Chicken Soup is the electric blanket of food. You turn it on, heat it up, get yourself a bowlful and you feel warm and snuggly all over. Quickly.

Could there be something, anything better on a cold or dark, gloomy, wintry, rainy day?

It isn’t particularly cold here today in Connecticut. But it is dark, gloomy, wintry and rainy. 

Time to make Chicken Soup from my mother’s wonderful recipe. She would always make this soup on dark, gloomy, wintry, rainy days. Here is her recipe:

My Mom’s Chicken Soup

1 large whole chicken

 water

4 carrots, peeled

3 stalks celery, peeled

1 medium parsnip, peeled

1 large onion, left whole but peeled

small bunch of fresh dill

1 tablespoon salt, or salt to taste

6-8 whole black peppercorns

Notice all the blueberries in the market? Boxes and boxes of them! The bins are overflowing.

That’s probably because more blueberries are being grown these days, according to this article in the Fruit Growers News. And that’s because blueberries are more popular than ever, probably because of their reputation as a healthy food.

That’s good. That blueberries are healthy. Because they are so good, especially when they’re slightly tart. Mmmm, I remember many a summer night when my Mom served me blueberries and sour cream (sprinkled with sugar) for dinner. Haven’t had that in years. These days it’s more like blueberries and plain, non-fat Greek style yogurt. No fat. And surely no sugar. 

But during winter it’s more likely that I’ll use blueberries in pancakes. Or even better, muffins, which I can freeze and then have one whenever I want.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole or 2% milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 10-12 muffin tin cups. Melt the butter and set aside to cool. Mix the flour, sugar, lemon peel, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir to combine ingredients thoroughly. In a second bowl mix the milk, egg, egg yolk and melted butter and stir to combine ingredients throughly. Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and mix just to combine ingredients (it will be very thick). Fold in the blueberries. Spoon into the muffin tins, about 2/3 the way up. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until browned and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Makes 10-12

Can you eat just one piece of chocolate? My brother Jeff can. He eats one piece every day. He says it satisfies his craving, that he doesn’t need more than his little daily nibble.

This is quite a statement coming from someone who can’t hold back at all when it comes to bread. 

But I am sure Jeff will be thrilled to know about this article, which speaks to the benefits of chocolate, specifically dark, bittersweet chocolate. 

It sounds almost too good to be true. But, at least according to what I read here, there’s evidence that dark chocolate fights cancer, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. It has antioxidants and flavanoids that fight free radicals and may protect us from aging too quickly and from Alzheimer’s disease. And it also may help improve your vision.

Holy cow! Get me some of this stuff now!

My mother always said my brother Jeff was smart.

Of course the article does say not to overdo the chocolate thing. Be more like Jeff. Just a small portion each day.

So maybe just one piece of these brownies every day? (Freeze the leftovers)

Btw, these would be nice for Valentine’s Day. Or anytime, really.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate

8 ounces unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts or semisweet chocolate chips, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish. Melt the chocolate and butter together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Stir, remove the top part of the pan from the heat and let cool. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a mixer at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale. Add the chocolate mixture and vanilla extract and blend them in thoroughly. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, add to the batter and blend thoroughly. Fold in the nuts or chocolate chips, if used. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs clinging. Let cool and cut. Makes 16-20 pieces

I always need hors d’oeuvre recipes because I entertain a lot. Most of the people who come over are really really familiar with the ones I repeat over and over (because no matter how much they like to try new foods, they are like most people and also want the favorites).

So I make a new recipe or two each time I have company. Experiments mostly, so my friends and family can be “test subjects” for a thumbs up or down.

But recently one of my daughters said “hey Mom, can I have your recipe for Pearly Meatballs?” And I realized I haven’t made these in YEARS! And they are so good, everyone loves them. I had stopped making them because well, frankly, they seemed old hat. But now that we haven’t had them in so long they seem fresh and I am remembering how much everyone looked forward to these.

I learned about Pearly Meatballs from the famous Florence Lin, Chinese cookbook author and teacher, who I met long ago at the China Institute. I tweaked her recipe here and there to suit our family. These meatballs are perfect for Chinese New Year (starting tonight) but also for the Superbowl on February 5th.

Pearly Meatballs

2/3 cup glutinous rice

4 large dried shiitake mushrooms

2 medium scallions, coarsely chopped

6 water chestnuts, coarsely chopped

1 slice fresh ginger, peeled, about 1/2-inch thick, cut coarsely

1 pound ground turkey (or veal, pork but NOT beef or lamb)

1 large egg

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon rice wine

1/2 teaspoon sugar

white vinegar

chili-flavored oil

Place the rice in a large bowl, cover with cold water and let soak for 2 hours. Drain and set aside. Soak the mushrooms in hot water for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Drain, rinse, cut the mushrooms coarsely, and place in a food processor. Add the scallions, water chestnuts and ginger. Process until finely chopped (alternatively, chop the vegetables with a cleaver or chef’s knife).

Combine the meat, egg, soy sauce, salt, rice wine, sugar and chopped vegetables in a bowl. Shape the mixture into balls about 1-/14 to 1-1/2-inches in diameter (wet, cold hands make this easier). Place the drained rice on a plate. Roll each of the meatballs in the rice to coat the outside. 

Place the rice-coated meatballs in a steamer. Bring the water in the steamer to a simmer. Steam for 30-35 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through and the rice is soft.

Serve with vinegar and chili-flavored oil. Makes about 24

There’s an old joke about Jews and Chinese food. A Chinese man is speaking to a Jewish man and says, “so if your culture is over 5000 years old and ours is over 4000 years old where did your people eat for a thousand years?”

Such is the devotion of Jewish people to Chinese food.

Back in the day, young Jewish couples who became engaged would eat Chinese food on a Saturday night date. Jewish families ate Chinese food out together on Sunday afternoon.

But even now, the connection between Jewish people and Chinese food is the stuff of humor. Like when Elena Kagan was being questioned before her appointment to the Supreme Court and when asked where she was on Christmas Day she said “You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.” 

So on Chinese New Year (4710, celebration begins in the evening, January 22nd) it is not unthinkable that Jewish people might want to eat some Chinese food as a sort of celebration (any excuse really).

Here’s one of my favorite recipes:

Chicken with Peanuts

sauce:

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine, other rice wine or white wine

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons water

the chicken:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

4-6 dry red whole chili peppers

4 large scallions, chopped

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1/2 cup roasted peanuts (may be salted)

Mix the soy sauce, rice wine, vinegar, kosher salt and sesame seed oil in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix the 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl and set aside.

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and place in a bowl. Add the 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch and mix thoroughly to coat all the chicken pieces and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a wok or stirfry pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stirfry for 2-3 minutes or until all the pieces are white. Dish out the chicken and set aside.

Heat the remaining tablespoon vegetable oil in the wok. Add the chili peppers and cook briefly until they turn dark. Add the scallion, ginger and chicken to the pan and stirfry briefly to distribute the ingredients evenly. Stir the sauce and pour it into the pan. Stirfry for about a minute. Add the peanuts and mix them in evenly. Stir the cornstarch mixture and pour it into the pan. Stirfry until the sauce has thickened. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings

What’s TNBT? Every new year people make predictions. One time I read that The Next Big Thing would be a frying pan that somehow let you know when the pan reached the perfect temperature to add eggs or hamburger or pancakes.

It wasn’t.

This year I’ve read, in a few places, that Peruvian cuisine would be TNBT.

Maybe. Maybe not. 

But I do know that we have the Peruvians to thank for potatoes. Centuries ago, Spanish conquistadors set out to the Americas to find El Dorado, the land of gold and plenty. They never found that. But they did find plenty of potatoes, a culinary treasure to be sure.

Potatoes, which no one in Europe knew about then, flourished in the volcanic soil of the Peruvian Andes. The conquistadors took note at how the Peruvians roasted potatoes whole, until the insides were soft and the outsides crunchy and dark.

Baked Potato.

My favorite.

If I could only pick one food to live on for the rest of my life it would be a baked potato.

Baked potatoes are so good (especially if you use an organic Russet, or Idaho potato) that, IMHO you don’t need to do anything with it except sprinkle the insides with salt (I like a mineraly sea salt) and freshly ground black pepper.

But okay, butter works too (unsalted always tastes fresher and cleaner).

And some people like to add sour cream and chives. And other people like Baked Stuffed Potatoes, which I have to confess, are a wonderful make-ahead side dish, and so versatile that there are more versions than you could possibly consider cooking.

Here’s one recipe:

Baked Stuffed Potatoes with Horseradish and Dill

4 large Russet potatoes

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons cream cheese

1/2 cup dairy sour cream

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1-1/2 tablespoons prepared white horseradish

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the potatoes and dry them. Pierce the potatoes and place them in the oven (or you can wait and pierce the potatoes after 20-30 minutes). Bake the potatoes for about an hour or until you can easily pierce into the flesh with the tip of a sharp knife. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice them in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add the butter and cream cheese and mash into the potatoes. Add the sour cream, dill and horseradish and mix them in. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Using equal amounts, stuff the mixture back into the skins. Place the potato halves on a cookie sheet. Reheat the potatoes until hot (10-15 minutes depending on whether the potatoes have been refrigerated). Makes 4-8 servings

Pear and vanilla make a really delicious duo, as I mentioned a few weeks ago when I posted the recipe for my niece Rachel’s Pear Torte.

Well, guess what?

Dagstani & Sons, a Very Fine Fruit Company just won a coveted Good Food Award for its Pear-Vanilla Preserves.

It’s not just that pear and vanilla are so good together. This award is given to manufacturers of foods that are “tasty, authentic and responsibly produced.”

That’s Dagstani & Sons.

Over the past year I’ve tried several of their jams and preserves and they are definitely not your ordinary jelly. Every one that I’ve tried booms with flavor. These jams are like fruit but not like the sticky, viscous “fruit spreads” you get in the supermarket. These slither softly over your tongue. Like dessert.

 It seems almost wasteful to use this stuff on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

But you can’t just go around eating jam out of the jar can you?

Or can you?

It’s what everyone in my family has been doing. Eating Dagstani jams by the spoonful.

No double dipping allowed.

Of course that didn’t stop me from using the jams on top of yogurt and ice cream. Or from experimenting with a variety of the varieties to see which flavor would be best on a grilled cheese sandwich.

The Pear-Vanilla turned out to be the perfect one.

You don’t want to overwhelm Dagstani & Sons Pear-Vanilla Preserves with a cheese that’s too strong. Some balance is required. So I used a very ordinary, mild, meltable cheese that would give the sandwich the right texture (Muenster, but Jack and Fontina are good too) and a few crumbles of blue-type cheese to give it some tang. Yum is all I can say.

Congrats to Raj Dagstani and his sons!

Grilled Muenster and Blue Cheese Sandwich with Pear-Vanilla Preserves

2 tablespoons Dagstani & Sons Pear-Vanilla Preserves

2 slices multigrain bread (or whole wheat)

1-1/2 to 2 ounces Muenster, Fontina or Jack cheese

2 tablespoons crumbled blue-type cheese

1 tablespoon butter

Spread one tablespoon of the preserves on one side of each slice of the bread. Place the Muenster cheese on top of one of the jam-spread slices, then top with the blue cheese. Cover the sandwich with the other slice. Melt half the butter in a saute pan (preferably nonstick) over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, place the sandwich in the pan, cover and cook for about 2 minutes or until toasty brown. Lift the sandwich with a rigid spatula and add the remaining butter, let it melt and flip the sandwich into the pan. Cook for another 1-2 minutes or until the outside is crispy and golden brown and the cheese has melted. Makes one sandwich

Last Friday I mentioned how annoying I find the mixture of food and politics. I was talking about kiwi fruit then.

But after thinking about it some more, I should also say that I find the whole anti-French, anti-European political demagoging to be absurd, and at the very least, self-righteous. We Americans come from all cultures, including European ones. We’re mongrels. Inclusive. 

So why the smug sneers when someone eats French food or knows how to speak Chinese or has a father who came from Kenya?

Especially when it comes to food. Lately the anti-French thing has ratcheted up. It would be laughable if it weren’t so dumb.

Are they kidding? Do these people understand how much French culture has given us? Manet. Cezanne. Matisse. Proust and his famous madeleines. Hugo. Voltaire. Debussy. Faure. Halevy.

And so on.

And the food? Have these people ever tried French Onion Soup? Eclairs or Crepes? Cassoulet? Ratatouille? Chocolate Mousse?

Those are just a few of the goodies we know from French cooking.

Not to be sneered at.

I admit it. I learned to speak French in high school and bemoan the fact that I wasn’t very good at it so I can’t speak any anymore and my daughter has teased me about not even remembering how to conjugate “etre” (“to be”).

I also love and admire French food, one of the mother cuisines, one of the best in the world and from which some of the most famous chefs and their famous creations have come.

I wish these politicians would get off this subject. They sound silly and hollow, not to say unfit for any office. 

Here’s a recipe for FRENCH Ratatouille. It’s terrific in the summer when you can use fresh tomatoes, and in the winter it’s terrific too (use canned tomatoes). Good as a main course at a vegetarian meal (add eggs or a whole grain casserole) or as a side dish with meat, poultry or fish. 

Ratatouille

1 medium eggplant, about one pound

2 medium zucchini

salt to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

2 medium onions, sliced

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced

1 green bell pepper, deseeded and sliced

1 28-ounce can Italian style tomatoes, including liquid

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1-2 sprigs thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut the eggplant and zucchinis into bite size pieces, place in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let rest for 30 minutes, dry with paper towels. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper and green pepper and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, basil and thyme. Partially cover the pan and cook for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Makes 4 servings

Politics and food? It’s incredibly annoying.

Take kiwi fruit, for example.

This brown, fuzzy-skinned fruit originated in China, which introduced it to New Zealand which wanted to market it here during the 1950s.

Unfortunately, at that time it was known as a “Chinese Gooseberry” and the U.S.A. was deep into McCarthy fever at the time. There were politicians who wanted nothing to do with anything that smacked of communism.

Huh?

Sort of reminds me of those today who make fun of anyone who speaks “French” as if knowing another language was something to be embarrassed about. As if anything French was bad (like “french fries” once idiotically referred to as “liberty fries.”). 

Huh?

So back to Kiwi. Because of some demagogues the country missed out on this delicious — and healthy — and beautiful fruit for decades.

Chinese gooseberries became really really popular in the 1980s after they were renamed kiwi fruit. So popular, in fact, that it was overdone, like so many food trends. Kiwi this, kiwi that. People got sick of them.

Today we’re all used to seeing kiwi fruit in the produce bins. They’re not exotic anymore.

But they are delicious. Beautiful and healthy. I sometimes add a few chunks to Chicken with Rice or use them on top of shortcake when strawberries are out of season (like now) or add them to salads (like rice or some whole grain with leftover meat or fish) or to garnish a cheesecake or custard tart.

I tasted kiwi fruit for the first time ages ago at a friend’s wedding. The dessert they served was Kiwi Melba. Plain, simple and refreshing after a 3-course dinner. The garnet-colored sauce, made from fresh raspberries was a stunning contrast to the emerald-green flesh of the kiwi fruit, like two precious jewels in a cup. It dazzled. I’ve served it at home, to company. It’s one of those desserts that takes almost no time to prepare and comes off as something very special to look at and to eat, as if you’ve fussed.

Here’s the recipe. If you want to elaborate, add a dollop of whipped cream and/or chopped toasted almonds on top. And/or place the fruit and sauce inside a meringue shell.

Kiwi Melba

6-8 kiwi fruit

2 boxes fresh raspberries (2 to 2-1/2 cups)

2-3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons orange flavored brandy

whipped cream, optional

chopped toasted almonds, optional

Peel the kiwi fruit, cut them into quarters or chunks and place the pieces inside 6 dessert serving dishes. Crush the berries in a food processor or by hand. Add the sugar and brandy and mix thoroughly. Let rest for at least 10 minutes. Spoon over the kiwi. Top with whipped cream and/or toasted almonds if desired. Makes 6 servings

Jim Kuzzy (jimkuzzy@yahoo.com) submitted:

Ronnie,

Thanks for the stuffed potato recipes.  I look forward to trying the spinach and feta cheese variety.  I have a slight variation on baking potatoes which works well.  To your instructions, after scrubbing I would add drying with a paper towel to maximize benefits of 400 degree oven blast;  secondly, do not pierce the potato until it has baked for 30 minutes, then pierce as you said once with the tip of a knife.  Minor tweaks to be sure, but big results in the end. 

Thanks again for the recipes. 

Hey Jim — thanks for your wonderful input! Yes, quite true that the dry potato gets a better blast of heat and crunch. I agree fully.

I also agree that you should pierce the potato after 20-30 minutes — the most perfect way to bake a potato. I have to say — I did an article for a newspaper years ago on baked potatoes and actually recommended this and someone wrote to me that that was much too much trouble and picky for something as simple as a baked potato. So, I never recommended it again, for fear of angry readers!!  But you are so right — if you can remember and don’t think it’s too much to ask, pierce a baking potato 20-30 minutes after putting it into the oven!

Thanks!