Cooking with Kathleen

Mark your calendars for the 13th annual Baltimore Book Festival in 2008, the mid-Atlantic’s premier celebration of the literary arts. Friday September 26, 2008 - Sunday September 28, 2008 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm

I am leaving for Baltimore early tomorrow morning – I mean early – before the chickens are awake.  I have been invited to be a guest chef on the Food For Thought Stage on Sunday morning at 11:30, September, 28.  If you are in the area – please stop by and say hi!  I will be demonstrating/cooking a number of healthy, economical and readily available ingredient type recipes from my Good-to-Go Cookbook.  Hope to see you there!  By the way, crab cakes are on my short list of items to eat when it comes time to dine!  See you there - Kathleen

I’m in a Hurry!

Sorry I haven’t written in a bit.  Our family has been quite busy.  Both of our teens participate in a fall high school sport – Cross Country AND both are in Marching Band.  This makes for a very busy schedule for all.  Today I have overlapping meetings and appointments, lost the keys to my minivan (had to get my husband to come home from work in the middle of the day to drop off his spare set) and both teens have trumpet and oboe lessons right after Cross Country practice.  “What’s for dinner?” they ask as they tumble in the door dirty and sweaty from an nine mile run.  Funny you should ask – I thought as I asked myself the same question.  Here is what I was able to put together before running out the door for the Oboe lesson.  I love this recipe.  Readily available ingredients are used from the pantry.  The dish is extremely flexible – being able to serve it hot, warm, or cold.  Perfect alone or with grilled or baked chicken, salmon or even steak.  I was unable to take a snapshot of the dish – the kids were so hungry – they ate it all before I could find the camera!

Salsa Corn Pasta

1 pound pasta, any style

1 can black beans, drained

1 can (15 ¾ oz.) sweet corn, drained; or 1 (16 oz. bag) frozen corn, thawed

1 (16 oz.) jar salsa

1 bunch scallions, white and tender green parts, sliced

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 large avocado, peeled and cut into large 2-inch chunks

Sour cream

1.      Bring water to a boil for pasta.

2.      Combine beans, corn, salsa, scallions and chili powder in a serving bowl.

3.      Drain pasta and transfer into serving bowl with other ingredients; toss well.

4.      Gently toss in avocado and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Quick Tip: Excellent hot, warm or cold!

Stretch It:  Add some cooked shredded chicken from my Quick Chicken chapter for a menu stretcher.  Cooked shredded pork or slices of steak grilled steak work well too.  Add roasted zucchini, scallions, and sweet peppers for a vegetarian stretch.

Brown Bag Special:  Great eaten the next day chilled or at room temperature right out of the bowl.

Reprinted with the permission of Storey Publishing from The Good To Go Cookbook by Kathleen Cannata Hanna.

There’s nothing more wonderful and refreshing in late August and early September as a Tomato Basil Salad.  I know it’s pretty simple to make and there are many renditions of it, but I wanted to share with you the way my Italian Grandmothers’ would make this salad, (I personally think it is the only way).  I grew up in an Italian family – big on eating, talking, and laughing.  Food was the focus of ever get-together…it still is.  The salad is our family favorite this time of year.  Great for lunch with a hunk of crusty bread or perfect for dinner with a beef steak hot off the grill.  The key to this salad is the freshness of the ingredients topped off with a great tasting extra virgin olive oil.

Nanna’s Tomato Basil Salad

2 medium fresh ripe tomatoes*

8 large basil leaves

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese

Extra virgin olive oil*

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Cut each tomato into 4 thick slices and lay out on serving platter overlapping slightly; sprinkle lightly with salt.
2. Slice mozzarella cheese (with a serrated knife) into 8 - 1/2” thick slices or the same thickness as the tomato slices.  Sprinkle the cheese slices lightly with salt before slipping in between the tomato slices.
3. Tuck the basil leaves between the cheese and tomato (on top of the cheese and under the tomato).
4. Drizzle with olive oil, finish with a touch more salt, and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.
5. Serve within 1 hour of preparing.  The longer it sits, the juicier it gets.  Heals of crusty bread are perfect for sopping up the juices.

*Note: Never refrigerate your tomatoes – store them on your kitchen window sill and eat them within 4-5 days – you will be rewarded with great flavor.  Once you cut into your tomatoes – use them within 24 hours of slicing.

There are many brands of Extra Virgin Olive Oil available.  I use a name brand that has nice flavor and fits my budget for cooking and I found this great organic olive oil at our food co-op that I use for salads (such as this one) and finishing off dishes.  It’s a bit more expensive, but I use more sparingly since the flavor is more intense - a drizzle goes along way. 

Posted by kathleenchanna

My kids returned to school today –  a day mixed with joy and sadness.  I waved good bye as they left and ran in the house and cried for at least 15 minutes, missing them terribly (I do this every year).  I tried to busy myself by straightening the family room from the evening before, cleaning up breakfast dishes, and picking up shoes on the laundry room floor, but then I realized the beauty of the silence.  There was a faint familiarity about it – I remember a time a few months back (I’d say May or early June) when I experienced this thing called ‘silence’.  I started to smile and feel good.  Then, I sat down and had a quiet and UNINTERRUPTED breakfast, read the newspaper front to back UNINTERRUPTED, then took a long hot shower, cleaned out the first floor closet, responded to 5 Emails, and had most of my day semi planned on paper – all without speaking a word to anyone – no yelling, reasoning, compromising, thinking, juggling, discussing, screaming, mumbling, or begging…all before 9 am!!!  Now I call that one heck of a good start to a great day – no more tear for me!

Enjoy and love your kids but don’t forget to savor the silence when you can.