Healthy Spinach Pesto Pizza . . . and 2 Good Books

 

My sister, Diana, loves pizza.

Here's a heart-smart one I thought up for when she can finally come to visit!

My HEALTHY SPINACH PESTO PIZZA

     First, prep the pizza dough and put it to rise.

     Next prep the pesto:

            1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

            4 cloves garlic (or more if the cloves are small)

            4 cups fresh spinach (all of a bunch from the grocery)

            ¼ cup grated Parmesan

            2 tbsp olive oil

            ½ tsp salt

            ½ tsp pepper

            ¼ tsp cayenne or crushed chillies (more if desired)

     Grind all of the above in a food processor.  Set aside.

**

     Now, prep the other toppings: the peppers, red onion, and artichoke hearts.

     Preheat oven to 450.  Then roast for 15 minutes to partially cook:

            1 green bell pepper

            1 red bell pepper

     Chop the peppers into ½ inch squares.  Set aside. 

     Finely slice and then cut up some red onion: about half a cup.   Set aside.

     Drain a small jar of artichoke hearts and cut them up.   Set aside.

     Grate 8 ounces of mozzarella cheese.

**

     Roll out pizza dough for a 15-inch pizza.  Let rise 20 min.

     Preheat oven to 500.

     Bake undressed pizza for 7 min.  Reduce heat to 450 degrees.

     Dress the pizza in the following order:

            Pesto, Artichoke hearts, Peppers, Red Onions, Mozzarella

     Bake pizza at 450 for 17 min.  

    

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     Serve with a shrimp salad such as the one on p. 40  in this cookbook I use A LOT:

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And while we're still sticking close to home, here's a book that's worth your time:

Bryan's Parents . . . and Irish Roast Chicken

Bryan and his sisters were remembering Kay and Peter on St. Patrick's Day.

A few notes about Bryan’s father:

·   

·        He enjoyed hot banana pepper sandwiches.

·        Also orange slices and onion sandwiches.  Unclear whether the orange slices were IN the onion sandwiches, but Bryan thinks so.

·        He liked squares of bread on Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup: referred to these as “chickies”.

·        He liked strong cheese and head cheese.

*     He ate whatever was put in front of him.

Honey Trussed Chicken stuffed with fresh Basil and Rosemary:  from A TASTE OF OLD IRELAND by Andy G. Gravette. 

MARY, NELLIE, and FLORENCE . . . and my SPICED BISCUITS

MARY REMINISCING  . . .  in her own words . . . 

                              L to R:  Florence, Nellie, Mary (Mom) in 1974

       When Nellie was about six, Mama Anna said Mary should buy some material and make Nellie a kerchief.  Instead, Mary bought Nellie a birthday dress with panties.

            Nellie was a very good girl and comical.  She was never into mischief much, but if she did something naughty and was scolded, she just laughed.

            Mary had a rubber apron.  Nellie blew bubbles in it and made them pop.  Mary was disappointed so she scolded Nellie, but Nellie just laughed so Mary laughed, too.  “You just had to laugh, too.”

One Saturday, Mama Anna bought stockings for Nellie.   “It was a must to have stockings,” said Mary.   The next day, Nellie and Myron found a horse lying in a ditch.  Something had happened to it.  Nellie and Myron tried to get him up, and Nellie’s stockings got ripped.

Nellie was a tomboy.  She liked horses and was always with them.  Once, when it was dark, Nellie got caught on Tato John’s barbed wire fence, and cut her neck badly.   “Maybe she still has a mark on her neck,” reflected Mary.  “They said she could have died.”    

            Growing up, Nellie was best friends with Myron.

            Nellie looked after Florence and was very good to her.  She let Florence do whatever she wanted. 

            When she was two, Florence was breaking dishes because she liked the noise, and Nellie didn’t scold her.

When Nellie was twelve, she went out to work.  Mary was married then.   

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SPICED BISCUITS

Start preheating oven to 425.   

Grease a baking sheet.

Put into food processor and blend together:

            2 cups flour

            ¾ tsp cinnamon

            ½ tsp ground ginger

            ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

            1/8 tsp ground cloves

            2  tsp baking powder

            ½ tsp baking soda

            ¼  tsp salt

            ½ cup softened butter  

Transfer to a large bowl and lightly stir in:

             1/3 cup corn syrup stirred into:

            1 cup buttermilk

Drop onto baking sheet and bake 14 to 15 minutes. 

      

Zucchini & Feta Pancakes . . . a really good book . . . and a shared memory

 Don't these look great?  I froze the zucchini last summer and I really wasn't sure this recipe would work, but wow!  They're served with sour cream and they taste as good as they look.   Bryan loved them alongside Greek ribs and an eggplant salad from THE VICTORY GARDEN cookbook. 

If you have the Moosewood cookbook, give them a try!

 My friend, Eileen, asked me what I'm reading these days and I am very happy to recommend this book:

I have a picture to share with you, too, thanks to another friend who recently sent it to me.

Thanks, Pat.  I have to say I didn't recognize myself at first. . . it has been a few years!

 .  

TEFLON ?!? . . . and Tangy Red Cabbage

This is a disturbing movie . . . 

for sure if you had one of the first Teflon pans.  

                      I did . . . back in 1970.   

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TANGY RED CABBAGE   (from Better Homes and Gardens magazine: Oct. 2020 but with some changes)

Small red cabbage  (chop the whole thing and measure how many cups you have . . . is it 8 . . . or more?)

Add the following according to how much cabbage you have:

9 cloves garlic for 8 cups chopped cabbage

      OR 12 cloves for 10 or more cups chopped cabbage

Gingerroot: mince 2 tbsp for 8 cups chopped cabbage

      OR ¼ cup for 10 or more cups chopped cabbage

¾ cup chopped parsley for 8 cups chopped cabbage

     OR  1 cup for 10 or more cups chopped cabbage

1 lemon no matter how much cabbage you have

Salt: 1 tsp for 8 cups cabbage OR 1 ¼ for 10 or more cups.

·        Shred cabbage (not finely).

·        Mince garlic.

·        Mince gingerroot. 

·        Chop parsley.

·        Zest lemon.

·        Juice lemon.  Set aside in small jar.

·        In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat.  Cook the garlic 30 seconds.

·        Add cabbage and salt (1 tsp salt for 8 cups cabbage or 1 ¼ tsp for 10 cups cabbage).

·        Cook and stir 5 minutes until crisp-tender.

·        Remove from heat. 

·        Stir in ginger, parsley, and zest of lemon. 

·        Now the cabbage can wait until dinner.

·        Reheat on top of stove 5 minutes.  Stir in lemon juice.  Serve. 

OR: Stir in lemon juice and reheat covered in oven for 30 min at 350.    

 

FAMINE in UKRAINE, a film

  

Unrelentting cold and hunger . . .  beyond the personal agony of such a death, can you imagine the horror of watching it happen to your loved ones? 

When Bryan and I started watching the film, MR. JONES, we had no idea that it was about the Holodomyr in Ukraine.    

There's a heartbreaking scene in it that I will never forget . . . people lying dead along a road are being collected by a slowly moving wagon while further ahead a child is crying piteously beside a dead woman.   The wagon stops; the dead woman is heaved onto it . . . and then the child is tossed in as well. 

 I am in awe of the courage and determination of journalists like Gareth Jones who risk everything in order to tell the world the truth.  

 

ZAKOPANE, Poland . . . and the GRAND HOTEL STAMARY

Thursday September 13, a few years ago

After an early breakfast we checked out of the Hotel Amadeus and took taxis to the bus station for the 110 km ride to Zakopane, a resort town located at the foot of the Tatra Mountains.  The day was sunny and fresh.  The bus was a more modern version of a tour bus.

 We arrived at the Zakopane bus/train station 2.25 hours later and walked for about 10-15 minutes to the Grand Hotel Stamary which was grand indeed.

We took a 10-minute walk to the town centre. The long, rising main thoroughfare, Krupkowi Street, was full of tourists and hikers. We casually meandered about and stayed for an outdoor lunch. 

Afterwards, we walked over to the old wooden church dedicated to Our Lady of Czestochowa 

and to the adjacent Peksow Brzyzka cemetery (so named from Jan Peksa who offered the land on a high cliff (cliff = brzyzek in highlander’s dialect). The cemetery dates back to the mid-19^th century.  A small fee was collected for upkeep of the cemetery which has wooden tombs of famous Polish writers, artists, poets as well as mountain guides and rescuers.   

 For supper, we enjoyed a Polish style BBQ at one of the outdoor restaurants along the main street.

Friday September 14

After breakfast in the hotel, Nestor and Bryan walked back to the bus/train station to confirm our return to Krakow. Then, we walked back into the town centre where we took the Gubalowka Hill Funicular to the top which overlooks the town below and provides a great view of the Tatra Mountains. There is a long street running along the top lined with tourist shops, ice cream kiosks and BBQs. On one side is the valley and on the other side rolling farm land. There is a large sandy “beach” for sunbathers in the summer and a popular gravitational slide both of which they decided to forgo.  It took about 30 minutes to walk down a rough path back to town. Near the end was an unexpected kiosk where each hiker had to pay 3 zlotys for the privilege of stumbling down the steep slope.

We stopped for a light lunch of herring and dumplings and beer just as the rain began falling in torrents.  By the time we finished lunch, the rain had stopped and we took advantage of the lull to walk back to the Grand Hotel. 

We joined Eleanor for mulled wine under a sheltered patio while the rain resumed. The evening meal at the hotel was very pleasant. We were surprised at how few tables were occupied given the fine cooking and service.

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The food in Poland is SO GOOD that, of course, I have been trying out some recipes.

                                      Kotlety Schabowe z Serom : page 104 in

I thought the cheese slice on top of the pork cutlet would melt away when I browned that side, but it
didn't :).  

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After a grand hotel you can stay, if you wish, in a real Polish castle, not too far from Krakow.  It’s not even very expensive so, if we had planned a longer holiday, I certainly would have put £ancut on our itinerary.

In 1678,  the Compendium Ferculorum was Stanislaw Czerniecki's cookbook.  He was the master chef at the castle in Lancut, Poland,