LouieNep Food

Alexandra Stoddard’s Tea Celebrations: The Way to Serenity, from which today’s recipe hails, is not a cookbook. It’s a celebration of tea, a little book dedicated to the art and rituals of tea.

But is tea drinking really the way to serenity? I know Lorraine wouldn’t agree: every time I offer to make a pot, she gives me one of her sunny smiles, shakes her head, and says “Can I have coffee instead?” For her, it’s the scent of brewing coffee that lulls her into the best of moods on even the worst of days.

I, on the other hand, am a self-confessed tea lover- the fifteen or so tins and boxes of tea leaves at my bedside are testament to that. I’ve also been called a very serene person a multitude of times. Coincidence? Perhaps not.

Today’s recipe is one of my favorite “tea foods”: perfect, especially, with a cup of steaming Irish Breakfast with lots of milk and sugar:

Watercress and Egg Tea Sandwiches
In a mixing bowl, combine 6 peeled and mashed hard-boiled eggs, 2 bunches chopped watercress, and 1/2 cup chopped chives. Add half a cup of mayonnaise, some salt and pepper, a dash of Tabasco, and mix well. Cut crusts from your sliced bread of choice (they recommend pumpernickel, sourdough or whole-wheat bread. The latter is our favorite). Spread the egg and watercress mixture onto half the slices, and top with the other half. Lightly spread the outside edge of each sandwich with mayonnaise, roll it in some chopped fresh parsley, and serve.

I like to chill this before serving; the coolness of the sandwich seems to go better with the warmth of a cup of tea.

Rose Elliot’s The Zodiac Cookbook is one of those rare cookbooks that we keep not in the kitchen, but in the bedroom. It’s just that kind of a cookbook- which makes for interesting reading during times of leisure. According to the book’s introduction,

“Each sign has its own clearly defined personality, strong and weak points, likes and dislikes. These extend to the types of food preferred, how it is cooked and how and when it is eaten.”

Each chapter in the book corresponds to -you guessed it- a zodiac sign, and features several recipes that are meant to appeal to people of that particular sign.

Sound far-fetched? I thought so too.

My fiance is a Libran, so I thought I would try out the so-called “Libran Canapes”:

Stuffed cherry tomatoes. Cut the tops off cherry tomatoes and level the bases to enable them to stand upright. Carefully scoop out seeds. Spoon or pipe curd cheese into the tomato cavities (I used cream cheese mixed with some chopped chives).
Cream cheese balls. Form cream cheese into even-sized balls about the size of large marbles. Roll 1/3 of the balls in crushed roasted peanuts, another 1/3 in chopped chives, and the rest in very finely chopped red pepper.

They were a hit. Okay, so Raine does love cream cheese- I didn’t need a book to tell me that. But what appealed to her about these was how small and dainty and “poppable-in-the-mouth” they were. Apparently, she loves canapes- especially when she can have as many as she likes- and that’s something I didn’t know about her.

I do realize that one hit does not prove this cookbook’s claim, so we’ll be trying out other recipes in the future- and featuring them here as well. I must admit that the recipes under Taurus (my sign) look very appetizing to me…

One of the things my fiance inherited when her parents moved away was the cookbook Recipes on Parade: Meats (including seafood and poultry), apparently the first of a series called 2000 World Wide Favorites of Military Officers’ Wives.

The recipes are plentiful and feature dishes such as “Mrs. John F. Kennedy’s Recipe for Beef Stroganoff”, but it’s the casserole section that does it for me. In particular, the Konkee Doodle Casserole:

Saute 1 clove of chopped garlic in butter or oil; add 2 pounds ground sirloin and 1 pound pork sausage. Cook for ten minutes. Skim off fat, add in 1 large chopped onion, 1 pound cooked shell-type macaroni, 1 can of mushrooms, 1 large can of tomatoes, 2 small cans of tomato soup, 1 pound cubed cheese, and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well, and turn into a greased casserole. Bake at 300 degrees for an hour and a half.

Now, there are several things I like about this dish, not least of which is its name. I like that ground beef and sausage are usually lurking in the deep dark recesses of our freezer and the other ingredients are always in our pantry. I like its “chuck everything together and bake it” method of preparation. But most of all, it tastes great. The melted cheese holds everything together perfectly, and the Worcestershire gives it just the right kick.

The Spice of Life

Fresh basil gives this an Italianesque feel. Also try some chopped zucchini or thinly sliced eggplant.