"O" Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month: TomatO, TomatillO, Onion and Pepper Stew

Michelle of Bleeding Espresso and Sara of Ms. Adventures in Italy have been getting the word out on this insidious, silent killer. They've put together an O Foods Contest, and Michelle is also involved with Teal Toes for Ovarian Cancer Awareness.

For the "O" Foods Contest, I wanted to provide a recipe that is really healthy and contains several foods that fight cancer. A wonderful blog that highlights foods and nutrition that help in the fight against cancer is Diana Dyer, MS RD. Diana is a cancer survivor and nutritionist and she has helped many other cancer patients fight their battles through better nutrition. While my recipe does not use her beloved kale (she also has a blog called 365 Days of Kale, which she considers the ultimate "super food"), I do have plenty of other cancer-fighting elements in this dish: tomatoes, tomatillos, and four different types of peppers, plus three types of beans. It also has chicken, but that was mostly for taste.

From The Cancer Cure Foundation:

"Chili peppers and jalapenos contain a chemical, capsaicin, which may neutralize certain cancer-causing substances (nitrosamines) and may help prevent cancers such as stomach cancer.

Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant that attacks roaming oxygen molecules, known as free radicals, that are suspected of triggering cancer. It appears that the hotter the weather, the more lycopene tomatoes produce. They also have vitamin C, an antioxidant which can prevent cellular damage that leads to cancer. Watermelons, carrots, and red peppers also contain these substances, but in lesser quantities. It is concentrated by cooking tomatoes. Scientists in Israel have shown that lycopene can kill mouth cancer cells. An increased intake of lycopene has already been linked to a reduced risk of breast, prostate, pancreas and colorectal cancer. (Note: Recent studies indicate that for proper absorption, the body also needs some oil along with lycopene.)"

And general information:

Beans are high in folate, which helps against mutations in our DNA.

This recipe is very simple and very adaptive. I made it mostly to use up various items from this past week's farm share, so feel free to substitute at will:

TomatO, TomatillO, Onion and Pepper Stew



Ingredients:

1/4 - 1/2 onion, chopped
any combination of peppers you like - I used 2 chocolate peppers, 1/2 red pepper, 1 poblano pepper, 1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped (except I chopped fine the jalapeno)
1 large tomatillo, chopped
1 28 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes
1 TBS olive oil
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
1 can beans of choice, rinsed (I used a black bean, pinto bean and cannellini bean mix)
salt to taste
chili powder to taste (I probably used 1/2 TBS)

For serving:

sour cream
shredded cheddar
tortilla chips

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in the stockpot or soup pot over medium/medium high heat.

2. Add onions and peppers and cook five minutes or so until the onions start to turn translucent.

3. Add tomatillo and can of tomatoes. Heat until bubbling.

4. Turn heat to a simmer, and add the chicken and the beans, the chili powder and the salt. Let simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Taste for seasoning, add chili and/or salt if you want to, and let simmer until dinner time (hopefully at least 20 more minutes).

6. Serve with sour cream (I used reduced fat), shredded cheddar (ditto), and tortilla chips for either crushing into the stew, or to eat as a carb with the stew. Some chopped, fresh cilantro can be a nice addition, too.

For more information about Ovarian Cancer and the O Foods Contest:

There are TWO WAYS to take part in the O Foods Contest:

ONE: Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato); include this entire text box in the post; and send your post url along with a photo (100 x 100) to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

PRIZES for recipe posts:

* 1st: Signed copy of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who is currently battling ovarian cancer, inspired this event, and will be choosing her favorite recipe for this prize;

* 2nd: Signed copy of Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home by Mario Batali (winner chosen by Sara);

* 3rd: Signed copy of Vino Italiano: The Regional Italian Wines of Italy by Joseph Bastianich (winner chosen by Michelle).

OR

TWO: If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word and send your post url to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Awareness posts PRIZE:

* One winner chosen at random will receive a Teal Toes tote bag filled with ovarian cancer awareness goodies that you can spread around amongst your friends and family.

———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

* Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
* The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose, but include bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).
* There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
* In spite of this, patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
* When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

And remember, you can also always donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at Michelle and Sara's page through FirstGiving!
Please help spread the word about ovarian cancer.
Together we can make enough noise to kill this silent killer.

What's Cooking Wednesday: Southern Comfort Supper

Please go to The Fairy Blogmother for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

We're having warmer weather at the moment, but last week things were still on the chilly side.

Con and I were also still adjusting to the new school year - papers to write, papers to grade, a new theater schedule, homework, homework, homework, lesson planning, etc.

It seemed like a good time to pull out another comfort food meal.

This summer, I wanted a recipe for corn pudding, and as I perused various sites, I found a highly rated recipe for "Corn Casserole" by Paula Deen. I'm not usually a fan of Deen's cooking, due to the copious amounts of butter, etc., but I decided to try this one and then figure out how to make it reasonable.

Deen's version was extremely rich. Too rich for me on every single level.

What I wanted was something that was doable nutritionally and that had a bit of spice to go with Deen's overly-sweet version. The changes below worked beautifully, and a delicious dinner was had by all. I also had some kale and tatsoi from my last farm share that I wanted to use, so I took 2 strips of Ernst Farm bacon, cut them into small pieces, and sauteed them, adding the greens (chopped) when the bacon rendered. The smoky taste of the bacon was a great complement to the greens, and we had a perfect side in about 7 minutes. This was definitely a supper of Southern-style comfort foods.

Jen's Corn Pudding




Ingredients

Corn kernels from 4 ears of corn, or 4 cups frozen kernels
1 package of Jiffy Mix corn muffin mix
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/2 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar
2 links Amy Lu chicken Andouille sausage, sliced in half lengthwise, and then chopped into pieces
1/2 tsp Frank's Redhot or other hot sauce (Clancy's might be good here)
oil or cooking spray for greasing casserole dish.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a casserole dish (I used an 8X12 dish that was just the right size - 13X9 makes things a bit thin and 9X9 is too thick, and the pudding won't set as easily).

2. In a large bowl, stir together the corn, the corn muffin mix, sour cream, buttermilk, melted butter, sausage pieces and hot sauce.

4. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and springy to the touch. Take out of the oven and top with the shredded cheddar cheese.

5. Bake for another 5 - 10 minutes until cheese is just melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6.

Variations:

Sweet version - leave out the hot sauce and use Amy Lu's Apple Maple Sausage.

Vegetarian - leave out the sausage - it still tastes great. You could also put in some sauteed, chopped summer squash for added nutritional boost.

Note: The reason I'm promoting the Amy Lu sausages is only because their fat and calorie counts are much lower than other chicken sausages. That's only important in terms of the nutrition info here.

Nutrition Facts

Servings Per Recipe: 6
Serving Size: 1 serving

Amount Per Serving:

Calories 364.9
Total Fat 18.9 g
Saturated Fat 10.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 2.2 g
Cholesterol 55.1 mg
Sodium 639.7 mg
Potassium 223.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 40.4 g
Dietary Fiber 1.6 g
Sugars 10.7 g
Protein 11.9 g

As always, nutrition information supplied by the recipe calculator at sparkrecipes.com.

PSA Tuesday: Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

Notice my new look?

I'm teal for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Michelle of Bleeding Espresso and Sara of Ms. Adventures in Italy have been getting the word out on this insidious, silent killer. They've put together an O Foods Contest, and Michelle is also involved with Teal Toes for Ovarian Cancer Awareness.

Ovarian cancer is a silent killer. It's often diagnosed when the disease is advanced. There is no simple test that can be used for screening. If you have any of the following symptoms - bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; or urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency) - please get checked out right away. When ovarian cancer is caught early, it's generally very treatable.

Here is the info for the O Foods Contest:

CONTEST RULES

O Foods Contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and for the second year in a row, Sara of Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are hosting the O Foods Contest to raise awareness of this important health issue.

There are TWO WAYS to take part in the O Foods Contest:

ONE: Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato); include this entire text box in the post; and send your post url along with a photo (100 x 100) to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

PRIZES for recipe posts:

* 1st: Signed copy of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who is currently battling ovarian cancer, inspired this event, and will be choosing her favorite recipe for this prize;

* 2nd: Signed copy of Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home by Mario Batali (winner chosen by Sara);

* 3rd: Signed copy of Vino Italiano: The Regional Italian Wines of Italy by Joseph Bastianich (winner chosen by Michelle).

OR

TWO: If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word and send your post url to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Awareness posts PRIZE:

* One winner chosen at random will receive a Teal Toes tote bag filled with ovarian cancer awareness goodies that you can spread around amongst your friends and family.

———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

* Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
* The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose, but include bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).
* There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
* In spite of this, patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
* When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

And remember, you can also always donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at our page through FirstGiving!
Please help spread the word about ovarian cancer.
Together we can make enough noise to kill this silent killer.

What I Learned on my Summer Vacation, pt. 1

Monday school starts.

It already started for C; he's part of the local public school system, and he started the day after Labor Day. In fact, he's in the middle of his first bout of Junior homework as I write this - a large chunk of math, historical analysis, English essay, science reading and project, studying for his first Spanish test of the year.

My first day papers are all printed out and ready to go. My copies of Beowulf and Romeo and Juliet and Bill Bryson's Shakespeare: The World as Stage are stacked in my wheeled crate. The lunch box has been cleaned and aired. Tomorrow I go to pick out folders and a new water bottle (mine started inexplicably leaking which is not good when you're carrying student essays in the same crate with said water bottle).

The fact that school was about to start hit me hard about two weeks ago. It didn't hit me hard because I didn't want to go back to teaching - I love teaching and I'm always excited, rather than distressed.

What hit me hard was how much time I was spending on the annarbor.com job. How many hours I was putting in each week making sure I had the right number of food posts, what I would write about, how to fit in interviews and photo sessions with businesses, making sure I read the other food articles on the site. Making sure I commented. Making sure I commented here, and there, and that I read many, many other food blogs every. single. day.

I always wanted to be a food writer. Much of my freelance work has been in the education field or special projects for the University or the U. of M. Hospital, and I've always wanted to write about food instead.

But here's what I learned on my summer vacation: I really don't.

I really don't want to be a food writer.

But don't get me wrong: I love writing about food.

So, now it's time to go, "Huh? But I thought she just said..."

Yeah, I did. But what I really mean is that I don't *just* want to be a food writer. I want to keep being a teacher. I need and want to be the best mom and daughter (and wife, although hopefully D is less in need of caretaking than C and my mom) I can be, and take the proper time for those whom I love and who need my care. I want time to volunteer for the causes I believe in. And oh, yeah, I want my word count to go up on my WIP.

I don't want to keep posting my food posts on Facebook or tweeting my own posts.

I'm happy to post yours - I love connecting friends to the writing of other friends, but tooting my own horn? Not so much.

It's just not in my comfort zone.

So, Friday, I tendered my e-mail of resignation. I can still post there; I'll just go to being one of the unpaid bloggers. Now, before you get all in my face about writing for no pay, I'll cover that in another post soon.

But for now, here's what I plan to do:

Talk about the need for healthcare reform.

Write about more than food businesses for Local Love Fridays.

Write about ovarian cancer awareness and other upcoming events.

Write about sustainability issues.

Oh... and lest I get too serious, post some funny videos and keep posting recipes.

I'm baaaaaaccccckkkkkkk.

And there's nowhere you need to leave comments other than right here. On a2eatwrite.

It's good to be home.

What's Cooking Wednesday: Corn Potato Chowder with Sausage

Please go to The Fairy Blogmother for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

As many of us are only too aware, yesterday was the first day of school in Michigan. And like many other moms, I wanted the dinner after the first day to be something I knew my son would enjoy, as well as something that would be healthy and filling.

Being a teacher, I know just how exhausting that first day can be, and comfort food at the end of it can be a blessing.

C is a carb boy, and when I saw this recipe in this month's Cooking Light, I knew it had his name on it.

The recipe, however, had some issues that don't work quite as well for my family. One, I knew C would like it much better if it had meat. The rest of the recipe seemed to be a great match for sausage, and C loves the chicken apple-gouda sausages by AmyLu. At only 110 calories and 5 grams of fat per link, it's a luxury I can afford (calorie-wise) as well, but I wanted to bring the calories down a bit to both add the sausages and suit my own needs.

I removed the red pepper (which C only likes raw), cut back a bit on the onions (again, for C's tastes), cut back a bit on the butter and switched to 1% milk (which didn't hurt the consistency in the least). I also changed the proportions of the corn in terms of plain kernels to pureed kernels, and I added a bit of shredded cheddar to C's portion, since he's a huge fan of shredded cheddar. I also dispensed with the grilling and earlier Cooking Light recipe steps because a. I'm sure the taste is wonderful, but it was kind of fussy, and b. I wanted to get dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time. The final product was rich and delicious, and we've all decided this one is a "keeper".

Serve it with a fresh salad and some bread, if you feel the need (D and C felt the need).

To make this vegetarian, just remove the sausage or use something like this - I don't think the recipe would suffer - the sausage just adds a nice, smokey flavor.

Corn Potato Chowder with Sausage

Ingredients

6 medium russet or 12 small (red or new or purple) potatoes (a variety of types works best here), cut into 2" - 3" inch chunks (roughly cut - size is just to get them to cook a bit more quickly)
1TBS butter
kernels from 4 large ears of corn
4 chicken sausages, halved and sliced (I used apple-gouda sausages by Amy Lu)
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 cup half and half
3 cups 1% milk
sprigs of thyme (optional) or 1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
chopped chives (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)


Directions
1. Cook the potatoes in salted, boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool them.
2. While potatoes are cooking, strip the kernels off the corn, process 2 cups of the kernels in a food processor until they are completely pureed. Chop onions and cut up the sausages.
3. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large soup pot. Saute the onions for a minute or so, and add the sausages. Cook another two minutes. Add the corn kernels. Add the 1/2 and 1/2, milk, corn puree, salt to taste and the thyme. Bring to a simmer.
4. While the soup is coming to a simmer, cut the potatoes into small pieces. Add them to the soup.
5. Simmer the soup for 20 minutes stirring from time to time so that it doesn't skim over. Remove the thyme sprigs when the chowder is finished.
6. Serve with lots of freshly ground pepper, and either the chopped chives, shredded cheddar, or both.

Serves 6 generously.

Nutrition Facts:

Amount Per Serving

Calories 370.0
Total Fat 14.3 g
Saturated Fat 7.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.9 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.0 g
Cholesterol 61.2 mg
Sodium 478.2 mg
Potassium 969.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 45.0 g
Dietary Fiber 5.2 g
Sugars 11.1 g
Protein 19.1 g

As always, nutrition information supplied by the recipe calculator at sparkrecipes.com.

Photos: Corn Potato Chowder with Sausage. All photos by Jennifer Shikes Haines.

If you don't mind leaving your comments/votes for this piece at my other gig, it would be greatly appreciated!

A Vegetarian Labor Day or Harvest Dinner

Labor Day can be a very social time or not so much.

We have a mix this weekend - we had a dinner with friends last night, I had friends over for breakfast this morning, but the rest of the weekend will be spent at Dancing in the Streets, Radio Free Bacon and with some good books.

Last night’s guests included a vegetarian, and since all of us love vegetarian cooking, I decided to go that route.

We had a truly great, if non-traditional, “Labor Day” dinner, that didn’t involve a grill in any way, shape or form.

Pasta with Basil-Pistachio Pesto, Roasted Tomatoes and Kale

Ingredients

For the slow roasted tomatoes and kale:

1 pint cherry tomatoes, rinsed and dried
1 1/2 cups washed, torn kale
1/2 TBS kosher salt
1 TBS olive oil

For the pasta and pesto:

4 cups fresh basil leaves, rinsed and dried
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano (domestic or other parmesan can be substituted, but it's best with the real thing)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup roasted, salted pistachios, shelled
1/3 cup olive oil minus 1 TBS

6 oz. of whole wheat fettucine
1 cup pasta water

Directions

1. About 4 1/2 - 5 hours prior to serving, preheat the oven to 225. Toss the kale and tomatoes with 1 TBS olive oil and 1/2 TBS kosher salt. Spread in roasting pan. Stick in oven and roast for 4 - 5 hours, stirring every hour and a half or so.
2. Bring pasta pot to a boil. Cook fettucine according to instructions.
3. While pasta is cooking, process pesto ingredients in a food processor or blender. Start with the garlic, cheese and nuts until ground fine, then process/blend basil, and finally process in the olive oil. There are recipes which will tell you to use the feed tube for the olive oil, but I go ahead and process the whole thing together and it's worked just fine.
4. When pasta is done, reserve a cup of the pasta water and drain and rinse the pasta with cold water to stop it from cooking and to remove some of the starch. Get a big bowl and toss the pasta with the pesto and pasta water until the pasta is well coated and the texture is how you like it. (You don't need to use all the pasta water - I usually use between 1/2 a cup and 2/3). Lastly, toss with the roasted tomatoes and crush and sprinkle the kale over all (when kale slow roasts, it becomes crisp).

Serve with lots of freshly ground pepper and grated parmesan to taste.

Serves 6.



Nutrition Facts

Servings Per Recipe: 6
Serving Size: 1 serving

Amount Per Serving
Calories 403.1
Total Fat 20.2 g
Saturated Fat 3.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 12.1 g
Cholesterol 6.6 mg
Sodium 172.8 mg
Potassium 500.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 46.2 g
Dietary Fiber 9.7 g
Sugars 1.3 g
Protein 14.9 g

Note: While this is not a low calorie or low fat dish, keep in mind that saturated fats are very low and monosaturated (the good fats) are high. This also has a whopping 9.7 grams of fiber and 14.9 grams of protein.

We served this with Scaletta Green Bean Salad, Kalamata Olive Twists from Mill Pond Bread and Calder vanilla ice cream with this Peach Rum Sauce.

All the vegetables are at perfect ripeness and the dinner was a snap to prepare, even if I had to be home due to the slow roasted tomatoes and kale.

Enjoy your Labor Day festivities!

Photos: Vegetarian Labor Day dinner: Basil-Pistachio Pesto with Roasted Tomatoes and Kale, Scaletta Green Bean Salad and Olive Kalamata Twists; pan of tomatoes and kale ready to go into the oven; close-up of Basil-Pistachio Pesto with Roasted Tomatoes and Kale, vanilla ice cream with Peach Rum Sauce. All photos by Jennifer Shikes Haines.


If you don't mind leaving your comments/votes for this piece at my other gig, it would be greatly appreciated!

Local Love Fridays: A Splendid Feast at Sparrow Market

For over a year, Dave and I have been intrigued by the flyers that went up around the fourth week of the month at Sparrow Market - various "feasts" were to be had on third Sundays. Often they were Italian; always, they reflected the season.

As so often happens in this busy-ness that can be Ann Arbor life, we never made it. When our staycation came up, we were delighted to see that it corresponded with the August "feast" and that the menu was one that made our mouths water in anticipation.


So Dave and I attended the August 23rd South American Market Feast. We walked in to a transformation of the market space performed by head server Sydney Liepshutz and her crew; tables were set up where the vegetable and cheese cases usually are, and Sweetwaters had also been taken over with tablecloths and lovely settings. A variety of eclectic favorites was being rocked by the father/son duo of Douglas and Andrew Brown, and while the music was a bit loud, it just added to the festive atmosphere. We settled in at a table four six, joining another couple and later having a third couple join our group. There are some four-seat tables in the Sweetwaters area, but most of the seating is family-style. We quickly found common ground with our table mates and shared a wonderful Voignier made by John Schafer, one of our tablemates. (All Sparrow Feasts are strictly BYOB affairs).

Soon the food began flowing, and I use that term because the plates seemed to magically appear and disappear as the courses wore on. This is a five-course meal, and while the portions are perfect - large enough to be satisfying but small enough so that you don't feel you have to stagger out at the evening's end, the dinner has to have a certain rhythm or we would have been there for hours. The friendly servers were efficient and helpful - and most were familiar faces from the Kerrytown market businesses.

Chef Ricco Decola and his sous chef Casey Pennisi put together a simply fabulous menu. Our first course was a "baby greens salad with hearts of palm, mango, and a citrus vinaigrette". The salad was light and refreshing - a perfect palate teaser for the rest of the meal. I loved the balance of the mangoes and the hearts of palm.


The second course was one of my favorites - "a selection of fresh, cured and smoked chorizos accompanied by fresh pears and berries". Again, the balance was what made this work - each chorizo had a very different mouth feel and flavor, and the berries and pear were perfect counterparts. I especially loved the fresh chorizo, it was subtle and had a simply fabulous texture.

The third course tied as my favorite - a "lime marinaded Chilean shrimp over calasparra rice". The shrimp was succulent and flavorful, no easy feat when served simultaneously to a large group. The rice was perfect - a saffron-infused dish that was reminiscent of paella rice. My tablemate, Liz Salley, who wasn't a newbie, left some of her rice, knowing that more good things were to come. I didn't leave any, because it was so delicious, but I regretted it later, just because... she was right. While I said the portions were perfect, they were, but five courses is five courses.

The fourth course was an "Argentinean chimichurri beef over spiced squash puree," slices of superb Sparrow Market beef, cooked medium, with a really bright, flavorful chimichurri sauce and a sweet counterpart of spiced squash. I wondered how this would fare when I read the description, but again, Chef Decola struck just the right note. My only quibble with the entire dinner is that I would have preferred the beef to be served more authentically rare, but again, for this kind of family-style setting and delivery, a compromise (as well as consideration of food safety issues) was probably necessary.

The dinner was topped off by "fresh (sic) prepared rice pudding and plantains with hot rum sauce." Again, this was superbly delicious - the rice pudding was creamy and light (a necessity after all of the earlier courses) and the plantains seemed to be caramelized and were rich and sweet. The rum sauce was amazing - I was in serious danger of wanting to lick the plate.

One of the couples at our table were pescatarian; they'd let this be known ahead of time, and they had fish sausage for the chorizo course and vegetarian options for the beef. They were also supremely happy with their choices.

Dave and I are saving our restaurant budget for another trip to Sparrow's on Sunday, September 20th, where we'll enjoy a Summer's End Italian Feast consisting of an asparagus, sweet peppers and baby greens salad with lemon vinaigrette; a selection of Italian salamis; penne with tuna, capers and basil in marinara; rosemary chicken over a wild mushroom risotto and fresh cannolis. We can't wait!

For reservations and information, please call 761-8175.

Photos: Chimichurri beef with spiced squash puree, diners anticipating the start of the feast, baby greens salad with mangoes and hearts of palm, chorizos with berries and pears, rice pudding with plantains and rum sauce. All photos by Jennifer Shikes Haines

If you don't mind leaving your comments/votes for this piece at my other gig, it would be greatly appreciated!

What's Cooking Wednesday: Mushroom-Onion Strudel with Two Paprikas

Please go to The Fairy Blogmother for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

Whether we like it or not, fall is in the air.

From a culinary standpoint, that's not a bad thing; while we'll miss the blueberries and peaches, the temptations of apples and squash are just ahead. The first apples, in fact, have begun to appear at the Farmers Market over the past couple of weeks.

The last day of our staycation I made a blueberry-cream cheese strudel, and had a few phyllo sheets leftover. This was the last of our indulgences; it was time for a return to healthy foods.

Now, it may seem like Mushroom-Onion Strudel wouldn't be that healthy, but with a few shortcuts, it really can be.

What I want from this strudel is a rich, Hungarian mushroom soup quality, but without all the cream and calories. To make this healthier, I cooked the vegetables slowly in a bit of olive oil, used whole wheat phyllo dough (Fillo Factory brand makes organic, whole wheat phyllo dough), and used 3 TBS of reduced fat sour cream, rather than a mixture of full fat sour cream and cream. To get a complex, smokey flavor, I used two types of paprika and some Gruyere. Our family loved this start to the fall. Enjoy!


Mushroom-Onion Strudel with Two Paprikas




Ingredients

5 sheets of whole wheat phyllo dough, thawed (regular phyllo dough will work fine, too)
olive oil cooking spray or olive oil atomizer
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 lb. mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 large onion chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
3 TBS reduced fat sour cream
4 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated (if you have a grater with small holes, or a microplane, so much the better as you can spread the cheese more - a light coating on the phyllo is fine)
1 tsp olive oil

Note: If you have only smoked paprika, 3/4 tsp can be used. If you only have sweet paprika, use the 1/2 tsp and add a pinch of cayenne pepper. This will be tastier with the two paprikas, however.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Saute onions in 1 TBS olive oil over medium heat, until onions start to become translucent. Add mushrooms, and continue to cook until they are golden brown - cook slowly. The sauteing should take about 30 minutes. Add salt, pepper, paprika and sour cream. Mix together. Set aside.

3. Spread a clean kitchen towel on a table. Working quickly so the phyllo won't dry out, place a sheet of phyllo dough on the towel. Spray with cooking spray or atomizer. Repeat until all five sheets have been used.

4. Sprinkle Gruyere across surface of the phyllo sheets, reserving 1 TBS. Along one edge, place the mushroom/onion mixture.

5. Using the towel, roll the strudel, jelly-roll style. When the strudel is rolled, brush the remaining tsp of olive oil along the seam and sprinkle with the remaining gruyere.

6. Carefully transfer strudel to baking sheet that is either greased or has a silicone mat or parchment paper covering it. (I'd recommend the latter two choices, if possible).

7. Bake for 25 minutes until strudel is golden brown. Let cool for 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6

Nutritional Info

* Servings Per Recipe: 6

Amount per serving:

* Calories: 191.1
* Total Fat: 11.2 g
* Cholesterol: 24.7 mg
* Sodium: 147.6 mg
* Total Carbs: 14.5 g
* Dietary Fiber: 1.7 g
* Protein: 8.9 g

As always, nutrition information supplied by the recipe calculator at sparkrecipes.com.

Photos: Plate of Mushroom-Onion Strudel with Two Paprikas and heirloom tomatoes, close-up of Mushroom-Onions Strudel with Two Paprikas, phyllo dough and mushroom mixture ready to be rolled, rolled strudel ready for the oven. All photos by Jennifer Shikes Haines.

If you don't mind leaving your comments/votes for this piece at my other gig, it would be greatly appreciated!