Magic Recovery Smoothie

So it may just be psychosomatic, but I swear that whenever I drink this tasty concoction, I feel fantastic. No matter how crappy the run that preceded it felt!

Herewith is my recipe for an amazing post-run smoothie. It's adapted from a recipe I saw in the September 2010 "Runner's World" magazine:

8 oz low fat milk

5 oz strong, cold coffee

1 frozen banana (if not frozen, just toss in a handful of ice cubes)

2 tbsp Ovaltine (or unsweetened cocoa if you're hard core)

1 - 2 tbsp almond butter

Whiz in blender. Drink while stretching.

Baked Fried Chicken

Mmmm . . . nothing like buttermilk fried chicken with a quarter of the fat! This doesn't really taste much like real fried chicken, the kind that Mama makes, but it'll do.

This recipe is maddeningly vague. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Buttermilk (enough to cover the chicken pieces)

Hot sauce (a couple few teaspoons. Depends on your taste, the amount of buttermilk you're using, the heat of the sauce . . .)

Chicken pieces (you can use just a couple of skinned breasts or a whole, cut up chicken. Your choice, just adjust buttermilk and hot sauce accordingly.)

3 cups panko bread crumbs or crushed cornflakes

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt.

Method:

1. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a large bowl. Add chicken and stir buttermilk until all pieces are completely covered. Chill for at least 4 hours (overnight is best.)

2. Preheat oven to 400*F. Crush cornflakes if necessary. Combine cornflake or bread crumbs with flour, baking powder and salt. Remove chicken from buttermilk, letting excess drip off. Dredge chicken in crumb mixture. Arrange pieces bone side down on a shallow baking tray coated with cooking spray.

3. Coat tops of chicken lightly with cooking spray and bake for 20 minutes. Carefully turn each piece over, coat again with cooking spray and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Turn chicken one more time, coat with cooking spray and bake for a final 10 - 15 minutes, or until the chicken is done (I check with a thermometer.)

Homemade Turkey Meatballs

From "Real Simple Family", August 2010

This is a recipe that William has not stopped asking for since I made it the first time. Definitely a keeper!

Ingredients:

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 - 4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh, flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 lb. ground turkey

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 large egg

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Heat oven to 400*. Heat oil in a skillet, add onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic, parsley, fennel seeds and cook for about a minute. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and let cool for at least 5 minutes.

2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Add turkey, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper to the cooled onion mixture and gently mix to combine.

4. Wet your hands (to prevent meat from sticking to them) and form into meatballs. You should get around 20 - 24. Place on baking sheet about 1" apart.

5. Bake until they are cooked through, 18 - 22 minutes.

6. Make a box of spaghetti, heat up a jar of tomato sauce and add the meatballs. Mmm . . .

Marinated Curried Chicken

From the DK "Children's Cookbook"

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tbsp. curry powder

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tsp. tomato paste

2 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless

Optional garnishes:

Mango chutney

Sliced almonds and raisins

Method:

1. Mix tomato paste, oil & curry powder together to make a paste. Add lemon juice & yogurt to complete the marinade.

2. Add cubed chicken breast and stir well to cover each piece thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper, cover the bowl and let marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes

3. Place a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the chicken until cooked through.

Serve over rice, garnished with mango chutney and almonds and raisins if desired.

Fresh Garden Tomato Sauce

Unlike last year, I actually have a great crop of tomatoes! So . . . time to make some sauce!

Ingredients

10 ripe tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used 1/2 cup of grated zucchini this time)

2 carrots, grated

4 - 6 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 cup Burgundy wine

1 bay leaf

2 stalks celery

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Directions

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop 8 tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor. Chop remaining two tomatoes and set aside.

In a frying pan over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes.

Transfer mixture into a slow cooker. Stir in chopped tomato, basil, Italian seasoning and wine. Place bay leaf and whole celery stalks in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer an additional 2 - 4 hours. Discard bay leaf and celery and serve.

A Mad Men Cocktail

I started drinking Old Fashioneds last season just because Don Draper makes them look so damn good. I moved on to the Manhattan and a few weeks ago, the NY Times kindly printed a recipe that requires much shopping -- I guarantee that your local liquor store will carry NONE of the liquors called for in the recipe below. And oh, start macerating those cherries in brandy now -- regular maraschinos are unacceptable. But this is definitely worth it, if you can stomach a Manhattan.

Herewith, I share with you a recipe cut and pasted from the New York Times:

ABC Kitchen Rye Whiskey Manhattan

Yield 1 cocktail

Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces McKenzie rye whiskey
• 3/4 ounce Carpano Antica vermouth
• 2 dashes Fee Brothers Old Fashion bitters
• 1 teaspoon brandied cherry juice
• 3 brandied cherries, for garnish.

Method

• Combine ingredients in a glass shaker with ice. Stir for 30 seconds and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with cherries.

Awesome Peach-Apricot Cobbler

Why do I always use a new recipe for everything? I want to be one of those cooks that has signature dishes -- a well-loved pasta salad, a favorite chicken casserole, blah blah blah. But yet I always look for a new recipe and try that. Perhaps it gives me the freedom to fail -- "Oh, I've never tried this recipe before . . ." Perhaps I think that a perfect recipe resides in the ether and someday I'll chance upon it, just as long as I keep looking.

I make lots of cobblers, crisps and crumbles. Partly because I find pie crusts a bother and partly because I always curse too much when I try to fit them into the pie plate. But most of all, I make them because my 9 year old doesn't eat fresh fruit, only cooked. So even though it's drowning in sugar, at least I can assuage my guilt with the thought that at least he's eating fruit. So you'd think I'd have a go to cobbler/crumble/crisp recipe, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Well, up until the recipe below. I found it today on the internets and it was supremely yummy and easy. I can't recommend it highly enough and imagine that just about any traditional pie fruit would work well, just adjust the spices to suit your palate. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups fresh peaches, chopped (about 5-6 medium size peaches)
• 1/2 cup apricots, chopped (about 3)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan over a medium-high heat, toss in peaches, apricots, 1/2 cup white sugar, salt, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and ginger. Once it begins to boil, keep boiling for 10 minutes (occasionally stirring).

2. While the peaches are boiling, prepare the cobbler batter. Mix one cup flour with baking powder and brown sugar. Knead in 4 tablespoons butter, then add milk and mix until combined (it will be lumpy, but thats okay, it should be the consistency of pancake batter).

3. Grease 8×8 baking pan. Pour in cobbler batter, then spoon peach-apricot over batter (the fruit will settle to the bottom during baking). In a small bowl, mix 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 3 tablespoons oatmeal, and 3 tablespoons brown sugar together, then sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes.