Rye Cooks

The Go-Pro

In our effort to have our shows air in a timely manner, we have zipped through most of the segments at warp(ed) speed, only to be caught out by this unpredictable Northeast weather!

What does weather have to do with producing a cooking show, you may ask, scratching your head, rubbing chin stubble, or maybe pinching that space between your eybrows, all useful gestures when you are trying to get the hang of something mysterious.

Well, folks, the Go-Pro has the answers!  Did you catch the last show with the pasta being dropped into the pot?   The waterproof camera is at the bottom, recording the splash.  Now Suzy suggests we get two dozen helium balloons and lift the camera (said Go-Pro) into the air and let it take ariel shots of Rye. Pretty awesome idea, right?  However, we go from no wind at all in stifling heat that to crazy windy days in which the camera might be lifted right into Greenwich or something, which would be just totally wrong for us.

And hey, we have to keep it in Rye because Real Housewives of Westchester County is recruiting.  Do you think for one minute that the producers want to know what most real housewives are doing all day?  Cause I'm pretty sure we can document some major carpooling, big negotiations at June and Ho over the freshest produce, and some out and out catfighting between mothers and daughters at Lester's as to how many string bikinis are really needed for two weeks at sleepaway camp.  

We'll keep you posted!

Friend Appreciation Day

Tomorrow is the teacher appreciation luncheon at Rye High School and parents are asked to bring in a dish.  I am going to make a sure-hit pasta salad: bowties with spinach and gorgonzola.

The recipe is super-simple: make the pasta, drain and mix with baby spinach out of a pre-washed bag, add at least 8oz of crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese and toss with a bottle of Good Seasons Italian dressing made from the packet.  It is best to make it the day before so the dressing has some time to sink into the pasta.

This recipe is from a very dear friend who was a fabulous cook, not fussy or fancy, but always delicious, and her cooking had a way of bringing people together, magically making the smallest events into celebrations.  

She too, was a teacher, and although I know I have made this dish before for teacher appreciation luncheons, it wasn't until today that I realized how wonderfully appropriate it is.  

For you, my much missed teacher friend,

With Love,

Roasted Cauliflower

This is just about the best day so far this year, and of course the weekends seem so full of eating opportunities.  Corn on the cob and grilled chicken on the bone are favorites.

Right now, however, I have cauliflower in my oven.  I am not sure what my dinner is going to consist of, since we are headed to a buffet bbq and I need to not be too hungry when I arrive.  I want to pick the best of the offerings and not simply lose my mind on the good looking summer fare.

Here's what you do:  cut your cauliflower up into little pieces and spread on a baking sheet. Toss some olive oil over it and add salt.  Now, roll the pieces around with your hands a bit to cover and bake in a 350 oven for about a half hour.  If you're feeling adventurous, add some curry powder with the salt.  

You won't believe how good this is.

Enjoy!

Tag Sale for New Sails

This past weekend my family and I ran a tag sale to raise money for the new Rye High School Sailing Team, which does not receive school funding.

A sailing team is a long time coming, in my opinion, since we are a community surrounded by the Long Island Sound.  Having a team allows any student to learn to sail, even if they are completely new to the sport. This season, there were some novices who are now very enthusiastic sailors.  It is not an inexpensive sport, however.

The team purchased a fleet of boats from a nearby school whose team was trading up.  The boats, known as "420's" will need new racing sails for next season, and we worked up different fundraising ideas.

The season finale was the tag sale, raising almost $1,000.  It is a beautiful thing when people donate stuff they no longer want and it turns out that's the exact stuff other people do want. Well, they want it for very little money, so it's best to have a big collection of things because $2.00 was the going rate, whether it was for a salad spinner, a garden accessory, or a formal dress.

I love the idea of making money without spending money, and a tag sale is recycling at its very best.

Dinner on the Cheap

We were thinking of budget dinners to fit into our next show which is about being creative while spending less. Ramen noodles are such a staple for so many households, those with young children, those in college, those in a first apartment while coming home late from that demanding, yet entry level, job.  Packaged ramen are kind of evil and kind of magical at the same time.   

A couple of tips were found on the internet. The noodles are apparently pre-fried, so an interesting suggestion was to set two pots to boiling at the same time.  Boil the noodles in the first pot for two minutes, then drain and finish the final one minute in the other pot.  This way you've sent some of the fat right down the drain.  

Another thing I did was to use two packets of the flavoring for four noodle servings.  Then I added a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil.   Leftover chicken and some chinese mushrooms gave it some much needed protein and a bit of sophistication.  

We did this dish at Suzy's house for the camera and we added some more colorful frozen vegetables.  Trader Joe's has a mix of shredded carrots and broccoli which is a nice update from those tiny, perfect squares of carrots and peas, right?  

This dinner was made from one of the cheapest food on earth (ramen noodles), leftover chicken and a freezer stable (the veggies).  I was happy to have the mushrooms for diversity.

See what lurks in your cupboards.  You do usually have a dinner in the house, you just have to check all the nooks and crannies for the ingredients.

What's your favorite go-to?

Impressed? why yes!

We are so on-target now!  The fourth show is about to air this Friday, the one about fresh spring foods and getting into shape.  And it is still spring!!  

It features lots of local talent so if you live in Rye and want to see it on the big screen, tune in to channel 76 (or 33) on Fridays and Saturdays at 9am, 12am, 3pm and 6pm.  

On top of that, we are already two segments into our next show.  The theme here is "thrifty"; we visited the Rye Presbyterian Church Thrift shop today, which donates thousands of dollars to charities in lower Westchester.   

We are featuring a local favorite, homemade doughnuts from Jerry's Post Road Market, baked into individual ramekins of Banana Foster.  These goodies were topped with a mixture of Goya mango nectar and dulce de leche in an unbelievable flavor combination, all orchestrated by Stephanie Hammer, caterer and personal chef of Rye.  It was a really fun shoot and we are so excited to be stepping up to this faster pace.  

There is serious thought to a fishing segment.  What could be thriftier than catching your own dinner?  Stay tuned, friends!

 

Lemon Meringue Pie

 

My oven was billowing smoke and everything went wrong with my pie this morning. Well, actually only my pie crust, but I spent much of yesterday afternoon on it.  

I have made pie crust before, but the problem is that I don't have one go-to recipe.  I search my cookbooks and the internet to find "the one I've used before" and hours go by.

I relied on my favorite blog and then I somehow did it all wrong.  The advice was to keep some of the butter in visible pieces, that butter was going to be my flaky friend.   Additionally, the dough should chill for at least an hour. That  made it a two day process because I'm just no good after Modern Family anyway. 

So, today, my friend, Clumpy Butter, made herself comfortable and relaxed all over the sides of the pie plate and dripped onto the oven floor.  See billowing smoke above.

I spent a ton of time reading all the comments on Epicurious as to the actual filling and meringue topping.  148 opinions, to which, which after the crust fiasco, I felt I should pay some mind.  Thankfully, the filling and the meringue went just fine, as written.  

Of course, the problem with pie is that it can't be tasted in advance.  It does look pretty good, though.  Just hoping for the best.  And, oh yeah, thank you Pillsbury, thank you for your pie crust.

Pineapple Chicken

For most of my life, I have despised fruit in my food, all those raisins spoiling an untold number of perfectly good oatmeal cookies, pineapple upside down cake, apricot chicken, etc.  Well, my mom makes a plum tart that is amazing, but anyway, you get the idea.

But something happened at the grill last summer, and we started throwing big slices of mango lightly covered in olive oil, lime juice, salt and a dash of red pepper.  The heat and the sweet worked so well together that the synapses of my brain which previously registered warm fruit as something to avoid at all costs changed over to yum, yum, bring me some!!

Last night, dinner was chicken pieces; I love the dark meat of the backs/thighs no lecture, yes, yes  they are higher in fat. And yet.  

A quick internet trip over to epicurious.com for inspiration and I had a really simple, really delicious Pineapple Chicken, loved by all at the table.  

1 Tablespoon Cornstarch

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 T water

Mix in a bowl, double if this doesn't look like enough, I used more water/chicken broth to have more sauce and it worked fine.

Quarter one or two onions, cut up a pineapple and put the pieces all around the chicken and onion in a baking casserole,  dutch oven, brownie pan, whatever you have will work.  Pour the sauce over and cook in a 350 oven for about an hour.  Serve with rice or maybe buttered noodles.

Note:  I did use a pineapple that had arrived yesterday morning from Fresh Direct.  It was cored but not sliced and the sweetest fruit ever, so I know summer really is around the corner, despite the fuzzy slippers and warm sweater I am typing this in.  Enjoy!

 

Record Time

Our fourth episode is so very close to completion, we can taste it!  We have set a challenge for ourselves to complete a show within a month's time.  Seems like that should be easy enough but really, life gets in the way.

If you haven't seen the last episode, click now on that lively tv icon at the top right of your screen here on the blog so you'll be all caught up when the next one airs.  

You don't have to live in Rye to see the show.  Suzy, so wonderfully tech-savvy, embeds each show right here into the blog.  Like magic. 

The show focuses on fresh spring time foods and getting fit for summer.  We have new local guests appearing on this one and we had so much fun together.  Hope you like it!

Chicken Wings

What do you cook when you can barely think of cooking again in the same day?

My daughter's birthday party went really well; she doesn't like pizza, the old party standby, why? why always pizza?  We had grilled flank steak, which thankfully, the rain stopped long enough to allow.  We also did potato wedges in the a 400 degree oven which some kids liked, some not, you really can't re-invent the french fry!

No matter how great lunch is, dinner still rolls around.  I did a quick spaghetti with white sauce and a dash of nutmeg.  Then I used the package of chicken wing pieces that I bought yesterday intending to make a chicken soup to go with all those packets of matzo ball mix I got when the Port Chester A & P had it's huge going-out-of-business sale.  (too bad, that is...)

The chicken wings were put under a medium broil flame for five minutes, then turned and broiled another 5, then sauced with bottled honey barbeque sauce with a drop of hot sauce to cut the sweet.  5 more minutes on each side, sauced. 

Before I knew it, we had a meal.

And leftover birthday cake for dessert!