A difference of opinion

Mom has been in a tizzy for days. First there was going to be some snow, maybe 1 to 3 inches; then no snow at all; then 5 to 7 inches in the latest forecast. Mom thought about making a quick Trader Joe's run with me this morning before the snow started, but decided against it because she didn't want to orphan you guys if something happened while I was out buying the food for me to cook for her. The sacrifices she makes for you guys! I told her not to forget about the life insurance, but fortunately I made it home in one piece. Then the snow started. Here is the view from our deck not that long into it:

We're way past that now, at about 8 inches and still falling. School has already been canceled; Mom is insufferable. She asked don't I like the snow just a little bit? I agree it looks pretty coming down, and I used to love running in the snow (so quiet), especially with Aldo. But now it's just another way to get injured. Plus, I still have to deal with the roads and work, unlike Mom who gets a day (or more) off. I'm practicing my Buddhist acceptance now.

The day after; see the ruler Mom uses to track the progress of the snow piling up?

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A snowy day seems like a good time to have stew, so I dug into the big, black recipe binder for an old standby Mom and I haven't had in many years, and made this using some of the food I risked my life to get this morning. It's a snap to throw together and pretty darn tasty, so we'll likely add this back into the dinner mix occasionally when it's just the two of us around.

Jamaican Chicken Stew

Adapted from Cooking Light (November 2002) via My Recipes

Time from start to finish: 45 minutes (using a rice cooker)

I'm sticking with the name Cooking Light gave this dish, though I don't know that it's particularly "Jamaican" except for the use of allspice and black beans.

1½ cups uncooked long-grain rice
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon curry powder or hawaij spice blend
½ teaspoon ground allspice 
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
kosher salt
1 medium (~4–6 ounces) onion, chopped (~1 cup)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14½-ounce can regular or fire-roasted diced tomatoes with their juices
¼ cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed

    1. Start the rice cooking in a rice cooker or on the stovetop.
    2. In a medium bowl, stir together the chicken pieces, 1 tablespoon of the oil, curry powder, allspice, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and a pinch of salt.
    3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large sauté pan, saucier, or stockpot that has a lid. Stir in the onion, season with a pinch of salt, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
    4. Stir in the chicken mixture. Cook, stirring as needed, until no longer pink on all sides, about 4 or 5 minutes.
    5. Stir in the beans, tomatoes with their juices, wine, and capers. Cover and reduce the heat as needed to maintain a steady simmer. Cook, stirring once, until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Serve promptly over the cooked rice. Serves 4.

54 and still beautiful

Last week, Mom had to test a kid at Burley, where her friend Leigh Ann works. Mom needed to tell Leigh Ann something, but she wasn't in her room when Mom looked for her. So Mom told another teacher in the room—a striking young blond woman—to tell Leigh Ann that Karen had been by to see her. When Leigh Ann got back, the young teacher told her that someone she had never seen before was looking for Leigh Ann. She couldn't remember Mom's name, so she described her as tall, with thick hair, and "beautiful." Which made Mom's whole day, as you can imagine. Another 2½ years gone by, but you've still got it baby!

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This was the best meal I've made in a while, a restaurant-quality dish that cost less than $15 to make and serves 4 people easily. Mom skipped right past her usual "heavenly" descriptor for my really good meals and instead pronounced it "infuckingcredible." The homemade pappardelle definitely contributed to the quality of the dish, but I'm sure it would still be very good with store-bought pasta.

Homemade Spelt Pappardelle with Quick Sausage Ragù 

Quick Sausage Ragù with Pasta

Adapted from The Best Simple Recipes (2013) by America’s Test Kitchen

Time: 35 minutes

I used mild Italian sausage links from Free Union Grass Farm, which I think was key here. The heritage breed pigs run around free in the woods at the farm, so the sausage is not particularly fatty. If you use a very fatty sausage, the fat will not cook off and the ragù will probably be too greasy. 

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium (4–6 ounces) onion, diced
2 plump garlic cloves, minced
1 pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed (see note)
½ cup dry white wine, preferably Sauvignon Blanc
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
1 pound gemelli, ziti, penne, or fusilli, or Homemade Spelt Pappardelle
½ cup (1 ounce) freshly grated Parmesan or Grano Padano cheese, more for serving
¼ cup chiffonade of fresh basil, if it's available in your garden
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

    1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a roiling boil in a large stockpot.
    2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucier or sauté pan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
    3. Add the sausage to the pan and cook until just cooked through, about 4 minutes. While the sausage cooks, break it into small pieces using a wooden spoon (a wooden scraping spoon with a flat edge at the top works especially well if you have one).
    4. Add the wine and cook until it is mostly evaporated, about 2–3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and their juice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened some, about 8–10 minutes.
    5. Around when you add the tomatoes to the sauce, add the salt to the boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add the pasta and stir well for about 30 seconds. Cook until al dente, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta, reserving a mugful of the cooking water.
    6. Transfer the drained pasta to a large serving bowl or back into the stockpot you cooked the pasta in. Add the sauce and toss to combine. Add the Parmesan and basil, if using, and toss again. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Adjust the consistency as needed with some of the pasta cooking water. Serve promptly, passing additional Parmesan at the table. Serves 4.

Olympic marathon trials day

The U.S. Olympic marathon trials are being run in Los Angeles today. The top three men and women are selected to represent the U.S. in the Olympic marathon in the Rio games next summer. Among the women running the trials is Sara Hall, who is married to Ryan Hall, who won the 2008 men's Olympic marathon trials and is currently the American record holder in the marathon and half marathon.

After Ryan retired recently, I was reading some articles about him and saw a mention of his Cocoa Teff Pancakes, which he and Sara and the four Ethiopian sisters they adopted eat everyday for breakfast. Ryan says he realized a bowl of cereal wasn't really the proper fuel for his marathon training, so he did a lot of R&D and came up with these pancakes. They are loaded with healthy carbohydrates, protein, and iron from the teff flour, which Ethiopians use to make their staple bread, injera. Plus, they're gluten free so I figured I'd give them a try. Your Mom loved from the start but I wasn't too impressed with the taste. I've worked the recipe over a few times now and finally come up with a version that I think is pretty good. So if you need to fuel up or recover from running, playing soccer, climbing, etc., you might want to give these a try.

Ryan Hall's Molten Lava Cocoa Teff Pancakes

Adapted from Ryan Hall

I cut the cocoa powder in the original recipe by two-thirds—it was way too bitter with that much cocoa powder. Also, for such a supposedly healthy recipe, it's odd that Ryan uses 5 packets of Splenda or Stevia to sweeten the pancakes. Each packet provides the same sweetness as 2 teaspoons of sugar, which means that his pancakes will taste like they have more than 3 tablespoons of sugar in them. Not to mention that I'm not too impressed with Splenda or Stevia, even if they are FDA-approved. So I went with 1 tablespoon (or less) of real sugar, which is plenty. Owing to his sugar avoidance, Ryan also warns you to "skip the syrup," to which I say, "Hogwash." These pancakes, like all others, are significantly improved by the addition of some pure maple syrup. (As you can see from the picture, I also tried them topped with homemade Nutella, but that was a bust.) Ryan makes this as one big pancake, which he eats right in the pan, but I think it's nearly impossible to flip that way, so I make regular-sized pancakes.

½ cup (80 grams) teff flour
1 scoop (~23 grams) protein powder, chocolate flavor
1 scant tablespoon (10 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon (5 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon oil, optional
½ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
almond milk or water or a combination
Kerrygold grass-fed butter
maple syrup, for serving

    1. In a small bowl, whisk all of the dry ingredients (teff through salt) together. Slowly whisk in the oil, vanilla, and enough almond milk or water to achieve a pancake-batter consistency—slightly gooey, but not overly runny. It takes a little over ½ cup of liquid. Taste and adjust for sweetness before you make the pancake.
    2. Melt a pat of butter over medium heat in a nonstick skillet—10 inches if you're making 1 big pancake or 12 inches if you're making smaller pancakes. For 1 big pancake, pour all of the batter into the skillet. For smaller pancakes, use a ¼-cup scoop (#16) or measuring cup to pour three rounds of batter into the skillet. Flip when some bubbles appear on the pancake(s) and the edges begin to look firm.
    3. Cook the pancake(s) for another 10 to 60 seconds, depending on doneness preference and the size of the pancake(s). The earlier you take them off the heat, the more the pancake(s) will be like a molten lava chocolate cake in the middle, which is how Ryan likes them. Repeat with the remaining batter if you're making smaller pancakes. Serve with additional butter and/or maple syrup. Makes 1 very large pancake or 5 small pancakes. Serves 1 or 2, depending on how hard you worked out.