The Copywriter has flown the Kitchen for a few weeks’ travel and work in India. This post is by guest blogger Cathryn Johnson. Thanks Cathryn!

With microwave dinners, fast-food joints and busy lifestyles, cooking has almost become an ancient art.  Many of us fondly remember Mom’s cooking, but secretly fear that our children will not have such memories.  Cooking seems like such a daunting task.  And many, who did not learn as they were growing up, fear that they are too old to learn now.  But, Julia Child once admitted, “I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.”
 
Thus, it is never too late to begin cooking.  And, honestly, it is healthier for you and your family, and it isn’t too time consuming or difficult either.  An old Estonian Proverb says, “An empty belly is the best cook.”  Thus, if you love to eat, you can become a great cook!
 
There are some great fast and easy recipes on this website to get you started.  Simply find one that interests you, make a list of ingredients, run to the grocery store, and start cooking.  You’ll find that, with a good recipe in hand, you are a better cook than you had thought. 
 

7 inspirational tips from famous foodies

Here are seven simple tips on cooking from famous foodies to inspire, motivate and challenge you as you begin your new adventure in cooking:
 

1. Put your heart and soul into what you cook
   Cooking is like love.  It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.
   ~ Harriet van Horne – an American newspaper columnist and film/television critic

 

2. Put time and care into your cooking
   Enchant, stay beautiful and graceful, but do this, eat well. Bring the same consideration to the preparation of your food as you devote to your appearance. Let your dinner be a poem, like your dress.
   ~ Charles Pierre Monselet – a 19th century French author

 

3. Don’t try to make it too fancy
   Make [food] simple and let things taste of what they are.
   ~ Curnonsky – dubbed the Prince of Gastronomy, was the most celebrated writer on gastronomy in France in the 20th century

 

4. Keep in mind why you are cooking
   Food is not about impressing people. It’s about making them feel comfortable.
   ~ Ina Garten – an American author, host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa, and former White House nuclear policy analyst

 

5. Ask experts for advice
   If God had intended us to follow recipes,
   He wouldn’t have given us grandmothers.
   ~ Linda Henley-Smith – author, educator, speaker and opera singer

 

6. Be patient
   Cooking is an art and patience a virtue… Careful shopping, fresh ingredients and an unhurried approach are nearly all you need. There is one more thing - love. Love for food and love for those you invite to your table. With a combination of these things you can be an artist - not perhaps in the representational style of a Dutch master, but rather more like Gauguin, the naïve, or Van Gogh, the impressionist. Plates or pictures of sunshine taste of happiness and love.
   ~ Keith Floyd – a British chef and television personality who hosted numerous cooking shows for the BBC

 

7. Start with the basics and the rest will come
   Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it’s French or Italian or Japanese - you really don’t need a cookbook anymore.
   ~ Thomas Keller – an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer

And a bonus tip

 Boil your onions!
This is every cook’s opinion -
no savory dish without an onion,
but lest your kissing should be spoiled
your onions must be fully boiled.
~ Jonathan Swift – an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin
 
 
Cathryn Johnson is a self-proclaimed health-nut and a content writer for Online  MBA who gives advice on education, pursuing an online  mba ranking and living a healthy life. In her free time she enjoys travel, theater and having fun in the sun.

Photo of Thomas Keller courtesy of ASmythie

As you can see, this is not my typical Monday weekly menu post. That’s because I won’t be cooking this week—or for the next two weeks.

I will, however, be eating plenty of delicious food—on the west coast where I will settle my daughter in at her college this week.

And I’ll enjoy even more delightful dishes a few days later when I arrive in India. As Ashoka’s correspondent for the Global Maternal Health Conference 2010, I will be live blogging events and tweeting updates from New Delhi. You can follow my posts and tweets at Ashoka’s Changemakers.com and Ashoka Changemakers on Twitter.

In the meantime, if you need menu ideas, please check out my recipes. And visit my favorite food bloggers:

The Spice Spoon
Smitten Kitchen
Ruhlman
101 Cookbooks
Food and Style
Christie’s Corner

Air India photo courtesy of f18e777

I know. A slow cooker recipe? In August?

But think about it: What better way to cook dinner without heating up the kitchen? A slow cooker provides a delicious hands-off meal that lets you more fully enjoy these last fleeting days of summer.

The word succotash comes from a Narragansett word that means boiled corn. The dish is a comforting combination of corn, lima beans and any other seasonal vegetable that calls to you from your farm stand or produce store.

I’m making an unadorned, classic American succotash using lima beans, corn and flat green beans slow simmered to mushy perfection.

You might also think about adding:

• Onion
• Garlic
• Tomatoes
• Bell or other peppers
• Cilantro, basil or other fresh chopped herbs

Corn and Green Bean Succotash is delicious slow cooked with a bit of pastured bacon—given factory farm conditions, I buy only local, pastured pork. But the dish is also satisfyingly full-flavored without bacon. If you want smoky flavor without meat, try adding 2-3 drops of liquid smoke flavoring—found in the spice section of your supermarket.



Just before I’m ready to serve, I throw in a splash of heavy cream and a few extra grindings of black pepper.

Slow Cooker Corn and Green Bean Succotash is heaven served with a side of fresh, hot corn bread.

Slow Cooker Corn and Green Bean Succotash

1 pound lima beans
1 pound flat green beans
1 slice bacon made from pastured, locally raised pork
1 pound fresh or frozen corn kernels
3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1. Wash and pick over the dried lima beans. Place in crock of your slow cooker; add 1 teaspoon salt and bacon if desired. Cover with water—about four cups—and set slow cooker temperature on appropriate setting to cook beans. It will take a few hours.
2. About half an hour before lima beans are fully cooked, prepare remaining vegetables. Wash, trim and cut flat green beans into 1” slices.
3. Add green beans and corn to cooked lima beans. Continue cooking succotash until vegetables are tender—about 30 minutes.
4. Just before serving, stir in cream or half and half and add freshly ground pepper to taste.

Serves 8.

Need dinner ideas?

Here’s what we’re cooking this week at Copywriters’ Kitchen:

Monday
From-Scratch Caesar Salad with Crunchy Oven-Toasted Croutons

Tuesday
Cabo San Lucas Lime and Cilantro Grilled Pastured Chicken, Lemony White Bean and Flat Bean Salad

Wednesday
Anything Goes Gazpacho, Italian bread, assorted cheeses, black oil-cured olives

Thursday
Grilled pastured beef hamburgers and veggie burgers, Upstate New York Fingerling Salt Potatoes, Summer Fruit and Spinach Salad with Maple-Glazed Pecans

Friday
Creamy Summer Succotash, From-Scratch Quick Cornbread, sliced tomatoes with salt, pepper and mayonnaise, Grandma’s San Joaquin Valley Peach Cobbler
(Creamy Summer Succotash recipe will post Friday)

Want to see even more dinner ideas? Visit my Menu Archive.

Photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

When I think about my summer romance with this tall Cuban cocktail, I hear the Black Eyed Peas’ lyrics, “… you’re so 2000 and late…”

As the mother of two teens and a young adult, I’m resigned to retrograde status. So, yes, I admit I came late to mojitos. The cocktail’s popularity peaked several years ago.

But really. Classic cocktails don’t go out of style, do they? This cooling mix of mashed mint, lime juice and white rum isn’t going to “go gentle into that good night”—just because the mixological crowd moves on to the next shiny cocktail shaker.

You’ll find lots of mojito recipe variations. Sweeteners range from pure sugar cane juice, to simple syrup to granulated sugar.



My extra minty mojito incorporates a mint-infused simple syrup.



But in a twist on the “dirty mojito,” I also add a tiny bit of Demerara sugar to the mint leaves as I muddle. I find this extra grit helps release more of the mint leaves’ flavorful essential oils—and the raw sugar also adds just a hint of molasses to the drink.

Classic Mojito recipe

For each mojito you will need:

A handful of fresh mint leaves, about ¼ cup
Pinch of Demerara or raw sugar
1 jigger Mint Simple Syrup, see recipe below
1 jigger white rum
Juice of one lime, strained
Sparkling water, preferably San Pellegrino
Cracked ice
Lime slices and sprig of mint for garnish

1. Set aside one mint sprig for garnish. Wash and pat-dry remaining mint leaves, removing stems.
2. Squeeze and strain lime juice.
3. Place remaining mint in a tall glass and add sugar. Using a bartender’s wooden muddler or the end of a wooden spoon, muddle the mint and sugar, mashing it gently to release the mint’s oils.
4. Add Mint Simple Syrup, rum and lime juice. Stir to blend.
5. Fill glass with cracked ice. Add sparkling water to fill glass. Stir gently and garnish with a lime slice and sprig of mint.

Serves 1.

Mint Simple Syrup Recipe

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 packed cup of mint leaves

1. Wash, pick over and chop mint leaves, removing stems.
2. Combine chopped mint leaves, sugar and water in a medium sauce pan.
3. Bring syrup to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Turn off flame and let syrup cool to room temperature.
4. Strain syrup and store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Makes about 1 cup.

They’re finally here. Ripe, luscious, locally-grown tomatoes. All year long I dream about these juicy fruit/vegetables. And now that they’ve arrived, we’re eating them every single day. For lunch and dinner.



You don’t need to do much to dress up a perfect, sun-ripened tomato. A little salt, pepper and maybe a dab of mayonnaise is enough to send me into gustatory ecstasy. Add a slab of rustic Italian bread and call it dinner. And I do just that, on the rare summer evening when I dine alone.

But when preparing dinner for my family, I need to add a little more substance to simple tomato-based dishes. I might make a Cheddar Tomato Pie. Or No-Cook Summer Tomato Pasta.

Or this Panzanella, Italian Bread Salad with Bocconcini and Local Tomatoes. Panzanella puts some of my all-time favorite foods in a single bowl: Italian bread. Seasonal tomatoes. Fresh herbs. Extra virgin olive oil. And bocconcini—tender, milky “bitefuls” of mozzarella. The cheese has the added bonus of heartiness, so my kids don’t tuck into a bowl of cereal an hour after dinner.

My version of Panzanella, a traditional Tuscan summer side dish, is very simple. I don’t want much getting in the way of my tomato-bread fixation. I add only red onion and cheese to the bread and tomatoes, then toss with oil and vinegar.



But Panzanella is one of those flexible salads that works well with just about any seasonal leftover in your fridge. Feel free to add:

• Olives—black oil-cured are my favorite
• Roasted red peppers
• Sliced hard-boiled eggs
• Capers
• Tuna
• Cucumber
• Other seasonal vegetables
• Chopped parsley or other fresh herbs

While you don’t have to be picky about add-ins, you do need to be careful about the key ingredient: bread. If possible, make it a rustic loaf with a thick, dark crust. And not a fresh loaf. You’ll want to use bread that’s been hanging around your kitchen for at least a day.



Some people even go to the trouble of toasting the bread cubes into croutons. But why heat up the kitchen if you don’t have to?

I buy an extra-large round loaf of Italian bread–lucky me, I live fairly close to Madonia Bakery on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. They make a huge rustic loaf with crust burnt to perfection. As we eat our way through the bread over several days, I cut off and save the loaf’s dried ends. By day three or so, I’ve accumulated enough slices of dried-to-stale-perfection bread. The hardened bread makes the perfect sponge for the Panzanella’s tomato juices, fragrant olive oil, vinegar, onion and garlic.

Panzanella: Italian Bread Salad with Bocconcini and Local Tomatoes Recipe

1 pound of day-old bread, cut into cubes—about 8 cups
1 pound bocconcini or mozzarella cheese cut into cubes
6 medium sized tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 small purple onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh herbs—I use basil and oregano—or 1 teaspoon dried herbs
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine or balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Cold water

1. To make dried bread cubes, you can use my method of accumulating slices of bread over a few days. Or slice the bread into cubes and let it sit out to dry for a couple of hours.
2. To seed tomatoes, slice off the stem-end of the tomato and scoop out seeds with your finger. I prefer tomatoes unpeeled for this rustic dish. If you don’t like tomato skins, however, see these directions and photos for peeling tomatoes. Cut tomatoes into chunks.
3. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, bread cubes, bocconcini or mozzarella, sliced onion and herbs.
4. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.
5. Pour dressing over bread and tomato mixture, tossing to coat ingredients. If you are serving immediately and salad is too dry, add water—one tablespoon at a time—to moisten. You’ll only need one or two tablespoons: As the tomatoes release their juices, they soak into and soften the dried bread. If you are reserving the salad to eat later, do not add extra water.

Serves 6-8.

Need dinner ideas? The following menu provides a week’s suggestions.

You’ll notice tomatoes appear at each meal. That’s because—hallelujah!—local tomatoes have finally ripened and I plan to binge on the bounty as long as possible…

Monday
No-Cook Summer Tomato Pasta, Italian bread, romaine salad with Toss-in-the-Bowl Lemon Garlic Dressing

Tuesday
Cold Mom’s Meatloaf with Creamy Onion Gravy, Old Fashioned Cold Slaw, cheeses, sliced fresh tomatoes, assorted sandwich breads

Wednesday
Cheddar Tomato Pie, Cumin and Lime Black Bean Salad, spinach salad with Mustard and Herb Vinaigrette

Thursday
Lemon Herb Pan-Fried Pastured Chicken, Panzanella: Italian Bread Salad with Bocconcini and Local Tomatoes, romaine salad with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Friday
Cocktail Hour: Classic Mojito Made with Mint Simple Syrup, crackers and cheese, oil-cured olives
Dinner: Vichyssoise, sliced Hartsdale, New York tomatoes with salt, pepper and mayonnaise, baguette

Want to see even more dinner ideas? Visit my Menu Archive.

Photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

At my local farm stand the fresh beans, heaped in bushel baskets, always call to me. Especially the flat Italian green beans.

Since they’re grown locally, these large, luscious beans aren’t always available. So when they’re in season, I tend to overbuy and hoard them.



I’m ashamed to say I’ve let a few pounds of lovely, pale green flat beans turn speckled in my refrigerator. This summer I’m making an effort to Check The Vegetable Crisper Regularly and rescue any hapless produce trapped in those chilly confines.

This Lemony White Bean and Flat Bean Salad is the result of my latest produce intervention. You might be inclined to think of it as a variation of an earlier white bean salad. But the addition of flat beans, cumin, turmeric and loads of cilantro make it quite different.

I added so much fresh chopped cilantro—at least a cup—that it turned the salad green, as you’ll see in the photos. If you’re not a fan of this slightly soapy-tasting herb, feel free to adjust cilantro quantities accordingly.



Lemony White Bean and Flat Bean Salad also uses a lot of lemon juice. Lately I’m finding an overdose of this fresh citrus juice improves just about anything I’m cooking. With the white beans and a handful of oil-cured olives, Lemony White Bean and Flat Bean Salad packs heft—and serves as a main course for the vegetarians in our house.

I make a big batch so I have several days’ worth of leftovers for lunch—or for that sustaining 4pm-two-spoonful-pre-dinner-snack.

Lemony White Bean and Flat Bean Salad

6 cups white beans, cooked
1/2 cup oil-cured black olives
4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 cups flat Italian or other green beans
1/2 -1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin, slightly crushed—or use ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 cup plus two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 2-3 large lemons

1. If using dried beans, see instructions for cooking legumes. Scoop cooked or drained, rinsed canned white beans into a large bowl along with olives and scallions.
2. Wash and trim Italian flat beans and cut into slices around 1 1/2 “.
3. In a large frying pan, heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium flame.
4. When oil is fragrant, add green beans, stirring to fry. Add one clove crushed garlic and season beans with salt and pepper to taste. Cover pan with a lid and lower flame. Cook, stirring occasionally until beans soften, about ten minutes. Remove lid and continue to fry another 2-3 minutes until moisture evaporates. Turn off flame and let beans cool slightly.
5. Wash and chop cilantro.
6. Add flat beans, cilantro, cumin, turmeric, remaining clove of garlic, 1/3 cup olive oil and lemon juice to white beans, olives and scallions.
7. Gently stir all ingredients, adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve salad at room temperature or chilled.

Serves 6-8.

Need dinner ideas? Here’s what we’re cooking this week at Copywriters’ Kitchen:

Monday
Roasted Red Pepper and Potato Frittata, sliced seasonal tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, Italian bread

Tuesday
Lemon Herb Pastured Grilled Chicken, Curried Coconut Rice Salad, mesclun salad with Lime and Chutney Salad Dressing

Wednesday
Pinto bean, rice and Monterey Jack burritos on whole wheat tortillas, iceberg lettuce with Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing

Thursday
Middle Eastern Honey Cumin Grilled Pastured Chicken, Spice Spoon’s Borani Kachalu, Potato Salad Prepared in the Afghan Manner, flat bread

Friday
Lemony White Bean and Flat Bean Salad, steamed quinoa, assorted cheeses, Italian bread

Want to see even more dinner ideas? Visit my Menu Archive.

Photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

“Ah, if I can’t eat some of the rampion, which is in the garden behind our house, I shall die,” moans Rapunzel’s mother.

An expectant woman and her food cravings are the catalysts for the story of Rapunzel. In the fairy tale, the soon-to-be mother fixates on luscious leafy greens growing next door. Pained to see her pine, her husband sneaks into their neighbor’s garden and steals the rampion.

I understand his rash act. When I was expecting, I craved soft summer fruit. If I’d been unable to buy it nearby at Westchester Greenhouse farm stand, my cravings might have driven my husband to criminality.

Two of my children were summer babies. The weather was oppressively hot and humid. An extra 20 pounds of combined baby and water weight seemed lodged under my ribs, making the thought of eating repellent. Except for summer fruit.



I had insane cravings for soft yellow, rose and purple plums. Fragrant yellow and white peaches. Rosy flushed apricots. I recall trawling the aisles at the farm stand, buying far more fruit than the average family could consume in a week.

The kindly farm stand workers let me wash pints of fruit in their deep, industrial zinc sinks. I’d carry the haul to our minivan. The vehicle’s hot, stale air felt stifling. But before driving off with open windows, I took a few minutes to arrange the produce bags. I needed easy access while driving.

Then I’d meander home, stuffing my face with perfumed, juicy summer fruit.

Today I still love summer fruit. And I still buy too much of it. Summer temperatures make it spoil fast, so I’ll often stew about-to-turn fruit or make it the base of a quick cobbler.



For a slightly more elegant—but almost as easy to prepare—dessert, I love this Apricot Galette with Buttery Ground Almond Crust.



Galettes give you fruit pies’ best tastes and textures—crisp buttery crust, yielding syrupy fruit—with far less fuss.

I rarely used hydrogenated vegetable fat, but make exception for pie crusts. I find a combination of shortening and butter delivers the perfect flavor-to-flakiness ratio. As you might guess, this crust also incorporates almond flour and a few drops of almond extract.



The almondy crust is delicious with apricots and peaches. But you can also make galette with:

• Plums
• Blueberries, raspberries or blackberries
• Strawberries and rhuharb
• Cherries
• Figs

Apricot Galette with Buttery Ground Almond Crust

Filling
3 cups pitted apricots
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon water

Crust
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup finely ground almonds or almond flour
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
¼ cup shortening
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon Demerara or raw brown sugar crystals
2-4 tablespoons ice water

1. In a medium saucepan, combine apricots, ¼ cup sugar and water. Cover pan and set over medium-low flame. Bring fruit to simmer. Lower flame. Stirring occasionally and watching to make sure it doesn’t burn, let fruit simmer until softened—about five minutes. Remove lid and let fruit cool slightly.
2. In the meantime, make the crust: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, almond flour, salt and sugar, blending well.
4. Using a pastry cutter, whisk or your fingers, add butter, shortening and almond extract, blending until mixture is coarse and crumbly.
5. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of ice water over flour mixture, blending swiftly with a whisk. Working quickly and handling dough as little as possible, add more ice water as needed to form a dough that just holds together when pressed into a ball.
6. Put the ball of dough on a sheet of wax paper. Put a second sheet of wax paper over the dough and press down on the mound with your hands to flatten the ball.
7. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a circular shape about ¼” thick.
8. Remove the top sheet of wax paper and cover the rolled out dough with a piece of parchment paper.
9. Carefully roll the parchment and wax paper-sandwiched dough over your rolling pin.
10. On a cookie or jelly roll sheet, unroll the sandwiched dough, parchment side down.
11. Carefully remove the sheet of wax paper. Your dough may look a little humped and misshapen. Not to worry: Straighten it out and repair any cracks by pressing dough together.
12. Place a dinner plate on the dough, then trace and cut a circle. Remove excess crust.
13. Using a slotted spoon, scoop slightly cooled apricots into the center of the dough circle.
14. Use a spatula to loosen edges of dough. Fold the dough toward the center of the circle to encase the fruit, pressing dough edges together to seal.
15. Pour remaining fruit syrup over fruit.
16. Sprinkle the galette with Demerara sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until fruit is bubbly and crust golden at the edges.
17. Cool slightly and serve. You may want to add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves eight.