Green noodles and yellow squash

Our green and yellow supper

As I mentioned in last night’s blog, my son Jamie is here for a couple of days. When I asked what he wanted for supper, he surprised me with a request for green noodles, long a family favorite dish. Mushrooms are a major ingredient, and Jamie doesn’t eat mushrooms. When I asked, he said he likes them, sliced very thin, because they soak up the lemon juice.

I’ve been making green noodles ever since I’ve had a kitchen of my own. It’s not really a recipe but more of an idea that developed and grew over time. Years ago I knew a young single mother who struggled with her budget. One night she was expecting a gentleman caller for dinner, but she had no money for groceries. She used what she had on hand, melting butter in the skillet, adding cooked spaghetti and lots of lemon juice.

Over the years I have “improved” on the idea by using spinach noodles and adding scallions and mushrooms. Now I also add chopped artichoke hearts and a frozen “ice cube” of homemade pasta. Here’s what I do:

 

Green noodles

1 16-0z. pkg. spinach egg noodles

1 stick butter

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced (I always buy whole and slice them myself)

4 scallions, chopped

1 can quartered artichoke hearts, chopped

1 ice-cube size piece of pesto, thawed

Juice of one lemon

Grated fresh Parmesan

Cook and drain noodles. Melt butter in the skillet. (Megan, weight-conscious in high school, used to insist that was too much butter, and it may be, but it’s so good.) Sauté the mushrooms and scallions in the butter. Add chopped artichokes and the pesto, stirring to blend in the pesto. Add lemon juice to taste—I like lots; the mushrooms soak up the lemon and are delicious. Add noodles and toss to coat. Top with Parmesan. (A Jamie note: he’s a purist and wanted only butter, scallions, lemon juice and mushrooms in the sauce and no Parm on top).

If you serve green noodles with crusty bread, you’ve got a meal. But last night because Jamie loves yellow summer squash, I made a casserole. The combination proved perfect, especially with the contrasting colors. I know everyone can make squash casserole off the top of the head, but this was so simple and so good, I’m sharing. I think the key is the half teaspoon of sugar I added.

Summer Squash side dish

(serves fpir)

1 lb. squash, chopped

¼ cup water

¼ cup sweet onion, chopped

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. sugar

¼ cup dry breadcrumbs (I used Ritz crackers)

2 tbsp. butter melted

Pepper to taste

½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

 Cook squash, onion, and salt in ¼ cup water until squash and onion are soft.

Separately, mix sugar, crumbs, melted butter, and pepper.

Drain squash if necessary (I thought it was dry, added water during cooking, and then had too much liquid, so I drained it.) Stir crumb mixture into squash mixture and turn into baking pan. Top with grated cheese and bake 20 minutes at 350 or until cheese is melted and squash is warm.

A note on my gourmet kitchen: since I can use either the hot plate or the toaster oven, but not both at once (if used simultaneously, the circuit breaker trips), I baked the casserole in the toaster oven and let it sit, probably twenty minutes, while I boiled noodles and Jamie made the butter dressing. The casserole was perfectly warm when we ate. (Helen Corbitt says we should all dine, not eat—so when we dined.)

Another note: for Texas shoppers, you can find spinach fettucine at Central Market stores and probably at HEB Superstores.

 

Easy chicken casseroles

 

No, don’t yawn just because I mentioned casseroles. Those venerable reminders of the 1950s dinner table are among my favorite foods. But I am increasingly in the minority. Last night I fixed the entrée for a potluck with three friends. When I said I’d do a chicken casserole, one, watching her carbs, replied, “I don’t mind a casserole as long as there is a salad too.” It was sort of a left-handed compliment, but her thinking was that casseroles are usually heavy with pasta. She was pleasantly surprised last night.

So I thought I’d share two of my favorite chicken casseroles, sans pasta. A caution about chicken: somehow, I have lost the ability to poach or steam chicken so that it is tender. (After I made coq au vin with chewy chicken, Christian said he’d pound and velvet it for me next time.) For these casseroles and a lot of other dishes, I rely on rotisserie chickens. The catch with those ready-to-use birds is that they are often really high in sodium. Locally, I think Central Market chickens have the lowest amount. Since everything from soy sauce to canned soups is available in low-sodium form, you’d think they’d get around to roasting low-sodium chickens. Another hint: it’s much easier to bone a rotisserie chicken when you first get it home and it’s still hot. The meat slides off the bone. If you stick it in the fridge to bone later, it’s a whole different, difficult, and messy chore. (Jordan debones for me as soon as she gets home with groceries.) I usually have one or two deboned chickens in my freezer, ready to use. One chicken  yields about 2 cups of meat. A few stores offer breasts only, which I prefer. More meat for your buck.

Baked chicken salad casserole

2 cups chopped chicken

3 hard-boiled eggs, grated or sliced (I chopped them)

1-1/2 cups minced celery (do string your celery first)

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

4 tsp. finely minced onion (I used green onions)

½ cup mayonnaise

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

Crushed potato chips

Once you get everything chopped, this is a breeze to make. Layer the chicken, celery and eggs in a lightly greased casserole dish (I used 4 x 6 or thereabouts—I think 9 x 13 is too big). Mix remaining ingredients and pour over meat mixture. Top with crushed potato chips and bake at 350^o for 20-30 minutes. Watch that the potato chips don’t burn.

Curried chicken salad casserole

For this you need to plan ahead, and you need a fridge-to-oven dish. If you have some valuable old Corningware, it’s perfect. This is a cold dish—salad really—with a hot topping.

3 c. cooked chicken

2 cups sliced or diced celery

2 tsp. curry powder

1 tsp. lemon juice

¾ cups mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

2 cups crushed potato chips

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated.

           Mix everything together except the cheese and chips. Refrigerate overnight. Just before serving, top the casserole with potato chips and cheese mixed. Run it under the broiler just long enough to melt the cheese. Again, watch carefully—the topping scorches easily.

It strikes me that there is one basic sauce for chicken that you can vary slightly and make several dishes. It involves cream of mushroom soup (I’m not at all shy about admitting I love to cook with canned soups), mayonnaise, and sour cream. The other night I made white coq au vin and realized it was much the same as these two recipes but with wine. And lemon juice is often the distinguishing touch.

Quick and easy are my go-to ideas this summer

Maybe it’s the heat, but this summer I’m less interested in semi-elaborate recipes and more inclined to go with quick and easy. One night I fed two teen-age boys, so I had to take into account what they will eat and what not. (My grandson, a picky eater who’s getting better, is always suspicious of my cooking, and his mom keeps telling me not to fancy things up for him.) So here’s what may be the simplest chicken casserole ever. I have no idea where I got the recipe.

Grandma’s chicken casserole

3 cups cooked chicken, cubed

1 can cream of mushroom soup

½ half cup mayonnaise

2 cups grated cheddar (if I have said it before, let me repeat: grate your own cheese; the pre-grated in the stores has filler in it, like ground up wood or something to keep it from clumping; I have this on the word of the cheese monger at Central Market).

3 cups finely crushed Ritz crackers

            Layer in a greased baking dish and bake 20-30 minutes at 350^o

A couple of lessons learned: the recipe called for two cans soup, but I misread (who, me?) and only had one. It was fine the night I served it, but the leftovers were a bit dry. So I suggest the compromise of a half cup of mayonnaise. You can try the two cans of soup, but your casserole may get soggy.

I baked this in my toaster oven in a high-sided round casserole dish, which was a mistake. Somehow that dish focused too much heat on the surface of the casserole, and some of the topping burned. I advise a low, rectangular baking dish—the largest one that will it in your toaster oven, if that is what you, like me, are restricted to using. And maybe lower the temperature to 325 and bake a bit longer.

Which reminds me: one of the best gifts anyone ever gave me is a jelly-roll style pan—like a cookie sheet but with a lip—that fits exactly in my toaster oven. I use it all the time.

Quick and easy appetizer spread

4 oz. crumbled feta

2 Tbsp. Greek yogurt

Honey

In small food processor, blend feta and yogurt until smooth and creamy. (You can experiment with the amount of yogurt—start small and increase if you need to). Chill. When ready to serve, drizzle lightly with honey.

Herb sauce for everything and anything

            Sometimes I buy a fresh green herb—often parsley or cilantro—for a specific recipe that calls for, say, 2 Tbsp. finely chopped. Then the rest of the herb (and they’re not cheap) sits in the vegetable crisper until it gets old and I throw it out. Here’s a better idea:

1/2 cup mixed herbs

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt (I always use Kosher)

1 large garlic clove, grated with microplane

1 small shallot, finely chopped

Use on fish, steaks, vegetables, whatever strikes your fancy. May be doubled easily. Will keep a week in the fridge.

Happy cooking and stay cool!

Like anchovies? Here's a recipe for you!

I have lots of friends who turn up their noses and make awful faces at the mention of anchovies--unfortunately some of my family are included in that group. But I love anchovies, sometimes just put one on a cracker and eat it. They're good in dips, salad dressings, all kinds of things--you just have to be careful to use a sparing hand. Not usually part of my cooking technique. I was raised on the school if a little is good, a lot is better. Not true with anchovies.
But anchovies seem particularly suited to pasta sauces. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Quick spaghetti with anchovy/tomato sauce--serves two

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1.5 Tbsp. olive oil
half a small onion, chopped fine
a garlic clove, pressed
7-8 anchovy filets (about 1 can, though I've discovered you can use anchovy paste--1 tsp. equals a filet)
fresh basil leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper
Enough cooked linguine for two--I have one of those things with holes of graduated sizes--you stick some pasta through the hole for two and it tells you if you have enough or not.
Parmesan

Process tomatoes and juices until smooth. Heat oil and sauté garlic and onion until soft. Add tomatoes and anchovies. Boil and then simmer until sauce is slightly thickened. Stir in basil and salt and pepper to taste.

Add linguine, simmer to be sure all is heated, and stir well. The first time I made this I found I left a lot of anchovy in the bottom of the pan. Serve with Parmesan.

This can easily be doubled.


Carbonara with anchovies--serves four (or three who really like pasta and anchovies)

12 oz. linguine
1/4 c. olive oil
3 sliced garlic cloves
1 2-oz. can flat anchovies, drained and chopped
pinch of red pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp. chopped oregano (it grows in a planter box on my porch)
1/4 c. chopped Italian parsley
2 large egg yolks
salt and pepper to taste
Grated fresh Parmesan

Cook pasta and drain, but keep 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

Heat oil in skillet with garlic and anchovies and cook until anchovies come apart. Add pepper if using, lemon zest, oregano and parlsey. Add pasta, toss to coat and remove from heat.
Separately whisk egg yolks with reserved pasta water; add to pasta and return to stove, cooking over low heat and tossing until pasta is coated in a creamy sauce--probably no more than a minute. Season with salt and pepper and serve with Parmesan.

I know what I'm having for dinner one night this week! All you need is a green salad and crusty bread. Great meal. Disregard what they tell us about carbs and pasta and weight.