This is another delightful main from cookbook author and regular New York Times contributor, Yasmin Fahr. I’ll gift and link to the recipe, originally published in the Times here, but Yasmin Fahr also cross-posts links on her website. As I recently discovered, gifted NY Times recipes are available for a month, so if you are reading this after mid-November 2024, you will need to access the recipe from the NY Times Cooking section (and the paywall).
Using pasta as a base, this dish was a satisfying – and quick – weeknight dinner filled with the flavors of Autumn. I didn’t have any tube pasta on hand, so I substituted fusilli. The recipe makes a large amount which we were able to translate into at least 3 nights worth of eating plus a 4th night in our freezer. We both like heat, so adding a jalepeño and red pepper flakes was perfection.
This recipe comes from my younger sister, Ellen, and is a lifesaver for getting a great-tasting soup ready for dinner in less than 30 minutes. As Ellen suggests, keeping the basics in the pantry makes it easy to pull together – and since this recipe is very forgiving, adjustments can be made easily. No leftover chicken? Make it vegan by adding more beans – or even sub in some tofu.
For tonight, I made this as Ellen created it and it was delicious! No chopping, no sauteeing ahead… piece of cake. And, for this family of empty nesters, we have at least two more meals put away in the freezer.
Ingredients:
2-4 tsp minced garlic (suggestion: use pre-minced or mince 4 cloves of fresh sauteed in a bit of olive oil)
Small can of diced jalapeno peppers
1 to 1-1/2 cups any kind of salsa (like heat? go for the hot)
2 14-1/2 oz (or 1 large can) diced tomatoes including the juice
2 cans of beans, drained and rinsed (suggestion: use 1 cannellini and 1 black bean)
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (suggestion: Ellen keeps a can of chick for this recipe and does not drain before using – leftover rotisserie chicken works too)
1 can of corn, drained OR a couple handfuls of frozen corn
1 TBSP lime juice
1 scant TBSP chili powder
1 TBSP cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 TBSP smoked paprika
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese or chunks of oaxaca cheese for serving
Tostadas or plain tortilla strips (or tortilla bowls if you want to be fancy) for serving
Method:
In a large pot, mix EVERYTHING except the cheese and tortilla chips.
Bring to a boil and allow to gently boil for about 15-20 minutes.
To serve, ladle out soup, sprinkle cheese on top or have it at the table for people to use as desired. If using oaxaca type cheese, put a few chucks in your bowl before adding the soup. Serve with toastadas/tortilla strips which people can crush and sprinkle on top as desired, or serve in a tortilla bowl.
The soup is very forgiving. Adjust, leave out, add as desired.
This oatmeal cookie originated on the back of a Quaker Oats container and has been a favorite of many of the cookie lovers in this family for a long time. In fact, these may be the all-time favorite of my maternal grandfather, Palmer Flournoy, my dad, Bud Puglisi and my husband, Adrien. Because the recipe makes so many, we oftentimes froze a good 3/4 of the batch which led to our son asking for “two cold cookies please”. I would call that a resounding thumbs up from four generations.
Oatmeal Cookies
Originated by Quaker Oats & retrieved from Sarah Puglisi’s recipe file
Ingredients
2 cups sifted AP flour
1-1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins (or candied fruit, chocolate chips or combination)
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup corn oil (I used canola)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Method
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Sift together the dry ingredients (AP flour through cinnamon).
Stir in oats, raisins (or other goodies), and nuts.
Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add IN ORDER: oil, eggs, and milk.
Stir until thoroughly blended.
Drop by teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheet, about 1-1/2 inches apart.
This lasagne recipe came from a church cookbook published sometime in the 1960s by St. Peter’s Church in my hometown of Huron, Ohio. Once my family discovered how much of a treat lasagne can be, it became our traditional dish to celebrate New Year’s Day for as long as I can remember.
Flash forward to my days as an undergrad at Plymouth State. I don’t remember exactly how I pulled this off, but I often made a pan of lasagne to bring to get togethers with my Music Department peeps. Not sure how I boiled that box of noodles (this was before oven-ready lasagne noodles were a thing), and I am sure I could not simmer sauce on a hotplate.
As happens when you make a recipe frequently, I often just winged it by making it meatless, adding fresh or frozen spinach to the layers, changing up the sauce. Although I followed the St. Peter’s recipe as written for this family version, once the basics are down, a little experimentation can be good.
A rich, satisfying meal for anytime, and easily adaptable or adjustable for different tastes, this is a great dish for bringing to a gathering or, with some proportional adjustments, for a couple of empty-nesters.
Lasagne
From the St. Peters Church (Huron, Ohio)
Ingredients
1 lb either Italian sausage meat or ground beef (or a mix)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T parsley flakes (I used fresh Italian parsley)
1 T dry basil
1 1/2 tsp (or less) salt
2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
1 16-ounce can tomatoes (chopped or diced)
10 oz. dry lasagne noodles
3 cup ricotta
2 beaten eggs
2 (or less) tsp salt
Pepper
2 T parsley flakes (again, I used fresh Italian parsley)
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese (not that canned, tasteless stuff)
1 lb. Mozarella cheese (original recipe also said white American cheese okay. Please don’t!)
Method
Brown the meat and then spoon off the fat.
Add the next 6 ingredients. Simmer uncovered 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I needed to add some liquid, so a bit of red wine works for that)
Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse.
Combine ricotta cheese with eggs, seasonings, and Parmesan.
Assemble by putting half the noodles in the bottom of a 9x13x2 pan. Spread with half the ricotta mixture, add half the mozarella and then spread half of the sauce on top.
Repeat the layers from Step 5.
Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Let stand about 15 minutes before serving. Makes about 12 servings.
This family recipe reminds me of colder weather: crisp Fall nights, frozen winters, and meatloaf with a baked potato. If our collective memory serves, this recipe came from the Quaker Oats container. While it can be made into individual loaves, which was probably the height of elegance for me, more often than not, one big loaf was formed which could be easily cooked in about the same amount of time as a baked potato. Also, one loaf stretched nicely into meat loaf sandwiches the next day.
Saucy Little Meat Loaves
Attributed to Quaker Oats and retrieved from Sarah Puglisi’s Recipe Collection
Ingredients
Meat Loaves:
1-1/2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 c oats (I used Quick oats which was usually what we kept in our pantry)
1-1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 c chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
Parsley spigs (garnish)
Topping:
1/3 c catsup
1 TBSP firmly-packed brown sugar
2 TBSP prepared mustard.
Method
Combine all ingredient for meat loaves except the parsley. Mix together the ingredients for the topping separately.
Shape the meat mixture into 6 individual loaves.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes.
If you make a whole loaf, pack into an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch loaf pan. Bake in 350 F oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.
When we were helping my Mom at her condo recently, I came across several well-worn cookbooks with recipes I remembered from my childhood. More importantly was the discovery of two metal recipe card boxes filled with my Mom’s tried-and-true recipes. There, in her handwriting as well as that of my Aunt Eleanor and Grandmother, I found the culinary memories of my growing up years.
I’ve embarked on a project recently to document those recipes by photographing the finished product for this blog and including the recipes themselves. In fact, my siblings, in-laws, and the “cousins” are all getting into the act of contributing their favorites. If interested, search for the category “Family Favorites”.
This recipe is marked “Mother’s” Spaghetti Sauce, which I am guessing meant my Grandmother, Edna Wyant Flournoy’s sauce. Grandma was not of Italian heritage, but she was a terrific cook. Don’t expect Marcella Hazen or, if I can recreate it, my Sicilian Grandfather, Emanuel Puglisi’s recipe for Sunday sauce (meatless). This was, however, the pasta sauce my family grew up with to the extent that when Emanuel Sr. came to cook his more traditional Italian sauce for us on a visit, I didn’t believe it was for authentic. Where was the ground beef?
Still, this sauce, “authentic” or not, reminded me of spaghetti night in our Midwestern home. It’s filling, tomatoey and freezes well. Honestly, I didn’t bother with the extra butter or corn oil. That, to me, was just a step too far away from my Italian/Sicilian ancestry.
Growing up, I’m not so sure I was as big a fan of beets as has been the case in my adulthood. Maybe it was because my Dad wasn’t a fan, and we didn’t eat them very often. With kid logic, my siblings and I often joked that we might “hide beets in Dad’s mashed potatoes”. Well, that would have worked out in a predictable way.
The first weeks of August have been very hot and sticky here in Massachusetts, so I was looking to find a nice, refreshing, and cool (cold) soup. And, as she’s done in the past, Ina Garten came to my rescue!
During this, one of the hottest stretches of weather we’ve had this summer, I’ve made it a mission to try out my new stand mixer.
My 30-year-old Kitchen Aid has been a workhorse, but lately we’ve made multiple paddle replacements and not only does it rock the bowl in the stand, but the motor is making some pretty funky noises. Given that I’ve turned to baking bread at least once a week, I needed a new heavy-duty mixer, which for me has been an Ankarsrum Assistent Original. I like it so far, but it is something to get used to using.
First of all, the mixer bowl rotates and the beater or other mixing piece stays still. There are adjustments to mixing which I am learning to make. Instead of putting the dry ingredients into the bowl and adding the liquids, the Ankarsrum employs the opposite order: liquids first, dry second.
In the spirit of ultimately downsizing and consolidating our small kitchen appliances as they need replacing, the Ankarsrum seems to be a good fit for me. Eventually I’ll be able to replace my blender and ice cream maker with attachments that will fit onto the mixer base.
So even though it’s a hot, humid day in New England, I’m baking bread. And learning to do something in a new way. And maybe questioning my sanity in lighting up the oven when it’s humid and over 90 outside.
While it would be easy to claim it is too hot to cook today, my better angels took over the decision-making for meal prep. This recipe was part of the plan on food shopping day and with some beautiful looking fresh ingredients waiting to be put to use, how could I resist?
Yasmin Fahr, who contributes regularly to the NYTimes food section developed this wonderfully adaptable recipe. In the headnotes, she suggests that scallops or white fish could be easily substituted for the shrimp and that any number of quick-cooking greens could be substituted for the spinach. I love when a recipe isn’t tied to specific ingredients!
For more of her recipes and cooking ideas, visit Yasminfahr.co.
Thanks to my subscription to the NY Times, I’ve gifted the recipe below.
I may have made mention that my family’s favorite flavor is chocolate. This recipe card, in my Mother’s handwriting, is for Mother’s Best Fudge Cake. It was the chocolate cake recipe used for family celebrations.
The recipe may have come from my Grandmother, who herself was a phenomenal cook and baker, or it may have been a recipe collected by my Mom. No matter the source, it is undeniably delicious and chocolate-y. The original recipe produces two 9-inch rounds; I halved it to make 2 smaller mini layers.
Mother’s Best Fudge Cake
Ingredients-Chocolate Mix
3 1-oz. squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 well-beaten egg
2/3 cup sugar
Ingredients-Cake
1/2 cup shortening (I used butter)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
Method
Combine melted unsweetened chocolate, milk, well-beaten egg and 2/3 c sugar over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Cream 1/2 cup shortening until softened.
Add gradually: 1 cup sugar. Cream until light and fluffy.
Add 1 tsp vanilla and the 2 eggs (1 egg at a time). Beat until light
Sift together: sifted cake flour, baking soda and salt. Sift this mixture 3 times.
Add to the creamed butter and eggs: flour mixture alternately with 2/3 cup milk. Blend in the chocolate mixutre.
Bake in 2 lined 9-inch round pans at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.
Four Nights A Week 