MAIN COURSES
BREAKFAST
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Oatmeal
Banana Nut Pancakes
Quick Ham and Egg Scramble
DINNER
Tilapia with Sherry and Rosemary
The Last Lasagna
Red Roasted Chicken
Chicken Potpie in Sherry Cream Sauce
Crock-Pot Beef Stew
Braised Orange Chicken
Pork and Beans
Super Chicken Stock
French Onion Soup
Tarragon Tuna Salad
Healthful Pepperoni Pizza
SIDE DISHES
French Onion Rings
Your Daily Bread: Baguettes
Somebody’s Buttermilk Biscuits
Baked Beans
Cancer-Fighting Coleslaw
Perfect Picnic Potato Salad
Buttermilk Cornbread
Macaroni and Cheese
Comfort Food au Gratin
Pine Nut Parmesan Risotto
DESSERTS
Cheesecake with a Cinnamon Port Wine Glaze
Chewy Chocolate Brownies
Practically Flourless Chocolate Cake
Molasses Gingerbread Cake
Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa Apple Cobbler
All-American Apple Pie
Basic Milk Shake
Magic Chocolate Ganache
Vanilla Pudding
Chocolate-Coated Fruit
Silky English Cream
Vanilla Whipped Cream
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Creamy Alfredo Sauce
This Alfredo sauce is so easy to make that it becomes a perfect “starter recipe” if you are new to cooking. Moreover, you can make it in the time it takes your pasta water to boil.
Time to the Table: 7 minutes Makes enough for about 4 servings
YOU’LL NEED
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup heavy cream
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black-pepper
IN A SAUCEPAN
Over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Then add the cream, Parmesan, and pepper and warm until the cheese is melted. Correct the seasonings, and mix into your pasta.
Play with Your Food!
For a silkier version of the Alfredo sauce, just add eggs. Mix in 2 beaten eggs with the cream off the heat, and then add the warm melted butter to that mixture (beat it in to make sure the eggs warm slowly).
To make a Carbonara, add about 4 pieces of crisp bacon, crumbled, to the sauce.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Knorr Fettuccine Pasta with Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients: Enriched noodles, cheese powders (cow’s milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, calcium chloride, sodium hexametaphosphate), salt, cream powder (cream, nonfat dry milk, whey, sodium caseinate, soybean oil, lecithin), hydrogenated soybean oil, lactose, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, autolyzed yeast extract, maltodextrin, whey protein concentrate, buttermilk, butter, disodium phosphate, sodium nitrate, garlic powder, onion powder, whey, corn syrup solids, vinegar powder, spices, mono-and diglycerides, natural flavors.
Tricks of the Trade
Before adding the eggs, make sure the mixture has cooled off enough so the eggs don’t curdle in the pan.
If the sauce is too thick, thin it by adding a bit more water, one tablespoon at a time.
Lemonless Béarnaise Sauce
Best for steak, but it also works for chicken and salmon. What you’ll notice every time is how much this sauce tastes like lemons—but there’s not one lemon in it!
Time to the Table: 7 minutes Makes enough for about 4 servings
YOU’LL NEED
1 tablespoon minced shallots
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 large egg yolks, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
Salt and pepper to taste
IN A HEAVY-BOTTOMED SAUCEPAN
Simmer the shallots, tarragon, wine, and vinegar until reduced, and you are left with about 2 tablespoons liquid. Set this off the heat and allow to cool.
ASSEMBLE THE SAUCE
Add the beaten egg yolks and water to the cooled tarragon-vinegar reduction. Turn the heat to medium-low. Stirring or whisking constantly, add the butter a few cubes at a time until all are incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm.
Play with Your Food
This rich sauce is the second cousin of hollandaise. For extra flavor, add Dijon mustard or horseradish (½ teaspoon should do it). For a sweeter twist, especially when serving with salmon, add a tablespoon of orange juice.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: McCormick Béarnaise Sauce Blend
Ingredients: Nonfat dry milk, wheat starch, salt, onion, autolyzed yeast extract, butter, maltodextrin, spices, chicken broth, hydrolyzed corn gluten, soy protein, wheat gluten, modified corn starch, xanthan gum, garlic, vinegar solids, gelatin, paprika, citric acid, turmeric, natural flavors, sodium caseinate, sugar, extracts of tarragon.
Hot Artichoke-Cheese Dip
You can make batch after batch of this dip as needed, since it takes only a few minutes to mix together. When it comes out of the oven, you’ll see why the kitchen is always the most popular room at any good party.
Time to the Table: 35 minutes Makes enough for about 15 servings
YOU’LL NEED
1 15-ounce can artichokes, drained and chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 ¼ cups mayonnaise
½ teaspoon garlic salt
2 full turns of a-pepper grinder
2 dashes of Tabasco sauce
2 dashes of cayenne pepper
Tricks of the Trade
If you like finding bits of artichokes in your dip, be careful when mixing up these canned artichokes, as they mash very easily.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
IN AN OVEN-SAFE CASSEROLE DISH
Mix the artichokes, Parmesan, mayonnaise, garlic salt, pepper, Tabasco sauce, and cayenne until basically smooth.
Bake until bubbly, with a hint of brown on the surface (look in on your dip after about 30 minutes).
Play with Your Food
For extra bite, add a third (or fourth) dash of cayenne pepper.
You don’t have to use Parmesan; any hard cheese will work in this dip. Asiago is a good one to try for a saltier flavor. Not only can you vary the cheese, but add an extra half cup if you think it needs it. Your company will only thank you.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Fromage Per Favor Cheese Dip
Ingredients: Gorgonzola and feta cheese, mayonnaise (soybean oil, egg yolks, salt, sugar, distilled vinegar, salt, lemon juice concentrate [contains sodium bisulfite]), flavoring (partially hydrogenated soybean oil, tert-butylhydroquinone [TBHQ], tocopherols, synthetic mustard oil, fractionated vegetable oil), coloring (paprika, annatto, soybean oil, gum arabic, natural flavor, ascorbic acid), red peppers, olives (olives, water, pimento, salt, lactic acid, sodium alginate, guar gum, calcium chloride), ripe olives (olives, water, salt, ferrous gluconate).
Our North American version of French dressing is rarely seen in France. There really is a “French Dressing,” although our neon-orange attempt is definitely not it. The real thing is incredibly simple to put together, and contains only a handful of ingredients. What it doesn’t contain is artificial colors and, as pointed out by Julia Child, sugar in salad dressing “is heresy”
Time to the Table: 5 minutes Makes 1 cup
YOU’LL NEED
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
Salt, pepper, and/or other seasonings to taste (tarragon is a wonderful addition)
IN A SMALL MIXING BOWL
Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, and seasonings.
Make this fresh each time, because all you are doing is mixing y
our oil and vinegar with whatever herbs happen to be fresh in your garden at the time.
Play with Your Food
If you like it spicy, drop in a teaspoon of Dijon mustard or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Kraft Creamy French Dressing
Ingredients: Soybean oil, water, sugar, vinegar, salt, whey, paprika, xanthan gum, sorbic acid, calcium disodium ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA), polysorbate 60, dried garlic, propylene glycol alginate, Yellow No. 6, Yellow No. 5, natural flavor.
A Mayonnaise of Your Very Own
I was surprised to find that making your own mayonnaise is incredibly easy. You’ll love the lemony tang that authentic mayonnaise gives to tuna salad, dressings, potato salads, and sandwiches.
Tricks of the Trade
Be careful not to add too much of the oil too quickly; it will separate from the body of the mayonnaise. To fix this, beat in another room-temperature yolk.
Time to the Table: 15 minutes Makes 1 ½ cups
YOU’LL NEED
2 large egg yolks, beaten until thick
About 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon hot water
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Let the eggs and oil come to room temperature before starting.
IN A FOOD PROCESSOR OR BLENDER
Combine the lemon juice, mustard, and salt with the eggs. With your food processor pulsing, drizzle in a thin stream of oil, maybe a tablespoon at a time, until the sauce thickens. This will happen after about ½ cup of the oil is added.
Beat in the water and vinegar, and then correct the seasonings with salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Store the mayonnaise in the refrigerator in an impeccably clean container.
Play with Your Food
Mayonnaise is good on its own, but even better as the medium to carry any number of flavors for your foods. Perhaps the most popular in France is aïoli garlic sauce, the “butter of Provence.” To make this, soak a piece of dry French bread in a touch of milk until the bread is soggy and then ring it out. Add 2 large egg yolks and, depending on your love of garlic, 3 to 5 garlic cloves, minced, to the bread. Blend, and then add it to the completed mayonnaise recipe above. This is wonderful with boiled potatoes, fish, or with the toast rounds in fish soup.
Try the mayonnaise herbed with chives or scallions, or substitute lime juice for the lemon.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Hellmann’s 97% Fat-Free Mayonnaise
Ingredients: Water, corn syrup, soybean oil, food starch (modified), egg whites, vinegar, salt, maltodextrin, cellulose gum, xanthan gum, carrageenan, natural flavors, color added, mustard flour, sodium benzoate, calcium disodium EDTA.
Basil Pesto Cream
This is my daughter Grace’s favorite sauce. Basil picked from your garden and fresh Parmesan will bring this pesto to life. The pesto is perfect touched over cold summer soup, smeared on a crust of bread, or served with spaghetti.
Time to the Table: 5 minutes Makes about 2 cups
Tricks of the Trade
A food processor works just as well as a mortar and pestle and is quite a bit easier.
YOU’LL NEED
1 ½ cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup pine nuts
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon heavy cream
Salt and-pepper to taste
Puree all the ingredients until smooth.
Play with Your Food
In summer, try chive pesto. Puree together about a cup of chopped chives with about ¾ cup olive oil, a minced garlic clove, a modest amount of pine nuts, and about ¼ cup of some grated salty cheese.
In winter, when fresh basil is out of season, you can still build a delightful pesto from other ingredients, such as mushrooms or roasted red peppers. All proportions remain as in the recipe above.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Knorr Creamy Pesto Pasta Sauce
Ingredients: corn starch, wheat flour, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, maltodextrin, dehydrogenated vegetables, Parmesan cheese, monosodium glutamate, spices, sugar, lactose, disodium phosphate, sodium caseinate.
Sausage Gravy Béchamel
What’s the difference between the milk gravy you have over your buttermilk biscuits and a fancy béchamel sauce? Nothing. This gravy is one step better because it’s enriched with hot sausage bits and the oil comes from the seasoned drippings of the pork. You really don’t need much sausage to add richness.
This goes just fine over toast, but is best over biscuits.
Time to the Table: 15 minutes Makes about 1 cup
YOU’LL NEED
About 1/8 cup ground Italian sausage
3 tablespoons sausage drippings
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
Salt and-pepper to taste
IN A SKILLET
Fry the sausage over medium heat until done. As it cooks, crumble it up as fine as you can with your spatula.
In a separate pan, add the oil from the sausage (drippings), and then whisk in the flour to make a light roux, making sure the flour is all taken up into the oil. Allow it to slip into a gentle nut-brown color.
Add the milk and stir into a fluid gravy. Stir in the crumbled sausage. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and ladle generously over homemade biscuits.
Play with Your Food
You can use any sausage you want, but sage sausage is excellent.
The color and richness of the gravy depends completely on the roux. Although the standard gravy that never misses is light, you may prefer more complex, darker flavors. If so, let it deepen in color from pale to dark chocolate before adding the milk.
Add a bay leaf, a couple of sage leaves, or a pinch of nutmeg.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Libby’s Country Gravy
Ingredients: Water, sausage with caramel color, soybean oil, modified food starch, wheat flour, sodium caseinate, salt, sugar, dipotassium phosphate, sodium steroyl lactylate, spice, titanium dioxide, cellulose gum, natural and artificial flavoring.
Garlic-Parmesan Ranch Dressing
My friend Virginia brandished a bottle of ranch salad dressing. “You can’t make that yourself, how would you even start?” she wondered. The daunting impossibility of the task was resolved, though, when we rummaged through her cabinets and dug out some olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and spices. She had everything she needed already.
It’s easy to make something much better than the ready-made store brand.
Time to the Table: 5 minutes Makes about 1 cup
Tricks of the Trade
Raw garlic will lend a strong kick to this dressing. To minimize that effect, make sure it is minced as small as possible.
YOU’LL NEED
1 cup mayonnaise
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
¼ cup chopped chives
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
Freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
IN A SMALL BOWL
Mix the mayonnaise and vinegar until smooth, and then add the chives, garlic, and pepper. Sprinkle in the Parmesan, stir to combine, and serve.
Play with Your Food
Cut the vinegar in half and replace it with a squeeze of lemon juice. If the flavor of the mayonnaise is not quite right for you, cut the amount in half and replace it with sour cream.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Kraft Ranch Dressing Free
Ingredients: Water, corn syrup, buttermilk, vinegar, onion juice, sugar, garlic juice, salt, modified food starch, soybean oil, xanthan gum, artificial color, phosphoric acid, propylene glycol alginate, monosodium glutamate, potassium sorbate, calcium disodium EDTA, natural flavor, dried parsley, dried green onion, vit
amin E acetate, spice, Yellow No. 5, sulfating agents.
“Still Kicking” Barbecue Sauce
Making this barbecue sauce reminds me of the craggy witches in Macbeth, hunched over their cauldrons. This recipe doesn’t require any toad’s ears or rat’s claws, but it does call for almost every spice in the cabinet. This happens to be one of the few recipes in this book with more ingredients than the faux food equivalent!