On sympathy carbo-loading (a.k.a. gratuitous carb consumption)

For many years, the arrival of fall meant the anticipation of race day for whatever marathon I was running that year and, most importantly, carbo-loading. For several years, I was one of those crazy people who thought running 26.2 miles for fun was enjoyable.

Turns out, my hip flexors didn’t find the same enjoyment. After my eighth race, I have hung up my sneakers for a bit. A couple weekends ago, with the Marine Corps marathon approaching in my city, I was having marathon envy. Other than the high of crossing the finish line intact and knowing a humongous diet coke and Swedish fish were awaiting me, the best part of the lead-up to marathon day for me was always carbo-loading.

Carbo-what you ask?

That’s right, for one week every year I would eat as many carbs as I wanted to help fuel my system through the upcoming race. Now, complex carbs are recommended but damn, if I was running a marathon, I was having whatever carbs I wanted as a reward.

There were a lot of moving parts involved in running marathons and my mom and dad were there every step of the way.  Including, for the eating leading up to the race.  They were loyal spectators –okay, groupies-- at all my races. And being a groupie ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, even if it’s for your own child.

Being part of my marathon posse meant schlepping with me to the starting line of my first race in Chicago on a very cold and blustery morning and traipsing all over the city in the cold to see me at various mile markers. It also meant getting up at 3:30 am with me to catch the bus to the starting line of the Disney Marathon on a chilly January morning in Orlando. Not sure that was the “Happiest Place on Earth” that morning.

Bleary-eyed with my dad at the Disney Marathon before heading to the starting line.

But my parents did it with a smile. And signs. Lots of signs that said “Run, Little Flower, Run.” My dad was not shy about advertising my nickname.

Being my marathon groupies also meant that my parents joined me for the massive carbo-loading dinners on the eve of race day. As you may have gathered, my dad loved nothing more than to eat. Gosh, he would have been a good marathoner because he could carbo-load with the best of ‘em.

It was at the carbo-loading dinner before the Disney Marathon in 2001 that my dad coined a term non-marathoners and anti-Dr. Atkins folks all over the world should embrace and adopt.

After two huge bowls of pasta from a huge buffet of every kind of pasta and sauce imaginable and a huge pile of bread, I put my fork down and said UNCLE. Same for my mom. My dad sat at the table looking a bit full but not quite and with a twinkle in his eye asked me if he thought it was okay for him to keep eating even if the marathoner had stopped. Before I could answer he said, “Oh what the hell, I am sympathy carbo-loading for you, Little Flower! I’m going back for another round.”

Sympathy carbo-loading!? Right on, Dad!
My mom and I couldn’t stop laughing as my dad lurched toward the buffet and proudly told everyone that he was “sympathy carbo-loading because did you know my Little Flower is running the race tomorrow?”

Earlier this month with marathons on the brain, I decided to sympathy carbo-load as well for all my friends running races this month. Well, um, actually, I don’t really know anyone running. To be honest I really just needed some gratuitous carbs. BAD. And that’s why I made pumpkin biscotti with a cinnamon glaze.

The biscotti are incredibly easy to make. Simply combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another and then combine the wet to the dry. I suggest dusting your hands with flour before combining the two as the dough will get sticky as you mix it together using your hands. The flour will keep most of the dough from sticking to your hands.

On a baking sheet and with the oven heated to 350 degrees, I arranged the dough in two loaves on a silpat mat.

After baking the biscotti for 30 to 40 minutes Bake for 30-40, I removed the biscotti from the oven and cooled until just slightly warm. Using a serrated knife (I recommend this one), I cut the biscotti into 1 inch wide pieces and laid each piece flat on the silpat mat. Then, I turned the oven down to 300 degrees and baked the biscotti for an additional 15-20 minutes. This will ensure they start to harden a bit to give you that nice crunch that really good biscotti have.

While the biscotti were cooling, I mixed up the cinnamon glaze which is very simple to do. Once the biscotti cooled, I dipped a spoon in the glaze and drizzled it over the biscotti.

The finished product

I pulled Davis in to the sympathy carbo-loading once he woke up from his nap. It’s never too early to start training.

Pumpkin Biscotti with Cinnamon Glaze

(Makes 25-30 biscotti)

Ingredients

For the biscotti:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmet

Pingch of ginger

Pinch of cloves

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Details

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and spices in medium bowl.

In another bowl, whisk eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla extract.  Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture.  Lightly dust your hands with flour and use your hands to incorporate the ingredients or use a medium spatula.  Dough will be crumbly once it is ready to be baked.  Knead dough gently in the bowl.

Deposit dough on silpat-lined baking sheet (or use parchment paper if you don't have a silpat mat.  Form the dough into two loaves.  They should be fairly flat and about 1/2 inch high.  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until center is firm to the touch.

Remove from oven and let biscotti cool.  Once cool enough that you can touch, using a serrated knife, cut into 1 inch wide pieces and lay flat on the baking sheet.  Turn the oven down to 300 degrees and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.  Cool completely.

While biscotti are cooling, mix powdered sugar, milk and cinnamon in a small bowl with a whisk or fork.  Mix until smooth.  Dip a spoon in the glaze and drizzle glaze over biscotti.

Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes

Can you hear me now?

It can’t just be me.

At least I’m telling myself it isn’t.

I know I am food-focused. But still. It can’t just be me.

I’m sure like me you may be subject to strong food cravings. You get in your head that you absolutely have to have that certain something for dinner and nothing else will do.

On Tuesday, said food craving for me was steak. I ate my bagel for breakfast at my desk and thought about steak. I ate a salad and thought about how good the steak would taste for dinner instead of this sad salad. I grabbed a cookie in the afternoon and thought about how maybe I really shouldn’t be eating it because I was having a hearty and filling steak for dinner.

Of course I ate the cookie anyway.

But the steak! Oh the steak was never far from my mind all day. Until I arrived home and realized my husband had taken chicken out of the freezer for dinner. This is what I get for:

1.) Forgetting to take the steak out before I left.

And,

2.) For calling Dan with bad cell phone reception from public transportation with my Pretty Please Can You Take Out The *garbled* for Dinner request.

Can you hear me now?

No, alas, he did not.

Or at least he didn't hear the word steak.

Okay.  So ... chicken. On to Plan B!

And that’s how we ended up having chicken tortilla soup for dinner.

I’ve made this soup a lot and it never disappoints. Given that I couldn’t have the steak I was craving for dinner, I needed a tried and true favorite for dinner. You can put this soup together in 45 minutes and it has so many of the flavors that make me love any kind of Mexican food; cumin, fresh lime juice, the smoky heat of chipotle peppers and the earthy flavor of pinto beans. (I’ll get to my Mexican food obsession in another post one day.)

I started by browning a diced onion and garlic in my favorite soup pot. Once browned, I added a tablespoon of tomato paste and a teaspoon of cumin. To this mixture, I included the juice of two freshly squeezed limes to brighten up the flavor of the soup’s base. And then the ingredient that really makes the soup: a tablespoon of sauce from a can of chipotle peppers. Depending on your tolerance for spicy food, you can add more or less. A chipotle pepper or the sauce they come in is great to use if you don’t have time or the desire to slice up a variety of peppers to give your soup a spicy base.  Also, if you have cilantro in the kitchen, definitely mince and add it in.

The onion, garlic, lime juice, tomato paste, cumin and chipotle mixture.

Because I like So Spicy That Your Nose Runs tortilla soup, I added in two teaspoons of sliced green chilis just for a bit of additional heat. While I was cooking the base for the soup, I put 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Once the onions were soft, I lowered the heat and added two 15 ounce cans of rinsed pinto beans and half a cup of diced tomatoes (I used a canned Mexican variety as that’s what I had in my pantry). I stirred up all the ingredients and added in one large container of chicken broth and lowered the heat. With the chicken fully cooked, I diced it and added it to the soup.

As a final touch, I stirred in a generous handful of queso fresco cheese. I like using this softer cheese as it crumbles easily and doesn’t get rubbery while sitting in the soup and instead gives the soup a bit of a creamy taste.

With a taste of the smoky and spicy broth, steak was suddenly the furthest thing from my mind. I accessorized the soup with crumbled queso fresco, fresh lime juice, avocado slices and corn tortilla strips that I had crisped under the broiler.

Garnish options including crisp corn tortilla strips, lime wedges, queso fresco and avocado.

My husband and I happily ate our soup with noses running (I told you that the soup can be made really spicy).

The finished product in all it's glory and garnishes.

And the steak I had craved for dinner? Yesterday’s news.

Or wait. Okay, really tomorrow’s dinner.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
(serves 4 but if you want seconds, make a double batch)

Ingredients
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, baked and cubed
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cumin
Juice of two fresh limes
1-2 tablespoons of sauce from can of chipotles depending on how spicy you like your soup(or put the whole chipotles in if you are feeling brave)
1-2 teaspoons diced green chilis (optional but a good addition if you like spicy)
2 15 oz cans of pinto beans, rinsed
1/2 cup diced mexican tomatoes, drained
1 large container of chicken broth
A handful of queso fresco

For garnish
Avocado
Lime wedges
Corn tortillas (simply cut in strips and place on baking sheet under broiler until crisp)
Queso fresco

Details
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat a baking dish with olive oil and add the chicken breasts to the dish, sprinkling with salt and pepper.  Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

While chicken is baking, add to a heated soup pot at medium heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil.  Add to this the diced onion, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, fresh lime juice, and chipotle sauce.  Cook until onions are soft.

Once onions are soft, add pinto beans, tomatoes and green chilis (optional) to the mixture in the soup pot.  Then, add the chicken broth and reduce to a low heat to warm.

Once chicken is cooked, cube it and add it to the soup.  Stir in a generous handful of queso fresco. Heat soup until warm and serve with garnish including queso fresco, lime wedges, crisp corn tortilla strips and avocado.

We signed and signed and signed and then we ate

Last week held a big moment for my little family of three as we purchased our first home.

The new Turrentine residence

Wow, if getting married and then having a child didn't make me feel like an adult, this sure did as we signed and signed and signed and initialed and signed some more on the dotted line Friday morning becoming the proud owners of a lovely Washington, DC home.

Sold!  Before the closing and champagne celebration.

Subsequently, after making the biggest purchase of our lives, we decided that eating in on Saturday night wasn’t a bad idea versus going out for our almost-regular date night. There would be no Michel Richard or Jean Georges Vongerichten visits on our dance card this week.

P.S. In my mind, it is so worth the temporary gastronomical sacrifice to have a home of our own. And by now if you’ve been reading this blog, you know I am not one to pass up good food or special meals.

We weren't quite at the ramen noodles for dinner is all we can afford phase but this did mean I was left to my own devices to try to make a restaurant-quality dinner for two, preferably with reasonably-priced ingredients.

Normally I would spend the time during my son’s nap prepping dinner. Instead of sifting through ingredients in the pantry to combine for dinner, I found myself overwhelmed and sitting in a sea of every blue fabric sample the furniture store had to offer, trying to decide with Dan what would be the perfect color for the chairs in our new place. Ah, the shifting priorities a new home owner experiences.

Not being a natural at interior design, I think I would have preferred to be weighing the merits of couscous over brown rice for dinner versus marine blue or sea blue fabric and what it looks like depending on how the light hits it. At least couscous and brown rice are the same color no matter what light you eat them in.

I had a few other things on my mind (like packing up our belongings to move eventually) and for the first time in a while, cooking dinner was not my top priority. When 5 pm rolled around and we declared we were perhaps over-thinking (imagine that?!?) the chair situation, I realized that I had done nothing for dinner and promptly hit the road and headed to the fish market to pick-up cod.

I’ve extolled the virtues of cod on this blog before.  Lest you have forgotten, I love it as it is reasonably-priced, has a very mild, shellfish-like taste and can stand up to high temperature cooking like roasting. Since I already had the spice rub from my Five Spice Fish, I decided that a riff on that dish would be a start of a dinner. While at the fish market, I came across some Pomi tomatoes and white northern beans. I picked up a shallot and with that, dinner was starting to come together.  A word on Pomi tomatoes: they always taste as though you are using fresh tomatoes and are a great staple to keep in your pantry.

While Dan put our son to bed, I heated olive oil in a pan and began to brown garlic and a minced shallot. Once browned, I added about 1 ½ cups of Pomi tomatoes to the pan. I sprinkled a generous helping of oregano and salt into the pan and let the tomatoes reduce over a low-medium heat. Once my tomato compote (let’s be fancy here) finished reducing, I coated the bottom of a shallow baking dish with olive oil, ladeled some of the tomato mixture in the bottom of the dish and then placed the fish in it and sprinkled it with my favorite spice rub. I sprinkled the rinsed northern beans in the dish as well and sent it to the oven to roast for 17-20 minutes.

Fish, beans and tomato compote pre-oven

I will admit that in the baking dish, the fish, tomatoes and beans didn’t look like much but oh how deceptive looks can be. Who knew that when combined flaky white fish, flavorful tomatoes and creamy beans could be such a perfect pairing.

Delish.

Dan and I actually apologized almost at the same time to each other for not speaking because we had simply put our heads down and dug into dinner and didn’t stop until our plates were clean. After dining at Chez Colleen, we pushed aside the fabric samples and stopped looking at the shelves of china that needed to be packed and settled in for a perfect fall night of college football with full tummies.

Roasted Cod with White Beans and Tomato Compote
(Serves 2)

Ingredients
1 lb fresh cod
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a bit more for coating the bottom of the shallow baking dish for the fish
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 1/2 cups pomi chopped tomatoes
Oregano
Salt
Five spice rub, enough to dust fish (click here to see this recipe and scroll to bottom for Five Spice Rub recipe)
1 15 oz can northern beans, drained

Details
In a small pan, heat olive oil until it smokes.  Add garlic and shallot and brown.  Add tomatoes and cook over low-medium heat until reduced.  Use oregano and salt to season your compote.  It's important that you taste the compote as it cooks and add a dash of each seasoning to make it taste perfect and to suit your palate.

Using a shallow baking dish, drizzle enough olive oil in to coat the bottom of the dish.  Spoon some of the compote on the bottom of the pan.  Place the fish on top of the compote and sprinkle with just enough five spice rub to cover the top of the fish.   Sprinkle the drained northern beans around the dish.

Place in the oven and roast for 17-20 minutes.

Opening up shop

Weekend Gourmet officially has it's own store on Amazon.  Be sure to visit for some of my must-haves for the kitchen and must-reads.  I'll expand into other categories but this is a start.

Happy shopping!

Click here if you want to visit.  You can also visit the store by clicking on the banner at the bottom of my blog.

Zuppa and Lucca

Almost four years ago when my husband and I set out for Italy on our honeymoon, I had no idea the adventure and gastronomical delights that awaited us.

And Italy didn't disappoint on either count.

We started out our honeymoon in Rome, seeing the major sights and settling into large lunches every afternoon where we occasionally ended up with three entrees instead of two. Damn that language barrier ... but not really since it worked to our advantage enabling us to sample more of the local delicacies.

Lunch in Roma circa November 2006.

Lunch was capped off by my daily visit to a gelateria. Occasionally, I even had gelato for dinner.  Is there anything more gluttonous?  After several days in Rome, we drove into Tuscany to a beautiful villa that was awaiting us.

There was only one problem.

The villa didn’t exist.

Details, details.  (It's a long story and if you're ever over for dinner, we'll recount it for you but for now, back to the blog post.)

Ah yes, an early test for our very young marriage. After driving around for two hours looking for the villa and discovering it did not exist, we headed back in the direction we had come from trying to re-calibrate our plans.

We rebounded nicely and settled in the charming small town of Lucca for two days as we figured out our game plan for the rest of the honeymoon. I also introduced Dan to a McCarthy family rule of thumb: when all else fails, EAT!

And so we found ourselves in a small trattoria in Lucca for dinner after a very long day of driving on Italian roads with me navigating which was a debacle in and of itself given my very poor map-reading abilities. It was a slightly chilly November night and the restaurant was bustling with families and young couples. At this point, I think we were both a bit homesick for the States given our tough day.

As I eyed the menu, my eyes lit up when I discovered Zuppa di Lenticchie on the menu. Lentil soup!  My mom makes the most wonderful lentil soup and a bowl of it was just what I needed to put the day behind me and make me feel at home in this town we hadn't expected to be in.

The soup was divine.  It was thick and stew-like.  The lentils were cooked perfectly and the soup smelled and tasted of herbs including rosemary, just like my mom's.  I can't even tell you what the rest of the meal consisted of because I was so taken by the soup.

As it turned out, that dinner was the start to a terrific two days in a town we would have never visited but for our villa catastrophe.  I credit the Zuppa for getting us back on the right track.

A bowl of Zuppa di Lenticchie alla Diane I made recently.

Zuppa di Lenticchie alla Diane
This soup freezes well and is delicious on a cool, fall or winter's day.

Ingredients:
2 celery stocks, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 large container Chicken Broth
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup dry lentils, rinsed
3/4 cup barley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary crushed (you can use fresh if you want)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup sliced carrots
3/4 cup parmesan cheese

Details
*In a large soup pot, melt the butter and saute the celery, onion and garlic until tender.
*Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, lentils, barley, oregano, rosemary and pepper, bring to a boil.
*Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until lentils and barley are almost tender.
*Once cooked, you can garnish each bowl of soup with parmesan cheese if desired.

Will you still need me, will you still feed me

Dear Dad,

Today I was listening to the Beatles song, “When I’m 64” and thought of you, even though today you would have turned 65!

As you know being the Beatles fan that you were, the refrain to the song goes, “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64.”

And, even though you’re 65, I like to think I am still feeding you vicariously every day. You inspire my cooking and were the inspiration for me to begin this blog. Whether it is the apple crumble I made a few weeks ago (recipe is below if you want to make it for your friends up there or the Big Guy … if he could turn water into wine, who knows what he could do with this crumble), your orzo salad or trying something new like Indian Chicken. You are with my every time I enter the kitchen.

You’ve also made me realize the importance of including my son and your grandson, Davis, in the cooking process. He loves to be in the kitchen to see what is going on. He has now mangled my whisk which has become his beloved kitchen tool of choice. You would be so proud of the way he manhandled his tortellini last weekend.  Here's a picture of the aftermath:

As I have on your birthday since you passed away way too soon almost six years ago, I went out to lunch with Dan to celebrate what would have been your 65th year. I know, I know. I am sure you did think I was really just looking for an excuse to eat an insanely delicious, gluttonous lunch. That’s only partly true.

Today we celebrated your life by eating a few of your favorite things that you taught me to enjoy and toasting to you. I had a divine pizza with provolone cheese and homemade soppresata. You would have loved it. Salty and authentic perfection. I can still remember when you introduced me to soppresata for the first time at 9 years old at Glorioso’s, a small Italian grocery store in Milwaukee. I could hardly pronounce the word but oooooooooh did I love that piece of Italian goodness that the lady behind the deli counter sliced for me. I remember that you said to me, “See Little Flower, you try something new and you might like it. I would never lead you astray when it comes to food.” As usual, you were right.

And then, we finished with a homemade cannoli, one of your all-time favorites, for dessert today. No, we didn’t share one either. We each ordered our own because you always thought people shouldn’t have to share if they didn’t want to … they should order their own, no matter the cost and in your words, “ENJOY, DAMNIT because you only live once!”

And how true those words are.

You showed me how to live life to the fullest, particularly when it came to food -- both eating and consuming it.

To enjoy every meal like it was your last.

To worry about watching your weight another day but definitely not on the day when you had the chance to eat something amazing or try a new dish for the first time.

To understand how feeding people brings a group together.

As for the other part of the Beatles song (‘Will you still need me?’), the answer is Y-E-S.

Even at 31 years old, I need my dad. Thanks to your gentle nudging from above, I have found that the way to stay connected to you is through cooking. And it has brought me more comfort and enjoyment than you will ever know. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction and I will keep ‘feeding you’ from down here.

Xoxo
Little Flower (a.k.a. your daughter, Colleen)

Dad's Birthday Apple Crumbly
(Serves 6 to 8)

The remains of the Apple Crumbly

Filling
5 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Crumble topping
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup rolled oats or quick cooking oats

Details
*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
*To make the filling, combine the apples, granulated sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmet and kosher salt in a baking dish and mix well.
*To make the streusel topping, melt the butter.
*Remove the butter from heat and stir in the brown sugar and kosher salt.  Add the flour and oatmeal and stir until incorporated.
*Crumble the mixture over the apple filling.  Place the baking dish on a baking sheet and bake until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling for 50 to 60 minutes.

**Weekend Gourmet's note: You can make the filling 6 to 8 hours in advance but do not crumble the topping over the filling until ready to bake.

Recipe courtesy of Bride & Groom Cookbook