A Family Recipe and Yuletide Greetings

Hello, and Merry Christmas, from Bermuda!

This was a nice break from the snow/ice in Providence!

I'm at home for the holiday, and yesterday was a momentous day; my dad taught my sister, her boyfriend, and me how to make his world famous cassava pie. What a great reason to experiment with Android's Blogger app (verdict: dissatisfied. Pictures added using my mom's painfully old/slow desktop), and what a fabulous opportunity to share a Bermudian, family recipe with all of you!

In the past, my dad has supplied cassava pies for all of the major hotels and grocery stores in Bermuda throughout the Christmas season. These pies have also been enjoyed throughout North America, the Caribbean and the UK. Over the last few years, though, his declining health has taken a toll on his holiday pie operations. He has had to cut production to just a few pies for close friends and family.

Recipe Disclaimer: Dad is used to a large scale operation, so this recipe will leave you with lots of pie! The recipe, as listed below, will make at least one large tray, 3 loaf pans and 8 muffins of golden cassava pie. Also, one secret ingredient has been omitted for the family's sake.

Cassava Pie

Ingredients:

2 pounds Butter
15 pounds Grated cassava (soaked, rinsed and strained)
2 and 1/2 tbsp Ground nutmeg
22 Eggs
6 cups Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 shot Vanilla extract
0.75 pound Boiled chicken (cut into cubes)
Retain chicken stock
0.75 pound Boiled pork (cut into cubes)
Retain pork stock
Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°. Melt butter in a medium saucepan on the stove over low heat.

Sprinkle the ground nutmeg over your strained cassava and mix well (by hand).

Use a painter's bag to strain the soaked and  rinsed cassava.

With a standing or hand mixer, beat the eggs at low speed. Continue to beat the mixture, adding sugar gradually. Add salt and vanilla extract and mix for another 30 seconds.

My dad's old Oster mixer is a beaut!

Add the egg mixture to the cassava and nutmeg, mix thoroughly by hand.

Coat your cooking pans liberally with cooking spray. Pour some of the cassava mixture into your prepared tins, filling halfway. Add a single, even layer of chicken and pork over the cassava, top with a ladleful of the water used for boiling the meat (skip this step entirely for vegetarian pies). Top each tin with the remaining cassava mixture.

Bake until golden brown. Baking time will vary depending on the size of your cooking trays. Our smaller pies were ready in about 1.5 hours, the large pie took 2.5 hours.

Serving Suggestion: Cassava pie should be enjoyed all day on Christmas. Serve it for breakfast with eggs and ham. Serve it at lunch/dinner with turkey, gravy, potatoes, mac & cheese and whatever other fixin's your family enjoys. Tuck yourself into bed with a small piece of pie and some eggnog (with Black Seal rum). Worry about your cholesterol levels in the new year!

I feel so fortunate to have been able to end a day of pie making with a stroll along Horseshoe Bay with some of my oldest friends. Travel anxiety be damned, Christmas in Bermuda and time spent with family/friends is always good for my soul.

Horseshoe Bay

Do you have any holiday foods and/or traditions that help to make this season special (and less stressful)? Please share in the comments below.

Peace and love to you and yours!

*PointsPlus values were not calculated for this recipe (because I'm in Bermuda and it's the holiday season). I know that the butter/sugar/egg combo is PPV-lethal in this recipe. Eat in moderation. You've been warned. 

Crush on You: Easy Entertaining, Inc.

Welcome to the new "Crush on You" series!

I should confess that, thanks to eat drink RI, I had a slight crush on Easy Entertaining, Inc. before I stepped through the doors of their gorgeous Café (located at 166 Valley Street). If you're anything like me, you voraciously read eat drink RI's "Upcoming Events" list each week and daydream of a better world- a world in which you're able to attend every event. I first noticed Easy Entertaining's cooking classes on that list last year, and I've been admiring the company from afar ever since (thanks, Facebook!). Three weeks ago the stars finally aligned, and I was able to attend one of their classes. The topic? Healthy Weeknight Summer Meals.

Easy Entertaining Café's decor and design alone were crush-worthy. The tables were topped with simple flower arrangements and the large windows let in tons of great ambient light. The space felt both comfortable and upscale at the same time. It quickly became clear that there was much more to admire about this company than its good looks, though. They're one of Rhode Island's premier farm to fork establishments. With an ethos built around sustainability, I was digging their message and values too. Add to that some delicious food served up in a friendly and informative manner, and I was positively giddy by the time I exited their Café doors!

Our host for the evening was Easy Entertaining's Sous Chef, Ashley, and she was assisted by Chef Marlon. I hadn't been able to register in advance since I only learned of the event that afternoon, but both Ashely and Marlon did a great job of seamlessly adding me into the fold. Eight of us sat at the counter surrounding the makeshift demo kitchen they had created. The classes at Easy Entertaining are BYO, so we opened our bottles of wine and chatted amongst ourselves while Ashley prepared to start the class. The women next to me had been to an Easy Entertaining class before, and were raving about the onion chopping skills they had picked up. So, Ashley was kind enough to teach the rest of us the tricks of the onion chopping trade before diving into the first recipe of the evening.

Ashley covered three recipes over the course of about an hour. She started with a Quick Split Pea Soup with Ham Hock. My dad always makes split pea soup the Monday after Easter, but Easy Entertaining's version was ready in a lot less time and tasted much lighter. "Quick" doesn't mean instant, however. The soup Ashley whipped up in front of us needed to simmer for about 1.5 to 2 hours, so the soup that we sampled was one that had been started by Marlon earlier that afternoon. Next Ashley showed us how to toss together a tasty pasta dish composed of shrimp and zucchini. The flavors were simple and well balanced; it was a delicious meal that we all agreed would impress friends despite being delightfully simple to prepare. The final recipe of the night was one for scrumptious Chicken and Zucchini Burgers- and it's that burger recipe that I'd like to share with you below. Guilt free burgers that pack a hidden vegetable punch?! Yup. That's crush-worthy!

Before we get to the recipe, I want to share a few of the practical tips and tricks that I picked up during the class.

1. A "Take your soup from ordinary to Yay!" tip: each time you add a vegetable to the oil, add a little salt and pepper to help build on the caramelization.
2. If you accidentally over-salt a meal, add a little lemon; or if you've used too much lemon, add a dash of salt.
3. A microplane makes an excellent garlic grating tool. (I bought one a few days later and love it!)

Thanks, Easy Entertaining, for a great evening of food education! I look forward to attending more classes in the future.

Chicken and Zucchini Burgers 

Servings: 5 burgers Serving Size: 1 burger Points Plus*: 3 pts
(Easy Entertaining's recipe, mildly adapted)

Ingredients

1 lb Ground Chicken, extra lean
1 small Zucchini, grated
1/4 cup Seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs
1 clove Garlic, grated
1/8 cup Green onion, chopped
Dash of salt and pepper
Oil spray

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, zucchini, breadcrumbs, garlic, green onion, salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet on high heat. Make five equal patties. When the skillet is hot, lightly spray with oil. Add the burgers to the pan, and reduce the heat to low. Cook on one side until browned, the flip. Flip over a few times to prevent from burning, and make sure the burgers are cooked all the way through. I cooked the burgers for about 6-7 minutes on each side.

Serving Suggestion: I topped a couple of the burgers with cheese in the final two minutes of cooking. Yum! 

 
These burgers freeze beautifully. Seal a few of the cooled, cooked burgers in sandwich bags and pop them into the freezer so that you'll have them on hand when your next burger craving strikes.

*PointsPlus values calculated using the Recipe Builder on the Weight Watchers website

Keep Calm and Eat Pizza

You might have noticed that I've been a little bit wordless lately.  Almost nothing exhausts this introvert more than back to back social and professional commitments. The last few weeks have been jam packed with house guests, committee meetings, air travel, and weddings. Periods of hyper activity scare the bejesus out of my quiet-loving soul. I'm not complaining; I'm fortunate to have been included in so many fun events and projects over the last month. I'm merely explaining my absence.

"Hermiting" is my preferred method of recovery following long periods of socializing. Hiding out from the world between social events and activities is the only way for me to completely recharge. What does this hermit time entail? Well, I spend lots of time on my couch, beneath a blanket, binge watching television series on Netflix. There's little-to-no texting, tweeting, or emailing. My friends know the deal. They'll send a quick "Hermiting?" text to check in after a busy week, and if I don't respond they know that the unwritten answer is a resounding "Yes!" I'd like to find a way to blog while hermiting, but so far I haven't been able to bring myself to do so.

A mantra to embrace

I've been so busy that I haven't had the energy to cook very often. One of the few things I have made the time to throw in the oven is pizza. I've eaten lots and lots of pizzas! In my opinion it's the perfect hermiting food. If you've been following this blog at all, you already know that I like to experiment with low carb, alternative pizza recipes. While hermiting, however, I crave a good old fashioned pie. It's comfortable. It's easy. It's fast. It's even Weight Watchers friendly. I buy fresh dough at the grocery store, and freeze individually portioned 4 oz balls of it. It is my belief that one should always be prepared to satisfy a pizza craving without leaving the house.

"Homemade" Cheese Pizza

Servings: 1 Serving Size: the whole darn pie Points Plus*: 12 pts

Ingredients

Baking spray
2 tbsp White whole wheat flour 
4 oz Fresh pizza dough
1/2 cup Tomato sauce, canned
1 tsp Garlic paste
1 tsp Basil paste 
Black pepper to taste
Onion powder to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 cup Part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425° and coat your pizza pan with baking spray.

Lightly coat your rolling surface and rolling pin with one tablespoon of flour. Reserve the second tablespoon to sprinkle onto the dough and surface as needed while creating a nice thin crust. I like my crust paper thin, because that creates a larger surface area and it feels like I get more pizza for the same number of points.

Paper thin!

Transfer the flat circle of dough to your prepared pizza pan. Mix your tomato sauce with the garlic, basil, black pepper, and onion powder and then top the dough with it. Add a few shakes of red pepper flakes if you like a little kick to your pizza. Top with cheese, and the pizza is ready for the oven.

I bake my pies on the bottom rack for 10 minutes, and then move them to the top rack for an additional 3-7 minutes. When the cheese is a gorgeous, melty, sea of golden, gooey goodness your pizza is done.

This pizza was featured in the Serious Eats "My Pie Monday" series

Serving Suggestion: Add your favorite toppings to this basic cheese pizza recipe, but remember that non-vegetable toppings will increase the Points Plus value of your meal.

And remember to...

*PointsPlus values calculated using the Recipe Builder on the Weight Watchers website

Are You a Taste Trekker?

Do you start planning your vacations by asking yourself, "Where in the world do I want to eat next?"

If so, the Taste Trekkers Food Tourism Conference  (September 20-22, 2013) might be right up your alley. This conference is the latest culinary adventure proposed by Seth Resler, founder of Mystery Meet. Some of the advertised conference highlights include: a kick-off cocktail reception at The Dorrance on Friday evening, a keynote address from Chef Matt Jennings followed by breakout sessions led by other culinary superstars on Saturday, and a food truck brunch on Sunday. I'm thrilled about the idea of the world's first food tourism conference kicking off here in Providence, so I was happy to back the project on Kickstarter earlier this month. Are you excited about this conference too? There are just four days left until their fundraising deadline, so head on over to their Kickstarter page to check out the awesome perks they're offering backers.

I'll be celebrating my 30th birthday later this spring by taste trekking down to New Orleans with some of my best friends. When we started discussing this vacation, my pals left it up to me to choose the destination- I suspect a few of them were hoping this would be their chance to finally visit my family in Bermuda. I wanted to go somewhere new (that ruled out Bermuda), somewhere fun, and somewhere known for its amazing food. I thought about it for weeks, and finally settled on New Orleans. It seems that foodies in the know agree that this is the American food destination, and SAVEUR magazine has named it the "best food city in the nation" in their April issue. I'm already following a number of local food trucks and restaurants on Twitter so that I can start planning our meals. I can't wait to spend three glorious days eating my way around the city with my nearest and dearest friends!

In fact, it was research for my upcoming vacation that inspired last night's dinner. Jambalaya kept popping up in the articles I was reading, and suddenly I had a hankering for the classic rice dish. I searched a number of different websites for recipes, and found that Cooking Light has a great collection of New Orleans inspired recipes. I loved the low-fat version that I whipped up, and it has made me even more excited to get to the Big Easy! From what I gather, many authentic versions of this dish contain sausage, chicken and shrimp, but I didn't want to spend the extra money on shrimp- after all, I need to budget carefully so that I can eat lots of real, Louisiana jambalaya in May!

A taste of the Big Easy in the Renaissance City

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Servings: 4 Serving Size: about 1 and 1/4 cup Points Plus*: 9 pts
(Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

2 tsp Olive oil
6 oz Boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
7 oz  Lean turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 cup Chopped onion
1 cup Chopped bell pepper (I used red, yellow and orange for color)
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 dash Ground black pepper
1 cup Uncooked long-grain white rice
1 cup Water
1 cup Fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp Crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp Cajun seasonings (I happened to have two types on hand, and used 1 tsp of each)
1 (14.5 oz) can No-salt-added diced tomatoes, not drained
1 dash Worcestershire sauce

The colors were gorgeous!

Directions 

Using a soup pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Swirl to coat the pan. Add the chicken cooking for 3 minutes, stirring so that all sides begin cooking. Add the sausage, and saute another 2 minutes until starting to brown.

Add onion, bell pepper, garlic and dash of black pepper. Saute for 6 minutes, or until tender.

Add rice, water, chicken broth, crushed red pepper flakes, and Cajun seasonings. Bring contents to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked.

Stir in the tomatoes and the dash of Worcestershire sauce. Cook another 3-5 minutes, until hot.

Serving Suggestion: I decided to sneak in some extra vegetables, and put a half cup of spaghetti squash in the bottom of my bowl before adding my heaping serving of jambalaya. What a satisfying dish!

Pre-portioned leftovers ready for the fridge and freezer

*PointsPlus values calculated using the Recipe Builder on the Weight Watchers website

The Pizza Crust Experiment

I spend a lot of time thinking about the answer to the question, "What's for dinner?" Truth be told, a lot of thought goes into future breakfasts and lunches too. Can you relate? Between scouring Pinterest for new recipes I want to try, and contemplating ways in which I might tweak those new recipes with Weight Watchers friendly substitutions, I commit a fair amount of preparation time before I even step foot into the kitchen. In cooking, as in weight loss, trying something new can be a thrilling challenge; you'll win some, and you'll lose some. The spaghetti squash pizza crust recipe that I'm sharing with you today is right on the cusp of being a big winner. With a few tweaks in the future, I know that we'll have a fabulous new pizza recipe on our hands.

Pinterest has been crawling with cauliflower crust recipes lately, and I've pinned a number of them myself. They look delicious, so each time I'm at the grocery store I buy a head of cauliflower with the intention of trying out one of the pizza recipes. I've got an addiction to roasting this vegetable, though, and can't bring myself to make anything else with beautiful fresh cauliflower. Someday I'll get around to trying it in any number of the other cauliflower recipes I'm collecting, and a pizza crust will be at the top of that list. When I came across a spinach pizza crust recipe, though, I started thinking about what other vegetables I had on hand that might make for a decent pizza base.

It didn't take me long to decide to experiment with spaghetti squash. If you've been following my blog posts at all, you'll know that I'm a super fan of spaghetti squash. I roast at least one a week, and always have cooked squash in the fridge. The addition of a little spaghetti squash really helps to bulk up a quick breakfast scramble, adds great texture to sandwiches, and packs some hidden vegetable power in macaroni and cheese. So, why wouldn't it make for a great pizza crust too?

While it was a yummy base for cheese, tomato sauce and veggies, spaghetti squash is a fairly watery vegetable. I think that the addition of a little flour could have gone a long way towards helping the crust stand up to the weight of the toppings, so that's what I'm suggesting in the recipe below. Play with this a little, and let me know what works for you.

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Crust

Servings: 2 Serving Size: 1/2 a pizza Points Plus*: 10 pts

Ingredients

2 cups Cooked spaghetti squash
1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp Garlic paste
1 tbsp Basil paste 
Black pepper to taste
1/3 cup Egg Beaters Original liquid egg substitute 
2 tbsp White whole wheat flour (add slowly, play with amount)
Baking spray
2/3 cup Low fat tomato sauce
1 cup Shredded, part skim, mozzarella cheese
1/8 cup Diced onion
1/8 cup Diced green peppers
1/4 cup Sliced mushrooms
17 slices Turkey Pepperoni

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425°.

In a large bowl, mix the spaghetti squash, shredded Parmesan cheese, garlic paste, basil paste and Egg Beaters. Once combined, add flour slowly and stir well. Flatten the mixture into a large, thin round "crust" on tinfoil prepared with baking spray. Make sure that your tinfoil is well coated with baking spray. My crust got super stuck to the tinfoil in some places, making it difficult to cut and serve. Parchment paper might be a better route to take, but I didn't have any on hand. Bake crust for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. The edges will get a little crispy, but the rest of the surface should cook well.

Remove pizza from the oven, and let it cool for a few minutes while you gather and prepare your toppings. Add the tomato sauce, half the Mozzarella cheese, vegetable and meat toppings of your choice, and the remaining cheese. Return pizza to the oven.

Remove from oven when cheese is bubbly and melted, 12-15 minutes is a good estimate. Sticking crust aside, this pizza was pretty darned tasty. This isn't a slice that you're going to want to pick up and eat with your hands, unless you're in the mood to make a bit of a mess. Even after reheating the second day, using a fork was necessary. I prefer a slice that I can consume without cutlery, so this isn't going to become my favorite pie, but it was super satisfying and surprisingly filling.Yum!

*PointsPlus values calculated using the Recipe Builder on the Weight Watchers website

Coming to Terms with February 14th

On Thursday, I survived the very last Valentine's Day of my 20's; and I enjoyed it. Can you believe it? Single, and rapidly approaching 30, I spent a quiet Valentine's Day alone and didn't wallow in any sort of lonely hearted misery. It has taken me a long time to learn to embrace this mid-February holiday, and to stop letting the 14th ruin the whole month.

A Valentine from a local pizza place, be still my heart!

I spent so much of my late teens and early 20's obsessed with what Valentine's Day should look like. If I was in a relationship, undoubtedly my partner's romantic gestures were rarely grand enough. If I found myself single on the 14th, I clung firmly to the notion that I was supposed to be miserable and acted accordingly. Sometimes that meant binge drinking (and a little love bashing) with my single pals, other times it meant crying into a pint of fro-yo while watching chick flicks on the couch with my dog. I assume that my heavy dependence on romantic comedies might be partially to blame. It's not rational, however, to let contrived Hollywood plots dictate how I should feel about my life on this holiday. It seems I just got stuck chasing an ideal that I hadn't even created. Why was I so hell-bent on being a cliche?

Love was in the air, and in the snow.

A few years ago I was a month into a new relationship when Valentine's Day arrived. Against my better judgment I was dating someone that I couldn't really see a future with. Grown ups are supposed to be in relationships, right? She looked great on paper (if you're into that sort of thing) and she seemed to really like me; I figured those two facts might add up to enough of a reason to make it work. I agreed to be her Valentine, but found myself increasingly crabby as the day approached. The idea of putting myself through another mediocre date on Valentine's Day was just too depressing. I was sick of doing what was expected of me on this Hallmark holiday. I didn't want to spend the 14th with someone that didn't make me happy, so I canceled our plans.

Awesomely bacon-y Valentine's gifts.

On Thursday, I showed up for work with some Valentine-inspired pep in my step. I ate a small box of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for breakfast (4 pointsplus, not exactly health food, but I counted it!) with my cup of coffee. When my manager asked me about how I would be spending the evening, I told her that my grand plan was to buy a bathrobe and sit on my couch eating take-out.

"Buy a what?" she asked.

"A really cozy bath robe!" I yelled into her office.

In fact, my night turned out even better than I had imagined because I managed to get free food from my sister in exchange for giving her a ride home from work. She even loaned me her bathrobe, so I didn't have to shell out any money to spoil myself for the evening. If we look at Valentine's day as an excuse to take some time to slow down and enjoy ourselves, then it doesn't matter if we're alone or in a couple. You don't have to do very much to make the day special (for yourself or a loved one), and that simplicity can leave you recharged and happy.

A delightful Valentine's Day dinner for one.

As I write all of this, I'm watching "The Giant Mechanical Man", a quirky rom-com about two 30-somethings struggling to find their way to a happy and meaningful existence. One of the characters just said something so poignant, that I feel it's worth sharing here:

"And it's true what they say. It only takes one person- just one person- to make you feel special and valid. And like you belong in the world." 

I've come to realize that every now and then it is okay, important even, for that "one person" to be yourself. Don't let the hype surrounding February 14th cause you to forget that!

Wordless Wednesday: Photographing Nemo