But probably no event is more likely to be shared with significant others—or those we hope will become significant others. Seems like the perfect time for a special dish. Here’s one of the champagne brunch dishes you'll discover in The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook. You’ll be proud to serve to it special someone on your next champagne brunch.

2 tbsp butter or margarine

½ lb. fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 cup small curd cottage cheese

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

¼ cup flour

1 tsp onion powder

¼ tsp salt

4 drops Tabasco sauce

2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

½ lb crabmeat—imitation works great here.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium skillet, sauté mushrooms in butter or margarine until tender.

Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.

August 28, 2020

Gazpacho is the classic Spanish salad you eat with a spoon. It is a modern adaptation of a Moorish dish from the time of their occupation of Spain. Gazpacho began as a peons’ dish—food for peasants. Don’t let that discourage you. Remember: lobster was once a poor persons’ dish. Look how well that turned out. Give gazpacho a try.

Ripe tomatoes star in modern gazpacho recipes. The original Moorish version contained none. Columbus hadn’t brought tomatoes back from the New World yet. In the beginning, many Europeans shunned tomatoes as non-Christian food because they weren’t mentioned in the Bible. Others assumed tomatoes were poison because rest of the plant was. Tomatoes have been exonerated on the poison charges, and have no lingering religious issues. Today, modern tomato-based gazpachos are even better than the original recipe.

This recipe spruces up a medley of tomatoes and other fresh vegetables with an oil and vinegar dressing of its own. Prepare this soup in a blender and chill it. No cooking necessary. Serve the soup cold. There’s little danger of leftovers; but if you do prepare too much, it will keep in the refrigerator. Gazpacho celebrates the fresh vegetables of summer—flawless red tomatoes, glistening green peppers, aromatic onions and more. Serve it chilled for a refreshing summer time dinner.

4 tomatoes

½ green pepper—seeded

½ onion

2 stalks celery

3 green onions

1 tbsp or 3 sprigs parsley

2 cloves garlic—peeled

½ cup cold water

2 tbsp tarragon wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

¼ tsp pepper

A few drops of Tabasco sauce (optional)

Cut the tomatoes, peppers, onions and celery into manageable-size pieces. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Scoop some into a blender jar and chop 10 to 15 seconds until all the large pieces have been processed. Pour the contents into a second bowl and repeat until finished. Chill and serve in soup bowls.

August 21, 2020

Cooking chicken over a beer can produces the moistest breasts imaginable. A can of beer boiling inside it keeps the chicken moist. Beer, soft drinks, wine, whatever: whole books have been written about variations on the theme of beer can chicken. There are many good ones, some of the simplest are outstanding.

A beer-can chicken cooks standing up. The body cavity slides over a can of spiced beer or other liquid. The can and the chicken’s two legs support the bird during cooking. Wire or ceramic stands are available for those of us who serve beer-can chicken often.

Traditional beer-can chicken is smoked on a charcoal grill. The upright chicken is tall, and may not fit many grills. My Kamado cooker works well for beer-can chicken. The skin comes out crisp and the meat comes out moist.

2 handfuls of wood chips or chunks

1 12-ounce can beer

1 3-5 lb chicken

Your favorite seasonings

2 green onions chopped

2 cloves garlic diced

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Open the beer. Drink half. Soak one or two handfuls of wood chips or a few chunks in water. Apple or peach work well. Prepare and preheat grill Follow manufacturer's directions if you're using a Kamado cooker or other smoker. For conventional grills, light a charcoal pyramid with a six briquette by four briquette base. The wood and the firs should be ready in half an hour. Wait a half hour until the coals are ashed over. Use a shovel or a trowel to move the coals into two fires: one along each side of the grill. Place an aluminum foil drip pan between the two fires. Add about a ½" of water

Remove the extra goodies from the body cavity and trim the excess fat out of the chicken. Rinse inside and out and pat dry. Sprinkle salt, pepper and your favorite chicken seasonings inside the bird. Salt and pepper the chicken skin.

Remove the pull-tab from the half-full beer, and open another large hole with a church key. Pour most of the seasonings into the can and add the onions and garlic. Slide the beer can up into the chicken’s body cavity. Keeping the can upright, pull the chicken’s legs forward until it can stand on its own two feet (plus the can.)

Scatter the soaked chips or chunks over the fires, stand the chicken in the center of the grill, and close the grill cover. If using chips, soak some and add every half hour. Cook until an instant-read thermometer shows a temperature of 165°F for the thighs, about an hour. Remove from the grill and let rest five minutes.

Remember the beer is still scalding hot. Be careful sliding the chicken off the can.

August 14, 2020

Smokey flavor zips up many a fish or fowl. Salmon benefits even more than most. Fish farms are supplying salmon to restaurants and stores year round. Pick up a filet and smoke it on your grill. Two hours at around 225°F produces a great taste sensation.

Note: this is not the cold-smoking method used by fisheries in the Northwest. In amateur hands, that method may not be adequate to kill all the germs. Cold smoking is best left to FDA controlled commercial professionals.

It’s not the cold-smoked stuff from the deli, but this smoked salmon is worth a try.

1 whole or half salmon

Apple or peach wood chips or chunks

Soak two handfuls of wood chips or chunks in water. Apple, peach or cherry work well with salmon. Prepare the grill for smoking. Clean the grill. Light a charcoal pyramid with a six briquette by four briquette base. Wait a half hour until the coals are ashed over. Use a shovel or a trowel to move the coals into two fires: one along each side of the grill. Place an aluminum foil drip pan between the two fires. Add about a ½" of water.

Scatter the soaked chips or chunks over the fires, lay the fish in the center of the grill, and close the grill cover. Adjust the vents to get a low slow fire, 225°F or so. If using chips, soak some and add every half hour. Cook 1½ to 2 hours total. Remove from the grill and let rest five minutes.

August 7, 2020

Start your day strong with spinach in your brunch. Spinach is great morning, noon, or night. Here's a breakfast version in the Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook spirit. It's easy. It uses readily available ingredients—like all the recipes in the book. And it tastes great. Pick up some spinach—freash or frozen—and give surprise everyone with this different take on breakfast.

1 bunch of raw spinach or 1 package of frozen spinach

Cooking spray

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp butter or margarine

¼ onion chopped

1 clove garlic minced

2 strips bacon diced

5 eggs

3 tbsp heavy cream

black pepper

¼ cup Parmesan cheese grated

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lubricate a baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

If starting from raw spinach, bring a large pot of salted water to a full boil. Add the spinach. Return the water to a rapid boil and cook for 1 minute. Drain into a colander and squeeze excess water out of it. Chop the cooked spinach.

Or prepare the frozen spinach according to package directions. Drain the cooked spinach into a colander and squeeze excess water out of it. Chop the cooked spinach if necessary.

Spread the prepared spinach over the bottom of the baking dish.

Heat the butter or margarine and the olive oil in a frying pan. When the butter or margarine has melted, add the onion, the garlic and the bacon. Cook over medium low heat until the onion is light brown. Stir the onion/bacon blend into the spinach in a baking dish.

Beat the eggs and the cream together in a small bowl. Add a pinch of black pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the spinach layer. Do not stir. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and bake 30 minutes.

July 31, 2020

What does your lockdown body look like? Restaurants are closed. Grocery store shelves have been picked over. Some of us have resorted to processed foods, and outgrown our fat jeans. Others are making do with what's left, and have discovered a scrawny body within. Those who cooked with what was available maintained a happy medium through it all.

Healthy eating needn't be challenging. There is life beyond Top Ramen. The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook offers a selection of easy tasty recipes made from easy to find ingredients. Dinners turn out great even when kids prepare them. No need to mask up and scour a half dozen stores for some of-the-wall ingredient. (Putting my mask on always makes me feel like I'm getting ready to knock over a 7-11. How about you?)

Buy yourself a copy of The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook and return to nutritious eating. The light and humorous presentation makes the book a pleasant alternative to the drudgery of watching the news. It presents affordable recipes—most of them are easy to prepare. There are a few more challenging ones for those days when lockdown loneliness is driving you up the wall.

July 24, 2020

Ready to celebrate the end of this lockdown fiasco? Here's a greaty Mexican crowd pleaser. Many Mexican meals are tasty, easy, and affordable. They're in the spirit of The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook. This dish has gotten rave reviews at my dinner table time after time. It will be back by popular demand. Treat your crew to this imitation crab delicacy at your first festival.

1 large onion

2 tbsp oil

1 lb imitation crabmeat

1 can refried beans

1 cup pico de gallo style salsa

1 tbsp garlic salt

12 8" flour tortillas or 6 12" flour tortillas

shredded cheddar or cheddar jack cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Dice the onion and fry the pieces in a little oil until softened. Chop the crabmeat into small pieces, and stir them into the onions. Cook the mixture until it is warmed through. Set aside.

Mix the salsa and garlic salt into the refried beans. Set aside.

Lay a tortilla flat. Add a heaping tablespoon of the crab/onion mixture in the middle. Top with a heaping tablespoon of the beans. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. (Double these for the larger tortillas.) Tuck the top and bottom of the tortilla over the filling and roll it up. Lay the burrito seam side down in a glass baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Bake 30 minutes at 350°F. Serve with salsa.

July 17, 2020

In development, Two-Paws-Up Brussels sprouts dish had one of those long descriptive names, shorthand for the starring ingredients. Then one day, a pint of left overs fell on the floor. By the time I got back with the broom and the dustpan, they were gone. The dog had leapt on them and devoured all of them. This is my dog’s favorite Brussels sprouts recipe. His review: two paws up. The name stuck. Two-Paws-Up Brussels sprouts is typical of the recipes you'll treasure from The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook. It's tasty. It's fun. It's affordable,

Cook a batch of Two-Paws-Up Brussels sprouts. You’ll have the dog’s undivided attention in the second paragraph, and accolades from the rest of the crowd in the third.

1 lb Brussels sprouts—quartered

Salt

3 slices bacon—cut into 1" pieces

1 tbsp olive oil

½ onion—diced

4 cloves of garlic—sliced

2 tsp thyme

1 tsp salt—kosher if you have it

½ tsp pepper

1½ tsp balsamic vinegar

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the Brussels sprouts. Cook covered for 5 minutes. Drain them and set aside.

Meanwhile stir-fry the bacon 3 to 6 minutes over medium heat until brown. Drain on a paper towel. Pour off any excess bacon fat. Add olive oil plus the onion and garlic. Stir-fry the mixture until the onion is soft—about 4 minutes. Stir in the thyme, the salt and pepper. Raise the heat to medium high. Add the Brussels sprouts and cook, stirring occasionally about 3 minutes. The sprouts should be warm and tender.

Remove from the heat. Toss with the bacon and the balsamic vinegar.

July 10,2020

Looking forward to the first potluck after the lockdown ends. I'll share my favorite bean dish, and get life back on track. The three-bean pot from The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook never fails. Bacon, sausage and three kinds of beans—what's not to love in there?

I used to make this three-bean pot with canned beans, but I could never find canned white lima beans. The dry beans are available. As long as I was going to cook those up, might as well do the kidney beans right along with them. The homemade beans are better. And making them at home avoids the problem of the ever-shrinking one-pound can.

Use baked beans from the can. They have to be baked 24 hours. That was practical when the stove stayed on 24 hours a day to heat the house. Running your oven for 24 hours for one batch of beans is impractical. Leave bean baking to the pros.

Canned or from scratch, you can do it either way.

1 cup dry lima beans or 2 1 lb cans of white lima beans

1 cup dry kidney beans or 2 1 lb cans of kidney beans

1 lb bacon

1 large onion chopped

1 large kielbasa sausage link—sliced

1 2 lb can baked beans

⅔ cup catsup

⅔ cup brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

If making the beans from scratch, place the lima beans and the kidney beans in a large bowl and cover with at least 6 cups of water. Let stand overnight. Drain and wash the beans in a colander.

Place the soaked beans in your soup pot and cover with salted water. Cook 1 hour.

Serve with crumbled bacon on top if not added earlier.

July 3, 2020

Braising opens another dimension in chicken cooking. Try this braised chicken with garlic dish before your kitchen gets too hot to cook indoors. Slow cooking with tasty vegetables flavors the ingredients in new ways. Consider this variation on the French classic dish "Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic" Cooking in garlic lends flavor to the chicken. Cooked garlic turns soft and delicious. It’s mild enough to serve for a first date.

Squeeze a few cloves of the cooked garlic onto a slice of French or Italian bread. It’s a great change from butter. (An acquaintance with a heart condition thanked me for introducing him to this alternative spread.) Save some cloves to liven up other dishes. Roast garlic is a favorite secret ingredient.

No need to cook a whole chicken. Pick up a package of your favorite parts, or a cut up chicken. The recipe presented works for about half a chicken. A whole chicken needs a larger pan.

1 or 2 lb of your favorite chicken parts, bone in, skin on

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

2 heads of garlic separated into cloves

2 tbsp dried parsley

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ cup white wine or chicken bouillon

Season the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil over medium high in a 10 or 11-inch sauté pan with a lid. Add the chicken parts, skin side down and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook until second side is deeply browned, another 3 to 5 minutes.

When the chicken has browned, add the garlic, parsley, and cinnamon. Pour the wine or bouillon over the mixture and stir to blend. Bring to a boil. Then cover, drop the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes turning once.

Serve with crusty French or Italian bread.

June 26, 2020

Stuff a steak for something different from your grill. Green onions and garlic make a tangy addition to a grilled sirloin. This is just one of dozens of fascinating tastes you can prepare from The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook. I happened on a proper piece of meat the other day, and my mouth watered at the memory of garlic stuffed sirloin on the grill. I fired my Komodo cooker and served this delicious alternative. Find yourself a thick steak and try this on your grill.

¼ cup garlic chopped fine

1 tbsp. olive oil

½ cup green onions sliced thin

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

3 lb. boneless top sirloin, cut 2" thick

Prepare the stuffing: Sauté the garlic in olive oil over low heat 5 minutes. Add the onions and increase heat to medium low. Continue cooking 5 more minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper, remove the mixture from heat and allow it to cool.

Clean the grill and prepare a charcoal fire for direct grilling.

Meanwhile, trim any excess fat from the meat and cut a pocket through the center of the steak. (Cut parallel to the surface of the meat about 1" from each side. Cut to, but not through, to the other side.) Spoon the cooled stuffing into the pocket and spread it evenly. Secure the opening with wooden toothpicks.

Place the stuffed steak on the grill over medium coals. Cover and grill 26 to 32 minutes turning once. (Eighteen to 20 minutes on the first side and the rest on the second.)

Let the meat rest for five minutes. Remove the toothpicks and carve into ½" strips.

June 19, 2020

Starting out is the hardest part. Millions of young couples will take that first step on the longest journey of their lives together this June. They'll return from their honeymoon to a treasure trove of great gifts—lacking only the everyday essentials. Oh sure, got have fancy china for entertaining the in-laws, a dozen champagne flutes, and a crystal party bowl. But how about some flatware, a skillet, and a coffee pot? They'll have to acquire the basics to build their new life together. Then they'll have to learn how to use them.

Their relationship's focus shifts to the kitchen. Mom's home cooking and restaurant food become special events. Meals don't cook themselves. Somebody has to make them. It ain't as easy as Mom made it look, and nobody's taste buds went to sleep. Dinners need to be easy but tasty. Blew the budget on the wedding; the honeymoon ate any leftovers? Dinners need to be affordable too. The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook has the answers. Easy fun recipes using common ingredients create restaurant quality meals without quality restaurant prices.

Include the cookbook in a gift basket of practical items—the ones they'll use every day. They'll remember you long after they've forgotten which aunt gave them that garish platter.

June 12, 2020

What's a burger without fries? Everybody loves French fries. They're the great American got-with dish. French fries aren’t French. They’re an American invention. Thomas Jefferson is supposed to have served them at diplomatic receptions before potatoes became popular in Europe. Enjoy French fries; they’re as American as apple pie.

Homemade fries are even better than restaurant French fries. Fry a batch up in a deep pot of boiling oil. When you taste your own French fries, you will want to serve them again and again. Invest in an electric fry cooker if you plan to make French fries at home often.

4 to 6 medium potatoes

Canola oil

Heat the oil to boiling, about 325°F in a deep straight-sided pan. Better yet heat the oil in fry cooker designed for the process. Either way, be careful because splashing oil gives nasty burns.

Peel the potatoes if you like. Wash them, and then cut them into ¼" x ¼" sticks. Let them dry on a paper towel. Immerse them in the hot oil and cook for 17 minutes. Drain, salt and serve.

June 5, 2020

The extras make the omelet. There are probably few things someone hasn't tried at some time. Most turn out good. The classics turn out great.

Try free-style omelet making one morning. Blend a few favorite ingredients in, and create your own taste sensation. Here's a combination that worked well for me.

2 tbsp butter or margarine

6 mushrooms sliced

2 green onions sliced

½ lb imitation crab diced

1 tbsp sherry

6 eggs

3 tbsp heavy cream

Melt the butter or margarine over medium heat in a nonstick frying pan. Add the mushrooms and the onions. Sauté until light brown before adding the diced crabmeat. Simmer for 3 minutes. Remove and reserve half the crab mixture.

Blend the eggs and the cream together. Pour it over the crab blend still in the frying pan. Cook without stirring until it sets. Fold the omelet and sprinkle the reserved crab mixture on top.

Serve hot.

May 29, 2020

Let's have a big barbecue the day they let us out of this lockdown. Here's an old favorite that's welcomed at every potluck I attend. It's just one of my favorites from The Champagne Taste.Beer Budget Cookbook. I used to make this three-bean pot with canned beans, but I could never find canned white lima beans. The dry beans are available. As long as I was going to cook those up, might as well do the kidney beans right along with them. The homemade beans are better. And making them at home avoids the problem of the ever-shrinking one-pound can

Canned or from scratch, you can do it either way.

1 cup dry lima beans or 2 1 lb cans of white lima beans

1 cup dry kidney beans or 2 1 lb cans of kidney beans

1 lb bacon

1 large onion chopped

1 large kielbasa sausage link—sliced

1 2 lb can baked beans

⅔ cup catsup

⅔ cup brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

If making the beans from scratch, place the lima beans and the kidney beans in a large bowl and cover with at least 6 cups of water. Let stand overnight. Drain and wash the beans in a colander.

Place the soaked beans in your soup pot and cover with salted water. Cook 1 hour.

Serve with crumbled bacon on top if not added earlier.

May 22, 2020

Only an overdose of garlic could dress shrimp up like this. Shrimp is delicious any way you cook it, but add six cloves of garlic … wow. Here's a fast and easy shrimp dish you'll want to serve again and again.

All good shrimp recipes are fast. The secret to cooking shrimp is cooking it hot and quick. Overcooked shrimp gets rubbery like pencil erasures. To avoid turning a delight into a disappointment, prepare all the ingredients first. Do all the cleaning, slicing and dicing before heating the pan. Then watch dinner fall together before your eyes as the aroma of heaven fills the kitchen.

1 lb large shrimp raw

1 bunch spinach

6 cloves garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp paprika

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp parsley

Peel and devein the shrimp. Pat them dry and set them aside. Wash the spinach leaves and remove their stems. Cut them into salad-size pieces or leave them whole. Set them aside too. Slice the garlic cloves thin and separate the pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic slices and cook until they begin to brown. Remove the toasted garlic slices with a slotted spoon and set them aside.

Add the shrimp, the paprika, and the red pepper flakes to the hot oil. Cook with stirring 3-4 minutes. The shrimp should be underdone at this point. Toss a handful of spinach in and stir until it wilts. Continue adding batches of spinach until the whole bunch is used up.

Stir the garlic in. Remove the dish from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and parsley.

May 15, 2020

Salmon who smoke grow up to be lox. There are at least a hundred ways to prepare salmon, each one better than the other. Salmon is right at home on the grill. Smoking makes it extra special. With a little preparation, you can prepare the finest lox to ever grace a bagel. These faux lox made Mother's Day brunch special at my house this year.

1 lb salmon filet

½ cup rum

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup kosher salt

½ tbsp black pepper

Skin the filet with your sharpest knife. Remove any little bones with pliers or tweezers. Rinse the filet under running water and pat it dry. Lay the filet flat in a dish just large enough to hold it. Pour the rum over it and marinate it for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients, Set the mixture aside. Remove the filet from the rum and pat it dry. Wipe the dish and lay a third of the mixture in the bottom. Place the filet cut-side down on top of it. Spread the rest of the mixture over the filet. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for four hours. Remove the filet and rinse it when that’s complete.

Presoak a generous handful of wood chips for half an hour. Set the grill up for indirect cooking. Preheat the grill and oil the grate. Put the wood chips on top of the coals. Place the filet over a drip pan away from the heat. Cover and smoke until done—about 20 minutes. Remove the fish and let it cool on a rack.

May 8, 2020

Need something different to chase away the locked-in blues? Your slow cooker can fill the air with a refreshing change from that same-old same-old aroma of home. It can put a taste you've been longing for on your plate tonight.

Whip up a batch of this quarantine stew before the kitchen gets too hot to cook. It combines lots of ingredients that are easy to find and most should still be left in your locked-down kitchen. Don't worry if you're missing one or two. If the grocery store is out of them, leave them out. Your stew will still be a great antidote for quarantine monotony.

1 lb potatoes

6 carrots

3 stalks celery

½ lb mushrooms

1½ lb chuck roast or comparable lean beef

½ envelope dry onion soup

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp thyme

¼ tsp black pepper

2 cups beef broth

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can diced tomatoes

¼ cup frozen peas

3 tbsp cornstarch

Wash the potatoes. Peel them if you prefer. Cut them into ½" cubes and spread them over the bottom of your slow cooker. Peel the carrots and cut them into bit-size piece. Scatter them over the potatoes. Chop the celery into small pieces and add them. Slice the mushrooms, and place them in the pot. Cut the chuck steak into 1" cubes and put those on top of the vegetables. Lay the next seven items on top. Don't stir the stew yet. The potatoes and carrots need to be on the bottom to cook through. (Potato sushi doesn't sound appetizing.)

Cover the pot and cook it on low for 8 to 10 hours. Defrost the peas and stir them into the stew. Mix the cornstarch with 3 tbsp of water and blend half or more of it into the stew. Quarantine stew is ready for a change from your everyday table.

May 1, 2020

Ran out of pepperoni so I made a great vegetarian pizza the other day. I was out of pepperoni and not in the mood for a grocery store run. Thin slices of tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms made great toppings for a cauliflower crust pizza. Try adding your favorite toppings—or whatever you have in your refrigerator—on this crust.

Same great taste without all the carbs. Make your next crust with cauliflower instead of wheat flower. This is another healthy food—not health food—in the spirit of The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook. No need to go to some overpriced health food store for exotic ingredients; bags of riced cauliflower are available at your regular grocery store. You can rice your own cauliflower if you prefer. One head makes almost enough to prepare this recipe twice.

2 cups riced cauliflower

cooking spray

2 eggs

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup grated Mozzarella cheese

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp salt

Microwave the riced cauliflower for 5 minutes. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking oil. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Drain in the cauliflower in a colander. Squeeze it as dry as you can.

While the oven is warming, beat the eggs in a bowl, and then stir the prepared cauliflower in. Add the cheeses and the seasonings. Mix thoroughly to form cauliflower pizza dough.

Put the finished dough onto the oiled cookie sheet and spread it with a fork. The recipe makes two 9" crusts or one 12" pizzas. Work the dough to avoid holes. Tamp it hard enough that it won't fall apart when you remove it from the pan later.

Bake 15 minutes at 450°F. Remove it from the oven, add your favorite toppings, and broil for a minute or two.