I made homemade granola to accompany small yogurts in my THP breakfast boxes. This is the first time I’ve made homemade granola and it was super easy! I used Giada De Laureniis’s recipe for Homemade Cranberry Nut Granola. I thought it was the perfect recipe for fall – it includes cranberries, pumpkin seeds, nuts and maple syrup. I put them into little plastic bags I found at If It’s Paper and closed them with orange ribbons.
This recipe for my blueberry muffins was my Grandmothers (I called her Mu). I thought I had it on file but I didnt and had to email my Dad for it. He scanned it in and emailed it to me and ironically it was in my childhood handwriting. Who knows how old I was when I wrote it in my Mom’s recipe book!
This recipe is very simple. If you are looking for a muffin like you find at D – this isnt it. It isnt full of sugar or butter - just a little of my Grandmother’s favorite – Crisco! – to hold it together.
The great thing about frittatas – whether they are mini or not – is that you can put whatever you want in them. For the bacon and potato frittatas I used the same recipe as the yesterday’s mushroom and asparagus but replaced the main ingredients. Fry the bacon in a skillet and cook the potatoes in the bacon grease until tender. The next day drop them in the egg mixture with a little cheese! Be creative and make your own!
I made two different kinds of mini frittatas for the THP Breakfast of Champions. I made the asparagus and mushroom frittatas for the vegetarians and also made bacon and potato frittatas (which I’ll post tomorrow) for the meat eaters. Because of time restraints, I prepped all the ingredients in advance. So basically all I had to do was pop them in the oven about an hour before I needed to pack up. I cooked them right in a well greased muffin tin and transferred them into muffin wrappers for transport.
I got this idea from Donna Hay’s book New Food Fast. I rarely make recipes directly from the book but I’m always inspired by the beautiful photography. These mini frittatas are perfect for a brunch or a picnic as they are good but cold and at room temperature. I love how they rise in the oven!
Ingredients (makes 12):
Assembly: The night before cook the saute the mushrooms and asparagus in small half inch pieces. Season lightly. The next morning, whisk together the eggs, cream, salt and pepper and spoon about a half cup of the mixture into greased muffin tins (distribute mixture evenly). Then add a small handful of the asparagus and mushroom mixture into the muffin tins and top with shredded cheese. Cook in the oven at 350 degrees about 20 to 30 minutes until they have puffed up and cooked through.
Last week I embarked on a mission to feed breakfast to 21 hardworking staff members at Triad Health Project. Among all the work they are doing with their clients, they are also gearing up for their Annual Winter Walk fundraiser on Sunday, December 6th. Winter Walk is Greensboro’s way to mark World AIDS Day, remembering those lost to AIDS and looking to a future when HIV/AIDS is defeated. It is also one of THP’s biggest fundraising efforts of the year. Dollars raised go to supporting their mission to provide emotional and practical support to individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Just to give you a quick reference, this August THP had a caseload of 413 clients with HIV/AIDS, received 587 phone calls, had 343 office visits, distributed 290 bags of food and provided 206 bus tickets.
For breakfast, I brought homemade mini frittatas, yogurt, granola, muffins and fruit all in individual boxes. This week I’ll post the recipes from their breakfast.
Join us on December 6th!
Finally, I’d like to present WINSTON’S WINTER WALK CHALLENGE! For those of you who want to support Triad Health Project and walk with Winston on Sunday, December 6th - we will be serving a Mod Meals on Mendenhall Brunch that morning for anyone on Winston’s Winter Walk Team! Email me at cecelia.thompson@gmail.com to sign up!
Photo by Bert VanderVeen
I’m happy to report that Mod Meals on Mendenhall received great press in this week’s Go Triad! The article “Family favorites feed this local food blog” was a wonderful testimony to Mod Meals and my family. A big thank you to Addison Ore!! Check out the article online here.
This weekend I took my Mom and Debbie to the Where’s Warhol party at Elsewhere Artist Collaborative on South Elm Street. Elsewhere just received a generous grant from the national Andy Warhol Foundation for their efforts and they through a crazy party Saturday night to celebrate. In the spirit of Warhol they served banana cocktails (among others). I declined the banana cocktail (I’m not a fan of banana flavored anything) but it did remind me of the perfect side dish for Sunday night’s supper.
Sweet plantains are another Cuban treat that I grew up eating. My sister, Maggie, may be their biggest advocate. This Sunday, we had sweet plantains as a side dish to our Boliche. My mom made them and I took notes on exactly how she did it.
PS: If you haven’t been to Elsewhere before – I highly advise you stop in (606 + 608 South Elm Street in Downtown Greensboro) Elsewhere is not only one of Greensboro’s hidden gems but is known internationally for their creativity and innovation. How lucky are we?
Ingredients:
Assembly: Cut the plantains into slices on the diagonal. Saute them in melted butter on medium high until tender. Sprinkle brown sugar on them and cook on low until the sugar is caramelized. Be careful not to burn the sugar. After adding the brown sugar, my mom covered them with a cookie sheet to steam for a bit – which helps the caramelization without the sugar burning. I like to add a sprinkle of salt flakes on to mine to cut the sweetness - but Mom says that isnt the way they traditionally do it!
One of the benefits of growing up in Florida was the exposure to a variety of ethnic foods. I grew up eating a lot of Spanish and Cuban influenced foods – everything from paella to Cuban pork roast and my absolute favorite – Cuban sandwiches (which I refuse to order in North Carolina because of the consistent disappointment). And while my family has no blood relation to Spain or Cuba (though we are 10th generation Floridians)- this type of food is comfort food to us.
This weekend my Mom brought up a couple of her favorite cookbooks including a hardback and autographed copy of Clarita’s Cocina -Great Traditional Recipes from a Spanish Kitchen. We spent every night this weekend flipping through the pages of the book – studying her techniques and play on words. Debbie joked and said she would like to cook her way through the book – and not blog about it. And while I must admit I have no desire to replicate or even resemble the journey Julie Powell took through Julia Child’s The Art of French Cooking, if I were to embark of such a journey I guess it would be would be a North Florida girls version and entitled The Cecelia/Clarita Project. So in the spirit of Julie Powell, we decided we would make her traditional Boliche recipe and make it exactly like she did (well, excluding the monosodium glutamate). We learned a great deal along the way, so today’s recipe is a more modern version using the tricks we learned along the way.
Boliche Asado, Sencillo – Simple Boliche Roast
Ingredients:
Assembly: A day ahead, marinate the meat with garlic, oregano, red wine vinegar, bay leaf, paprika, nutmeg, salt, pepper and a big splash of olive oil. The next day (I’d advise doing this in the morning – or a full day ahead cause it gets better with time) remove the meat from the marinade and pat dry. Hold on to the marinade. Using a large cast iron pot, sear the roast in olive oil until brown on all sides. Remove and add minced onion, tomato, green pepper and celery. Saute until translucent. Add meat (and juices on the plate) back into the pot and add wine and the remaining marinade. Put into a 300 degree oven for 3 hours.
After the three hours, remove the pot and let everything cool. Once cooled, remove the meat and strain the vegetables through a sieve until smooth. Slice the meat into one inch slices – keeping the meat intact. Put the same cooking pot back on the stove on medium high and add olive oil and flour. Stir until flour has browned (make a roux) and add strained vegetable liquid back in. Cook until thick. Add meat, carrots, potatoes and olives and simmer with the top on until vegetables are tender (about 30 minutes).
For our big Sunday night meal, my mom’s best friend Debbie offered to teach me her signature salad dressing with nutritional yeast. I won’t lie, I was a bit skeptical. The thought of any yeast in a salad dressing sounded a little too crunchy for me – but I’m always willing to try anything. We stopped by Earth Fare on Sunday afternoon and scooped the powdery substance out of a bucket on, what I would call, the very healthy aisle. Then we returned home to start the lesson. Like all homemade salad dressings, this has an acid (balsamic vinegar – the balsamic also provides some sugar), some salt (the tamari sauce) and olive oil. The interesting thing about this dressing is that the yeast not only adds an interested flavor – very earthy and perfect for Fall – it also acts as a thickener. So, if you like your dressings thick but want to skip on the cream – this is a perfect alternative. Nutritional yeast is a very healthy substitute (hence the name)! According to Wikipedia, “It is a source of protein and vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins and is a complete protein.” They also say it is a popular substitute for parmesan cheese. But, take my advise – make the dressing – it is delicious – but hold on to your parmesan! I know Debbie would agree, life is too short to skip the cheese.
Ingredients:
Assembly: Whisk together nutritional yeast, tamari and balsamic. Taste for adjustments. Slowly whisk in olive oil to your prefered consistency.
This weekend we went from early morning to late at night – stood in line at the annual Vietri sale in Chapel Hill at 7:45 am, worked in my backyard, walked the neighborhood art walk and attended the Where’s Warhol party at Elsewhere Artist Collaborative. I’m a believee that an elegant snack or meal does not have necessarily involve sweat equity. Actually, this champagne and cheese snack (which totally could have been a meal) involved only assembly and was the perfect treat after a long day. We just picked up one of my favorite stinky cheeses at Southern Season in Chapel Hill - toasted some bread and popped open a nice bottle of dry champagne. With good quality ingredients – entertaining does not have to involve cooking at all.
