Health Food People and Fudge

I come from health food people. My memory of peanut butter as a kid is going to the health food store and scooping out peanuts and then dumping them into the grinder(it looks kind of like the coffee grinders you now see in stores). Then you would catch the ground up nuts in a plastic tub. Voila, peanut butter! In fact, I now use Skippy All Natural Peanut Butter and it drives my mom nuts(pun intended). Every time she visits I hear the lecture about how it is not real peanut butter because it has sugar added and you don't have to stir it. I swear it makes her twitch just being in the same room with it(well, maybe I exaggerate a little). Anyway the point of this anecdote is that I am a born and raised health food person. As an adult I have chosen to be more moderate, hence, the Skippy but it is instilled deeply in me to eat naturally.

So recently I saw a cookbook at the thrift store called, Taming the Candy Monster by Vicki Lansky. It is a book of recipes of healthy treats for kids and recently we have been trying to cut down on sugar so I bought the book. In it was a recipe for Super Fridge Fudge(pictured above). I had to try it. I wont put the actual recipe up(because I am lazy) but I will describe it. It starts with warming up some peanut butter and honey. Then you add cocoa powder, lots of nuts and then coconut and raisins. You spread it in a pan and then chill it. It is nice and chewy and sweet. It will definitely appear again at our house soon.

Mock Cassoulet

This is a picture of the Mock Cassoulet before it was baked and covered in breadcrumbs. My camera is I think at this point truly broken and so there is no picture of this dish after it was complete. Anyway, this recipe is adapted from a recipe in the cookbook, The Dinner Doctor. The premise of the book is to make nice food from simple and easy pre-prepared foods, i.e. canned, frozen and pre-cooked. There are several recipes in this book that are regulars at our house. This is my first time trying this one but I will definitely use it again. Serendipitously, I just acquired a jar of Herbes de Provence 2 days ago. I have always wanted to try cooking with it but I never have the right mix of spices. I have a lot of spices but the one I never have on hand that is typical of this mix is lavender. I ran across this spice mix while checking out a new eatery in town. I was absolutely thrilled to walk in this shop and see great herb mixes and pasta and best of all real Italian deli meats(for which I am constantly on the lookout). More on the new eatery later.

The recipe I had for Mock Cassoulet was intended to cook on the stove top but I wanted to cook it in oven so I altered the recipe a bit. Also I wanted to add a bit more veggies and wine. So here is my version:

Mock Cassoulet (or Bean and Sausage Casserole)

1 lb kielbasa sausage cut on the diagonal into one inch slices
1 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cans Great Northern Beans with their liquid
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 of a green pepper, diced
1 rib of celery, diced
Aprox. 1/4 cup wine(white or red), enough to deglaze the pan
1 rounded teaspoon Herbs de Provence or 1 tsp dried thyme
2 tblsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup coarse breadcrumbs

Brown sausage in a pan. Then add onion, pepper and celery and saute a couple of minutes. Deglaze the pan with the wine and then add herbs, beans, tomatoes, and garlic. Bring to a simmer and let simmer a few minutes. Mix together the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the breadcrumbs and season with salt. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with breadcrumbs and put back in the oven for 15-20 minutes to brown crumbs. Serve with a green salad and french bread.

A Pea Salad and a Do-Si-Do.

Here are some of the veggies for the all American Pea Salad and the finished product. I have been starting a collection of old cookbooks. I frequent the thrift store and pick up ones that seem interesting. I love to see how people used to eat and cook. One of the ones I picked up recently was Marye Dahnke's Salad Book. It was published in 1954.

Our church did a folk dance and Potluck tonight. I decided this would be a perfect dish for such an occasion. According to the alphabet designation half of us were supposed to bring salads and half dessert but as usual almost everyone just brought dessert. Midwest priorities, I tell ya!