The 60-Second Food Schmooze

Skip the sauce and dress your pasta with lemon and a couple of glugs of olive oil instead. Easiest weeknight pasta on the planet!

Think lemon zest, fresh chopped basil, butter and goat cheese on top of a baked potato. . .WOW. Take a couple of potatoes, pierce them with a knife or a fork, and dip them in a little bit of kosher salt and water for about 30 seconds until they are wet. Put the potatoes in a 450˚ oven for about 45 minutes. Take them out “paint” the skin with a little vegetable oil, and put them back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Then you split those potatoes open and top them with a pat of butter, salt and pepper, and a mixture made of 2 tablespoons of soft goat cheese, a tablespoon of chopped fresh basil, and a teaspoon of lemon zest. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the loaded baked potato. It’s easy and SO good.

Thanks to Dr. Carolyn Mazure, director of the invaluable Women’s Health Research Department at Yale for this recipe.

Photo: Pixabay.com

The post Easy Lemon Zest-Goat Cheese Baked Potatoes appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Think lemon zest, fresh chopped basil, butter and goat cheese on top of a baked potato. . .WOW. Take a couple of potatoes, pierce them with a knife or a fork, and dip them in a little bit of kosher salt and water for about 30 seconds until they are wet. Put the potatoes in a 450˚ oven for about 45 minutes. Take them out “paint” the skin with a little vegetable oil, and put them back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Then you split those potatoes open and top them with a pat of butter, salt and pepper, and a mixture made of 2 tablespoons of soft goat cheese, a tablespoon of chopped fresh basil, and a teaspoon of lemon zest. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the loaded baked potato. It’s easy and SO good.

Thanks to Dr. Carolyn Mazure, director of the invaluable Women’s Health Research Department at Yale for this recipe.

Photo: Pixabay.com

It’s a secret weapon used by chefs and now home cooks: Lemon zest. I use lemon zest to brighten almost everything, to give it a little magic. After washing and drying an organic lemon, I use a zester to scrape off the lemon’s pepper-thin yellow layer. I sprinkle that fresh zest on pasta, pork, chicken, rice, bowls of soup, baked potatoes, shrimp, fish, lamb chops, vegetables, in vinaigrette, baked goods and cocktails. That’s my secret weapon, lemon zest, salt and a pat of butter. It just makes everything better. You can use orange or lime zest the same way.

Photo: Pixabay

The post Lemon Zest, the Home Cook’s Secret Weapon appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s a secret weapon used by chefs and now home cooks: Lemon zest. I use lemon zest to brighten almost everything, to give it a little magic. After washing and drying an organic lemon, I use a zester to scrape off the lemon’s pepper-thin yellow layer. I sprinkle that fresh zest on pasta, pork, chicken, rice, bowls of soup, baked potatoes, shrimp, fish, lamb chops, vegetables, in vinaigrette, baked goods and cocktails. That’s my secret weapon, lemon zest, salt and a pat of butter. It just makes everything better. You can use orange or lime zest the same way.

Photo: Pixabay

Thanks to Cook’s Illustrated for teaching me to make steel-cut oatmeal in just ten minutes! It’s true. Bring three cups of water to a boil. Remove the water from the heat, stir in a cup of oats and a dash of salt. Cover the pan and let it sit out overnight. In the morning, you add one more cup of water and cook it, stirring, for about five minutes. Let it rest for five more minutes. Bang! A hearty, satisfying breakfast that’ll keep you going all day in just 10 minutes.

Photo: Pixabay.com

The post 10-Minute Steel-Cut Oatmeal appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks to Cook’s Illustrated for teaching me to make steel-cut oatmeal in just ten minutes! It’s true. Bring three cups of water to a boil. Remove the water from the heat, stir in a cup of oats and a dash of salt. Cover the pan and let it sit out overnight. In the morning, you add one more cup of water and cook it, stirring, for about five minutes. Let it rest for five more minutes. Bang! A hearty, satisfying breakfast that’ll keep you going all day in just 10 minutes.

Photo: Pixabay.com

Go Caribbean without leaving your kitchen. All you need are four things — fresh pineapple rings, butter, rum, and balsamic vinegar. Mix it all together in a bowl and brush it on the pineapple slices. Broil them in the oven for seven minutes on each side, until the slices are beautifully caramelized. Sprinkle them with a dash of cinnamon and serve with vanilla ice cream. I like to toss on chopped macadamia nuts and turn up the Hawaiian music. If you’re serving to guests who don’t drink alcohol, skip the rum.

Photo: Garry Knight/Flickr, creative commons

The post Faith’s Easy Broiled Pineapple Slices appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Go Caribbean without leaving your kitchen. All you need are four things — fresh pineapple rings, butter, rum, and balsamic vinegar. Mix it all together in a bowl and brush it on the pineapple slices. Broil them in the oven for seven minutes on each side, until the slices are beautifully caramelized. Sprinkle them with a dash of cinnamon and serve with vanilla ice cream. I like to toss on chopped macadamia nuts and turn up the Hawaiian music. If you’re serving to guests who don’t drink alcohol, skip the rum.

Photo: Garry Knight/Flickr, creative commons

Busy weeknight? Try my quick and easy chicken cacciatore stuffed peppers. I had leftover rice from my take-out Chinese, so at the supermarket I bought jarred red pasta sauce, several whole green peppers and a rotisserie chicken. Cut the tops off the fresh peppers and remove the seeds. Mix together the cooked rice, pasta sauce and diced chicken, then stuff the peppers with the mixture. I baked mine in a 350° oven for about 30  minutes, and it worked. Out came a bubbling pan of hearty chicken cacciatore stuffed peppers for a busy weeknight.

Photo: Liji Jinaraj/Flickr, creative commons

The post Faith’s Easy Chicken Cacciatore Stuffed Peppers appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.