Eating Hoppin’ John with blackeyed peas is a Southern New Year’s tradition to bring good luck and, with the addition of greens, which represent money, prosperity in the new year.  Some suggest that the origin of this “good luck” tradition dates back to the Civil War, when Union troops, especially in areas targeted by General Sherman, typically stripped the countryside of all stored food, crops, and livestock, and destroyed whatever they couldn’t carry away. At that time, Northerners considered “field peas” and field corn suitable only for animal fodder, and didn’t steal or destroy these humble foods.

I enjoy changing it up, but every new year is ushered in with a slightly different version of Hoppin’ John. This year it was a perfectly soft poached egg on a bed of crispy kale and Hoppin’ John popping with vibrant red pepper, sweet corn, and a dash of heat.  Posting a Hoppin’ John recipe as my first recipe of  2012 seemed like an excellent idea; not only are blackeyed peas inexpensive, fitting right in with a recession budget and inflated credit card bills from holiday shopping, but they also fit right in with any good intentions you may have to eat healthier in 2012.  Did you know that  black eyed peas are really beans not peas and beans, whether dried or canned, are packed full of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.  (If you’d like more specific information on the health benefits of beans and legumes visit the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.)

Plus, January is an exciting month for NFL football fans, especially if the team you rally behind has made it to the playoffs.  We happen to have an avid New England Patriot‘s fan living in our midst and the past few years have seen me skillfully substituting lower fat, more nutritious fare masquerading as the best football food you’ve ever had. Hoppin’ John Nachos have become a signature crowd-pleaser during weekend marathons; universally appealing to pizza-loving sports fans and the more health and body conscious.  The Bowl games may be over, but there’s plenty of football to come. If you’d like to slip a bit of good stuff in with the standard football fare without raising any eyebrows, bookmark or print this easy recipe. Munch away with a clear conscious during the NFL playoffs or Super Bowl which, FYI, is on Sunday, February 5th this year.

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While everyone’s been baking their little hearts out; tempting readers with homey gingerbread cakes, elegant pavlovas, and every deletable cookie imaginable, I’ve been busy experimenting with low-sodium, heart healthy, savory side dishes that will flatter the main attraction at your holiday table.

Always mindful of making meals that delight your taste buds while nurturing your body, this is the first time I’ve had to prepare a holiday dinner that doesn’t include sausage, bacon, pancetta, or cheese. I know we’re not alone in our gustatory passion for cured pork delicacies, unfortunately, these foods have no place in a low-sodium diet! And cheese - it’s practically a food group in itself! Rarely have we met a cheese we didn’t like -  whether goat, sheep, or cow’s milk, fresh, aged, brined, herbed, rolled in nuts, or sprinkled with berries -  and all have been sorely missed as I master the art of flavorful, low-sodium cooking to keep my man ticking.

Baking is a real challenge as baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and baking powder (calcium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate) are essential. But, together, we’ve found a number of low-sodium products at Trader Joes (including no salt added chips that aren’t half bad) and online, including baking powder and baking soda that contain no sodium, but rather potassium as the active ingredient, and many other products that I’ll talk about in future posts.

Bread has a surprising amount of sodium, anywhere from 160 mg in a slice of whole wheat to 320 mg or more in a piece of cornbread, focaccia, pretzel bread, etc. Naturally, so do bread crumbs, even if homemade. Fortunately, I’ve always preferred Japanese-style panko for a crisp coating on my coconut shrimp or baked chicken and I was thrilled that the sodium content of Kikkoman’s Panko bread crumbs is only 40 mg per 1/2 cup serving. Other brand name bread crumbs had to be tossed, but the panko is here to stay

Which brings us to this earthy mushroom, tart green apple “stuffing” made with panko bread crumbs that I’ve served up several ways. Brimming with seasonal flavors, it takes succulent baked stuffed pork chops to another level and has garnered rave reviews when presented as vegetarian  stuffed mushroom appetizers, redolent with umami, it was easy to forget the sausage Here, I stole the idea of stuffing red onions, instead of mushrooms, that I spied in November’s Martha Stewarts Living.

Ours is an intimate Christmas dinner -  just the three of us this year, no travel to visit relatives in blustery environs with hopes for a White Christmas or escape-the-madness golf weekend in sunny Palm Springs… and I’m not disappointed in the least. It’s been a virtually stress-free holiday season for me and I’m ecstatic!

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Today’s recipe has absolutely nothing to do with cookies or holiday baking, but everything to do with eating foods that are delicious, good for your body, and produced with the highest of standards. Don’t worry, you’ll find no preachy posts here, just a simple, heart healthy, gluten free, dairy free recipe that could grace your holiday table or provide a quick and easy weeknight dinner for you and your family any time of year – AND, it ends with a #Giveaway of Star Fine Foods, maker of the Extra Virgin California Olive Oil featured here, and an assortment of their other fine products.

Way back in September (Wow, is it really December!) I attended an Olive Oil Tasting hosted by Star Fine Foods and Diane Cu and Todd Porter of White on Rice Couple. Much like wine tasting, but instead we were taken on a tour of the world’s richest olive oil regions including Spain, the Mediterranean, and the Holy Lands and, while we were there, the first to taste STAR® California Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), one of the first olive oils made exclusively from olives grown in California.

Since then, their EVOO California Olive Oil has honestly become my go-to olive oil – it’s light with fruity notes and a bold peppery finish (doesn’t that sound like wine) which makes it an ideal choice for dipping sauces, dressings, and cooking vegetables and proteins when you don’t desire a bold olive oil taste. Here I’ve combined it with the warm flavors of apple cider vinegar and curry to lightly coat exotic ebony grains of organic Forbidden Rice from Lotus Foods dotted with the vibrant jewel tones of dried apricots and cranberry, crunchy pistachios and the pleasurable pop of fresh pomegranate seeds.

NOW for the GIVEAWAY!

One lucky reader will have the opportunity to experience Star’s EV California Olive Oil as well as an assortment of other Star Fine Foods products.

Included in the basket are four bottles of Family Reserve Olive Oils: one each of Fresh Basil, Fresh Rosemary, Lemon Peel, and Roasted Garlic; Star Balsamic Vinegar,, Star Red Wine Vinegar, Star Cannonballs Stuffed Spanish Queen Olives, Star Spanish Salad Olives, Cara Mia Marinated Artichoke Hearts and Cara Mia Marinated Mushrooms.

How to Win?

1. MAIN ENTRY(required): Like the new She’s Cookin’s page on Facebook and leave a comment below letting me know that you have and please tell us about your favorite use of olive oil, too!

2. BONUS ENTRY: Follow @shescookin and @Star_Fine_Foods on Twitter and tweet the #Giveaway, then come back and tell us you tweeted. To make it easy, copy and paste this:  I just entered to win a basket of Olive Oil, Olives and more from @shescookin & @Star_Fine_Foods. Enter here http://ht.ly/7IW27 #Giveaway

Important Details:

•    This giveaway is open to USA residents, age 18 and above only, and will run until Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 10:00 pm PST.
•    Winner will be chosen by random.org and notified via the email provided on the comment form information.
•    Winner has until midnight, December 8, 2011 to claim the Star Fine Foods gift basket or we will choose another winner.
•    Winner will receive one gift basket of Star Fine Foods products (retail value of $65). Product will be shipped directly to the winner by Star Fine Foods.

Good Luck

Disclosure: I have not been compensated to write this post and all opinions are mine. This is a way for me to give back to readers and followers of She’s Cookin’. Heck I’d like to be winning this wonderful basket of goodies!

Comments are Closed.

And, after qualifying the entries,  the Winner is…. Courtney! Congratulations Courtney

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By this point you should have your Thanksgiving menu decided upon and your grocery list done. HA! I have fragments of ideas ricocheting around in my brain and past issues of favorite Bon Appétit Thanksgiving issues opened to appetizing sides, and still confuse myself by gazing at delicious creations in the blogosphere.

Two things have been decided upon: for the first time I didn’t order an organic turkey, but rather a diminutive boned turkey breast and, with most of October spent traveling and College Girl only having four days off, we are looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving at home and not being among the thousands of travelers flying the unfriendly skies!

So today’s post is a quickie because I’ve got work to do – and so do you I’m not going to tempt you with yet another idea for a Thanksgiving side, but rather a rustic, flavorful vegetarian dish that’s sure to please any non-carnivores or gluten intolerant guests at your feast as well as fulfill everyone’s craving for lighter fare after days of indulging in turkey and all the rich fixins. My Moroccan obsession, first realized in June with Moroccan Chicken and Green Beans, was reignited after reading Food Wandering’s review of  Paula Wolfert’s The Food of Morocco cookbook. I guess I didn’t win that giveaway, darn!

Silken strands of  Spaghetti squash became the vehicle for my rendition of Moroccan tomato jam flavored with aromatic Ras el Hanout*, cinnamon, and saffron water.  When Shulie said that nearly all the recipes in the cookbook that include saffron, add it in the form of saffron water—crumbled, dried, and crushed saffron threads soaked in warm water – and, besides being more economical, it brings out more of the spice’s aroma and flavor; I was excited to try it.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

*Ras el Hanout can contain more than 30 ingredients and is a traditional Moroccan blend of herbs and spices, popular across the Middle East and North Africa. The name means “head of the shop” in Arabic and represents the very pinnacle of spice blends – for Moroccan souks (spice merchants) it’s a point of honor to have the most sought after version of this blend. Ingredients include saffron, paprika, cumin, ginger, coriander, tumeric, fennel seed, and allspice to name a few. I’ve been in love with a quality aromatic blend of Ras el Hanout from Awaken Savor Spices since “discovering” them at the Taste of Huntington Beach two years ago and use the spice to flavor stews, soups, eggs, and as a dry rub or mixed with olive oil to brush on meats, poultry, or fish.

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Happy Halloween !!!

From ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us! … Scottish saying

Whatever you feel about the “holiday” – love it or hate it, costume or not, lights on or lights off – it’s an opportunity to revel in the pumpkin. Autumn is most definitely my favorite season: all apples, cinnamon and pumpkins, brisk mornings, cozy fires, and Halloween excitement. Last night I returned from a trip to Paris with pit stops in Pittsburgh and Boston. I was thrilled to witness the hills dotted with hints of the brilliant colors to come – that is, before the unexpected October nor’easter that blew in on Saturday with it’s heavy shroud of white.

With the first signs of fall comes a bounty of delectable pumpkin baked goodies to tempt us – I indulge vicariously and struggle to stick to my healthy regimen. So here is the recipe I promised earlier this month for a delicious, but also healthy and nutritious pumpkin recipe that’s a perfect buffer for all the chocolate, candy, and baked treats! I’ve added it to the parade of pumpkin recipes that Lora at Cake Duchess has in celebration of All Hallow’s Eve.

“Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.” William Shakespeare

 Better than eye of newt and toe of frog

Bring forth the raisins and the nuts- Tonight All-Hallows’ Specter struts Along the moonlit
way.
- – -John Kendrick Bangs

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Since I started writing about food and cooking almost two years ago, I’ve only used what’s referred to as a P&S (point and shoot) camera – a Canon PowerShot SX200IS to be specific – and was damn proud of the photos I produced with my cute blue camera. I’ve always been a tiny bit envious of the sharp macro images and dreamy depth of field of images on other blogs, but was happy being the rebel

Well no more! For my birthday, the Don gifted me with the Canon Rebel T2i with a Tamron macro lens. I’m excited, but apprehensive about the learning curve. I’m trying not to wimp out and resort to Old Faithful, but it is a little exasperating, here you are witness to my first attempts. *sigh* Please, if you have any helpful tips, leave me a comment, I would really appreciate it!

Let’s get to the recipe for today: homemade ketchup. It may not sound very exciting, but making your own special recipe ketchup is all the rage now. Ketchup is the quintessential American condiment and, while there are some foods that my family must eat with ketchup – like the typical burger, hot dog or fries; we’re certainly not one of those people who like ketchup slathered on everything. Two things inspired me – actually three – to concoct a gourmet ketchup. (1) an abundance of tomatoes* – of the three varieties we have, I thought the yellow Tangerine tomatoes would be perfect because of their natural sweetness and low acidity, (2) Don loves ketchup and even the organic brand I was buying had more sodium than he wanted, and (3) an LA Times Food feature with a recipe for homemade peach ketchup from Sang Yoon of Father’s Office – notorious for not serving ketchup with their famous burgers.

I decided to impart a tropical twist by adding roasted mango, some heat with the red peppers we have growing, and a touch of the exotic with crushed cardamom seed. And, as the mixture was cooking down I decided that a sauce might be more versatile – that’s how I roll, subject to change at any moment The ketchup turned Tomato Mango Sauce has proven to be very versatile – terrific as a marinade for pork tenderloin and chicken, drizzled on salads, and as a dipping sauce – and, most importantly, Don loves it and is asking for more!

* Ketchup does not have to be tomato based, actually ketchup (or catsup) was brought to Britain in the 1600s by traders from China and Malaysia where the brine from pickled fish was used as a dipping sauce. Affluent Brits were served dishes with the rich brines from pickled walnut and mushrooms. Eventually, they began bottling these condiments, calling them catsup. Catsup came with British settlers to Colonial America and it wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century that entrepreneurs began tinkering with the recipe to suit the American taste for sweet foods and sold catsup made with tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt. Its popularity took off when Heinz company added tomato catsup to their condiment line in the 1870s – so there you have your history of ketchup.

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When people ask me what is my favorite food, I’ve never been able to give them a straight answer because I love variety and the unique flavors of so many cuisines. But, if I HAD to pick a favorite, pizza is certainly at the top of the list, so I was really pleased when Natasha and Lazaro announced that pizza was the theme for August’s Five Star Challenge.

The true origin of pizza differs depending on the source and whether you’re talking about the etymology of the word “pizza” (Latin), or what culture was the first to start adding toppings to flavor bread (Middle East and Mediterranean), or who invented the edible plate (Greeks). Generally, its agreed that pizza, as we know it, came from humble beginnings; a Galette flat bread with a red sauce, it was a dish of the poor people and sold in the streets of Naples, Italy in the 16th century. Later, after tomatoes were brought to Europe by explorers from the Americas, the sauce was made from oil and tomatoes.

Origins aside, pizza has evolved to gourmet status with a place on the menu of many a fine dining establishment. The pizza’s appeal transcends borders and its versatility knows no bounds – you can have pizza for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert now!

The pizza I created for this challenge speaks to my roots in the South (the S in SXSW), my love of Southwestern flavors (the SW), and the bounty of tomatoes from our garden. This year we planted three varieties of tomatoes: Organic Beefsteak, Heirloom Black Krim, and Sweet Tangerine Hybrid and I used each one in this delicious vegetarian thin crust SXSW Pizza.

We’ve been having a problem with the Beefsteaks developing “blossom rot”, so have been picking them before they mature into their biggest, brightest, beautiful selves – this is the variety I used for the fried green tomatoes. The Black Krim’s have a dark maroon skin with red flesh, they grow to a medium-size which is perfect for bites of pizza, alternated with slices of the extra sweet, golden orange Sweet Tangerine Hybrid. With Marcella Hazan’s dough recipe (thank you, Angela of Spinach Tiger), a sprinkling of aged Asiago cheese and the delightful crunch and Southwestern flavors of toasted pepitas and smoky roasted corn – this was a garden fresh, gourmet pizza bursting with flavor that I think you’ll love and that I’ll be making again and and again.

Besides being a catchy acronym for the South by Southwest flavors in this fabulous pizza, SXSW also makes reference to the annual  SXSW in Austin, Texas, the mega happening of interactive, media, music, and film festivals that one day I’d like to attend

Cheers to pizza in all its incarnations!

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In keeping with my garden theme during this bountiful time of year, the past week was officially declared Zucchini Throwdown at She’s Cookin’ and I’ll be sharing three simple + seasonal recipes for this most prolific summer squash. First up is a recipe from Chef Michael Symon’s Easter Goes Greek spread featured in Bon Appétit‘s April issue.

Michael’s big personality and bawdy sense of humor had me smiling as I read his tips for preparing this holiday feast, like #4 “Go Hard – lots of ouzo, straight up, no retsina!” , and #5 “Put the Fun in Dysfunction – When you get a bunch of Greeks in a room it gets very emotional. I explain to my friends that regardless of the yelling or crying, it’s all a sign of happiness.”

Plus, I’m crazy for Greek food – helloooo, did you see my post on the Taste of Greece? – and everything from the Lamb Chops with Lemon to the Walnut and Pistachio Baklava had me salivating! But what earned the dog-eared page was the Zucchini Keftedes because I’m always on the lookout for ways to morph the zuke into something fabulous.

Keftedes are actually Greek meatballs and in the recipe head notes Michael referred to them as zucchini fritters, which is what I would call them – either way it’s a delicious vegetarian dish with flavors of bright lemon and mint and salty feta, perfect as a starter or several fritters make a satisfying and delicious vegetarian main dish.

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I didn’t fact check the stats but I’m pretty sure that a majority of households across the country will be grilling this Sunday for Father’s Day! Whether dad’s favorite is a juicy, medium-rare steak, robust barbequed ribs, or a burgers and hot dogs All-American guy, you’ll want a few simple, but sensational sides to round out the festivities and an appetizer or dip to keep the hungry masses at bay while the aroma of meat sizzling on the grill whips everyone into a salivating frenzy.

Whether its football season or summer backyard grilling,  guacamole is the #1 dip and a must-have at our house. There are many different kinds of avocados, but the variety generally preferred for guacamole is the pebbly-skinned Hass. Fortunately, California has ideal conditions for growing the creamy rich Hass avocados and we’re blessed with a year-round supply of the nutritious velvety fruit.

With Don’s emergency hospital stay last week and the upcoming procedure looming, this year’s Father’s Day is heavy with significance. I like to keep the tone light here, so suffice it to say that the Young Baker and I are grateful to modern medical technology for making this a Father’s Day to truly celebrate. Always with a low-sodium and heart-healthy diet in mind, I now make my own chips from corn tortillas -  I love the blue corn tortillas at Trader Joe’s for an added pop of color, and I use more lime as a replacement for salt to flavor the guacamole.

I’d love to know: What’s your favorite twist on guacamole?

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Post tags: Father's Day, football food, guacamole

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With Spring officially here, (it is isn’t it?) we’re all craving lighter, fresher dishes full of vibrant colors and the flavors of the season. Although it was cooler here in SoCal this past weekend, we still enjoyed a sunny, breezy weekend for the most part and pulled out the grill on both days. Other places are still having snow in April – so sorry, I don’t mean to rub it in

Our hulking, not-so-shiny, gas behemoth is uncovered with a flourish as often as possible –  it’s one of the biggest perks to living here, and, regrettably, a couple million other people would probably agree with me. Plus, if The Don is at home, he insists on manning the grill which saves me from being in two different places at one time AND Grilling= Less Pans in the sink to wash later! #Winning! Oops, that may constitute copyright infringement if Charlie Sheen’s attempt to copyright “Duh, Winning” and 21 of his other “signature” phrases is successful – meanwhile, we can have fun with it Hope ya’ll have a Winning week!

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