I am so pleased to introduce Florence Fois, fellow member of the Women’s Fiction chapter of the RWA, and faithful visitor to this site. Today Florence shares her culinary wisdom.

Cooking Tips from fOIS In The City …

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, spent three years as a young married woman near the Jersey Shore, went back to Brooklyn, then Manhattan and at last, settled in South Florida. I use the moniker of fOIS In The City because at heart, that is who I am and will always remain.

It’s fun to read Rosemary’s blog posts about New Jersey, the Shore areas, with the mix of sun, surf and great food, and I am pleased to visit her kitchen.

It is a pleasure to be included in her Author in the Kitchen series, although I have yet to publish. Alas, I am aspiring and hopefully submitting.  However, Rosemary asked me when I would share a recipe and join in the fun in her blog kitchen … so here I am !

What I learned from my mother, aunts and 57 varieties of Italian women from Southern Italy was how to cook and bake. However, in the last few years I have found a great way to combine all I learned about cooking with a new “twist.”

The recipes come from two generations of great Italian women in my family. The “twist” is all mine.

I have a file both real and mental of hundreds of recipes. Instead of sharing one of those, I would like to share some tips on my twist.

~~I still make my pasta sauce (or gravy) from scratch. Follow a family recipe; find one in a cookbook or print off the internet. Use a good brand of crushed, peeled or pureed Italian tomatoes. Sauté in olive oil, garlic and parsley if you have them. You can use variations like sweet peppers, onions or Portobello mushrooms. If you don’t have fresh parsley, basil or garlic in the house when the urge to cook strikes, then add one jar of tomato basil or other types of commercial pasta sauce by a major company like Bertolli for a cheat and for extra flavor. Saves time chopping, saves money. When the sauce is cooked, add fresh, grated Italian romano or parmesan cheese for zest.

~~Get the pasta sauces on a BOGO and store different types, along with cans of Italian tomatoes in your food pantry. These sauces are great for cooking dozens of different dishes and have a long shelf life. Fresh (from the deli) Italian cheese can last for up to six months in your refrigerator. Don’t waste your money on the bottled one in the dried spice section. These are high in additives, preservatives and calories, and low in flavor.

~~A good tip for vegetable or bean soups. When the vegetables are completely cooked, take two cups of veggies and two cups of broth and blend until smooth. Add this back into the pot and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Makes all soups thick and creamy!

~~Also, when you make minestrone soup or traditional vegetable soup (not good with bean soups), add two tbsp. of prepared, bottled or deli fresh Pesto and grated Italian cheese at the end. The flavor is divine.

~~Can’t eat too much fat? Drain non-fat small curd cottage cheese for thirty-six hours. Line a strainer with a coffee filter and leave at least four inches from the bottom of a pot. Once drained, put the cottage cheese in a food processor with one-quarter of a cup of grated Italian cheese and blend until creamy.

~~Add this cheese mixture to “al dente” cooked pasta. This works for baked ziti or penne, but it’s also great with left over spaghetti. Add at least one cup of your personal favorite pasta sauce, mix and top with sauce and grated cheese. I dare anyone to tell the difference.

~~Cook broccoli “al-dente” and add cheese mixture (no sauce), top with grated cheese and bake for ten minutes. Great for a side dish with baked chicken. For added flavor, sauté one cup of chopped Portobello mushrooms and add to the cheese mixture for both pasta and veggie dishes.

~~When you sauté the trinity (sweet peppers, celery and onion) for dishes, use chicken broth instead of oil to start. If you have high blood pressure or need less salt in your diet, use room temperature water instead of broth. Or if you prefer, begin with only one tsp. of good olive oil and add broth or water, heat and sauté. This cuts calories in half and does not take away from the flavor of what you add later.

~~Since I am compulsive and have an incurable sweet tooth, I create tons of low fat, sugar-free recipes. Then there is often the need for the rush of an all sugar, calories-be-gone treat.

But alas, I have taken up way too much of your time. Maybe I’ll return with some great tips for a low-calorie, high protein regime. Or maybe Rosemary will invite me back so you can try my delightful dark double chocolate fudge, cherry brownie cake with butter cream filling. . .

Buon appetito!!

fOIS In The City

Today I’m pleased to introduce Dee Ernst, who shares a taste of her new book as well as a favorite recipe:

Here is a quick excerpt from my new book, A Different Kind of Forever:

He was in the kitchen.  She watched him taking out eggs and cheese from the refrigerator.  She crossed her arms over her breasts.

“If you can cook,” she said seriously, “I may have to propose.”

He threw her a smile.  “I can make a great marinade for cooking anything out on a grill, and I make mashed potatoes that will take a year off your life from too much butter and cream.  I also make perfect omelets.  Cheese?  Or would you prefer mushroom?  You have a great kitchen.  You must be serious about food.”

“Yes, we’re pretty serious about food around here.”

Now – what’s the most important line?   “ …we’re pretty serious about food around here.”

I’ve always been pretty serious about food.  When I was growing up, sure, I watched Julia Child, but my real food hero was Graham Kerr, known as The Galloping Gourmet.  I was always trying to make his recipes for dinner, and was constantly disappointed that my mother didn’t have squab or fresh English sugar peas in her refrigerator.

In college, I was lucky that my roommates loved cooking as much as I did.  We’d live on peanut butter for a week to have a really wonderful meal on Saturday night with a bunch of friends.  Nothing was too complicated for us – homemade tomato or French onion soup, scalloped potatoes, eggplant parmesan- -we once did an elaborate Thanksgiving dinner for all our friends trapped on campus for the holiday.

These days, I still love to cook, but it’s more about taste and convenience, and this dish wins big on both counts.  It’s easy to prepare, uses basic pantry items, and the gravy is great over mashed potatoes.

Balsamic Pork Chops

Pork chops – I use thick cut, and make 4 or five for my family.  Boneless cutlets work fine, as do the     whole tenderloins

2 large onions, sliced thin

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup ketchup

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil as needed

Water

Heat a heavy skillet; add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan, and sear the meat quickly.  Make sure it’s nice and brown, and there are some tasty bits left behind.

Lower heat to medium, and add the onions.  Stir for a few minutes until they begin to soften and turn brown on the edges.

While the onions are cooking, mix the balsamic, and ketchup together with ½ cup hot water.

Add the pork back into the pan, as well as any juices that gathered on the plate, and pour the sauce over top.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cover and bring to a simmer.

Now, you can keep on the stove top on low or pop into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Simple, right?  The sauce thickens, the onions get soft, the pork gets really tender – just great.  Yes, I know it sounds weird, but trust me – these flavors really work together.

Here’s the beauty of this recipe.  You can make as much as you like – just keep the proportions of vinegar/ketchup/water the same.  It works just as well with 4 chops as it does with eight – just slice more onions and make more sauce!

Thanks so much, Rosemary, for letting me share with your readers.

Dee started writing about ten years ago, and was thrilled to have her first book, Better Off Without Him, hit the Amazon free download list at #2 this past month!  Her new contemporary romance,  A Different Kind of Forever, is available as an eBook or paperback on Amazon, and as a NookBook: http://amzn.to/HmWs3X

Today’s guest is Sylvie Kurtz, writer, pilot, and baker of “scuffins.” Welcome, Sylvie!

Food and Stories

When I think of my childhood, people and food pepper my memory. One seems to go with the other. High tea with one grandmother. Buying curd cheese straight from a farmer with my other grandmother. The scent of my grandfather’s post-dinner peppermint candies. Sharing some Perrier with my other grandfather, loving the bubbles tickling my nose. Sunday dinners—especially dessert. Holiday meals with a table crammed full of people laughing and heaving with fancy dishes.

These days, I’m trying to eat more healthily, but food still creates the center of any family gathering. Sunday cheat breakfast with my husband where we make pancakes or waffles or scones. Monday dinners with my daughter, where I try to stuff her with at least one good meal during the week. Speaking of my son’s latest grilling adventure during his weekly call.

And of course, in my stories, food tends to play a role. Even when the world’s falling apart, people still have to eat. One agent told me that reading my manuscripts always made her hungry. Food became such an integral component of my stories that I started including recipes.

Here’s the one from my latest romantic suspense e-book, Hidden Legacy. Juliana Shales’s neighbor and nanny, Ella, takes good care of the single mother and her daughter—that includes making all of their daily meals. She loves to bake. For her feeding people is a way to show love.

ELLA’S BANANA SCUFFINS

A scuffin is a cross between a muffin and a scone. They’re not quite as fluffy as muffins or as rich as scones, but have a crumbly texture that’s quite addictive.

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat white flour

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

3 tbsps. raw sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/4 cup chopped dates

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 egg whites

3 tbsps. coconut oil, melted

1 ripe banana

1/3 cup low-fat milk

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400º F. In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Stir in chopped dates and nuts.

In a small bowl, mash banana. Whisk in egg whites, coconut oil and milk. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. The texture should feel thicker than muffins, but not as doughy as scones. Adjust milk accordingly (the amount of milk depends on the size of the banana).

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Don’t use paper liners because they’ll stick. Divide batter among eight muffin cups. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean—about 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before placing scuffins on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy with someone you love!

Flying an eight-hour solo cross-country in a Piper Arrow with only the airplane’s crackling radio and a large bag of M&Ms for company, Sylvie Kurtz realized a pilot’s life wasn’t for her. The stories zooming in and out of her head proved more entertaining than the flight. Not a quitter, she completed her pilot’s course, earning her commercial license and instrument rating. Since then, she’s traded in her wings for a keyboard, where she lets her imagination soar to create fictional adventures that explore the complexity of the human mind and the thrill of suspense. She believes organic dark chocolate is an essential nutrient, likes to knit with soft wool, and justifies watching sappy movies by knitting baby blankets. She has written 21 novels. Visit www.sylviekurtz.com for more information.