Napping with "The Naptime Chef Great Ice-Cream Festival of 2009"

I am giddy with excitement as we commence "The Naptime Chef Great Ice-Cream Festival of 2009." Nicole and I have been sifting through all the delicious flavor suggestions you sent us and can't wait to get to work. Below you will see a list of the delectable flavors we plan to tackle first. We are going to work on these flavors and post the recipes weekly, over the course of the summer, in no particular order. (Don't panic though, I will continue my regular Tuesday & Thursday posts with recipes as well.)

If you don't see something you would like us to try, there is still time. Simply leave your suggestion in the "comments" section below and we will add it to our pile for consideration. This Festival is meant to be easy and enjoyable, we hope everyone will tune in, have fun, and give us helpful feedback while our ice-cream makers whir away for the next three months. Stay tuned for the first recipe next week. Happy Summer!

Naptime Chef Ice-Cream Festival Flavor Ideas (in no particular order):
Sticky Bun
Gingerbread
Pomegranate Blueberry
Mango Mint
Vanilla with Crunchy Peanut Swirl
Almond with Dark Cherries and Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Butter Almond
Samoa Ice Cream (named after the popular Girl Scout Cookie)
Peach
Peppermint Bark
Orangette (chocolate dipped orange peel flavor)
Persimmon
Lemon Rum
Carrot Cake
Cherry Beer (A Belgian Beer Ice-Cream recipe, can't wait to try it!)
Dorie Greenspan's Vanilla
David Leibovitz's Malted Milk (I think I'll add cocoa nibs)
Chocolate Chunk with Salted Cashews (from the NY Times last summer)
Root Beer Float
Brown Butter with Sea Salt

Napping after a Road Trip: Emergency Meal #5

For our family, Memorial Day marks the beginning of road trip season. As summer begins, and the scenery in New England reaches its peak, my husband and I love nothing more than to strap our daughter into her car seat, buckle our seat belts and hit the open road. With our GPS activated we enjoy smooth scenic trips to visit friends and family, sprinkled with side jaunts to our favorite foodie restaurants along the way. Sometimes, of course, our trips go haywire, like when a highway suddenly shuts down due to fire, or my daughter experiences a rare bout of carsickness. I chalk up these unfortunate moments to being an integral part of the family vacation experience, they are totally unavoidable, but easy to forget. In fact, there is really only one part of our trips that I always remember and unequivocally hate: arriving home. Every time we start unloading the car my travel-induced relaxation wears off and I snap into household mode, thinking about loads of laundry, stacks of mail, and, of course, what to make for dinner.


When we returned from Martha's Vineyard on Monday evening there was very little food in the house. At first I thought I might get away with not cooking until I noted my daughter's pouty expression, she was obviously hungry. So, working quickly, I pulled my go-to recipe binder off the shelf, took stock of my pantry and got to work on an Emergency Meal. During the warmer months I prefer to make lighter meals which is why I chose to make this hearty salad. It is full of fresh peppery arugula, tangy goat cheese and sweet sausage. In lieu of vinaigrette I merely add a cup of cooked pasta with a drizzle of pasta water to melt the cheese, this creates a light dressing that doesn't overpower the delicate greens.

Of all my summer Emergency Meals this one was perfect for cooking on Monday evening. I had all the ingredients on hand and, since there were no difficult cooking techniques involved, it was a cinch for me to quickly pull together while a ravenous toddler whimpered at my feet. To make it, I first boiled the pasta in salted water and heated the chicken sausage in a skillet. The remainder of the ingredients were ready to eat right out of the refrigerator, thus all I had to do was assemble the salad in a big bowl. The entire preparation took less than twenty minutes and yielded a deliciously filling meal, much to the happiness of my hungry family. As I ate my helping I realized that the worst part of coming home from our trip was already over. All I had left to do was the laundry.

Naptime Orecchiette, Sausage and Goat Cheese Salad
adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
3/4 c. orecchiette pasta
2 c. fresh arugula
2 large links chicken sausage, preferbly a sweet flavor like sun-dried tomato
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
2 T. fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper to Taste

1. Cook orecchiette in salted water until al dente. RESERVE 1/2 c. of pasta water. Drain, set aside.
2. Cook sausage links in a skillet until fully cooked through. Remove from heat and cut into thin slices.
3. In a large heatproof bowl add sausage slices, arugula, goat cheese and parmesan. Top with warm pasta and reserved pasta water. Working quickly, toss all of the ingredients to melt the cheese and wilt the greens. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Naptime Notes:
Naptime Recipe Props: This salad packs a punch, it is full of good protein and is extremely easy to prepare. Also, given that this is a salad, you could add or omit whatever ingredients you would like. I have used regular mixed greens in lieu of arugula, and have used grilled chicken slices instead of sausage. Feel free to make adjustments to suit your own tastes.
Naptime Stopwatch: The longest part about this salad is the pasta, it takes about 12 minutes to cook. While it is boiling I cook the chicken sausage and assemble the ingredients in the bowl. Then, add the pasta and the meal is ready!
Naptime Notes: For my daughter we chop the arugula leaves so they are easy to chew and she adores the orecchiette shaped pasta and sausage slices, they are easy to pick up with her little fingers. My husband and I love this meal because it hits the spot without being overly heavy.

Napping with a Fanpage and Food Photos

Summer is a particularly photogenic time of year, especially when it is spent on the coastal waters of New England and in the farmlands of upstate New York. Last weekend I took a series of photographs to celebrate Memorial Day on Martha's Vineyard and have uploaded them on The Naptime Chef Facebook Fan Page. I invite you to become a "fan" on the FB fan page and enjoy the photo essay, just click on the above link. Happy Summer!

Napping with a Great Memorial Day Cookout

My favorite way to celebrate the start of summer is with a rockin' family cookout full of great food. In my household we plan many of these summer feasts weeks in advance, making lists of all the drinks and dishes we want to serve, then compiling recipes to form the desired menu. Since our cookouts mostly take place in either Martha's Vineyard or Cooperstown we typically make dishes that are influenced by ingredients from the local area. This way, when we shop at the farm stands and markets in the town we are visiting, we are able to procure the freshest, most delicious ingredients. This year our Memorial Day banquet was one for the books. The weather was sunny and warm, my daughter was beside herself with excitement at the local parade, and the food was perfect.


When we are on the Vineyard the main feature of our cookout is usually some kind of fish. Our whole family adores seafood and, luckily, living on a island means there is always a bounty of locally caught fresh fish available at the markets. This year we opted for swordfish steaks for our cookout, it is a meatier game fish that is packed with flavor and worked well with our menu. One of my favorite parts about preparing fresh seafood is that it requires only the simplest of instructions. For swordfish I employ an old trick my father-in-law taught me, I simply spread a thin coat of mayonnaise on each side of the steak, to seal in the moisture and flavor, then grill it for seven minutes per side. Every single time I use this technique the swordfish turns out perfectly cooked and is moist and flavorful. When I made it this weekend I was able to grill our steaks in fourteen minutes and then tented them for ten minutes so they could rest, leaving my daughter and I plenty of time to collect a few shells on the beach.


Since summer is just beginning I have included my cookout menu from Memorial Day below, maybe it will give you some ideas for your next outdoor event. The dishes I have listed are some personal favorites, they are a cinch to prepare and are completely family friendly. As testimony to this fact, all of us at the table devoured our meals and, embarrassingly enough, had second helpings. No matter though, we were able to work it off after dinner with a big family game of badminton, bringing the perfect end to a great cookout.


Naptime Chef's Memorial Day Cookout 2009 Menu (all homemade)
Roasted Vegetable & Mozzarella Salad (recipe to be posted in June)
Cous-Cous with Pecans, Cranberries and Blue Cheese (recipe to be posted in June)
Swordfish Steaks
Cole Slaw
Naptime Chef Go-to Brownies, with Vanilla Ice Cream
Wine & Beer


Naptime's Swordfish on the Grill
1. Heat the grill to medium.
2. Spread each side of swordfish with a thin layer of mayonnaise and top with a few good cranks of fresh pepper.
3. Grill each side of the swordfish for seven minutes.
4. Remove the fish from the grill and tent it on a plate with aluminum foil, let it rest for 8-10 minutes.
5. Serve with a slice of lemon, or topped with a dollop of mango chutney.

Naptime's Fish Sandwich (for leftovers)
Sandwich Bun, the softest you can find
Tarter Sauce
Lettuce
Tomato

1. Toast the sandwich bun.
2. Spread the bottom of the bun with a thin layer of tarter sauce. Over that place a crisp leaf of lettuce and a slice of tomato.
3. Finally, on top of the tomato place the remaining piece of fish. Top with bun and serve.

Naptime Notes:
Naptime Recipe Props: One of the most simple and delicious ways to prepare seafood is by grilling it. This form of cooking is ideal because it is easy, healthy, and doesn't strip food of it's natural flavor. This swordfish recipe is totally fool-proof, you can't go wrong.
Naptime Stopwatch: Grilling typically takes very little time and is easily accomplished right before dinner needs to be served. Swordfish takes 14 minutes, total, on the grill and more delicate fish will take even less time.
Naptime Reviews: I was surprised to see that my daughter liked the swordfish, it was the first time I'd ever given her game fish. She wolfed it down like any other meal, excited by the new taste and texture on her palate.

Napping with Cookies, Again

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Last week I wrote an article for the Cookie Magazine food blog and am excited to share it with you all. It can be found here, and is all about "quesadillas redefined." I hope you all have an excellent holiday, and perhaps find this useful when you are standing at the the grill. Also, I hope you all have your subscription cards ready for Cookie, the best parenting magazine ever! (Ps - I hope you like the photograph with the article, too - I took at our dining room table.)

Napping in the Rhubarb Patch

I was raised by two gardening fanatics. From a very early age I can remember my parent's spending hours rambling about our backyard pruning roses, staking peonies and scattering organic fertilizer in the ferns. When I was young I really didn't care much about their gardening activities, preferring instead to play on the swing-set next to the lilac tree. But now that I am older, and am feeding a family of my own, I have become more interested in their favorite pastime. When we visit my parent's nowadays my daughter and I spend time in their garden, walking between the flowers and vegetables pointing at curiosities like bumble bees and hummingbirds. Together we carefully clip flowers for the vases in the dining room and harvest sun-ripened heirloom tomatoes and peas for dinner. These seemingly mundane activities are fascinating for both of us, we simply stand in awe of the tasty delicacies that can be harvested in our own backyard. Naturally, as a result, after these trips I return to our apartment fantasizing about my dream garden. In my imagination I have already determined that I will grow zucchini, peas, carrots, tomatoes, sweet onions and eggplant. But, above all, I will grow my favorite, rhubarb.


My parent's have always had an enormous rhubarb patch in their garden. When we were young my mother made delicious baked goods from the fresh stalks almost weekly, priming our palates for a lifelong love of the vegetable. Our family's favorite was rhubarb fool, but we also adored her rhubarb crisp, rhubarb preserves, and, of course, strawberry-rhubarb pie. Luckily for me, a few years ago my mother gave me these recipes, along with her helpful notes in the margins. Since then I have made them all dozens of times, yet, despite my impressive cache of rhubarb recipes, I am always on the hunt for more.


My friend, and fellow rhubarb-addict, Barbara knew my history and guessed correctly that I would like this recipe for Rhubarb Almond Cake. It is has a delicious flavor, is child-friendly and takes a very short time to prepare. In fact, the preparation is so efficient that yesterday I Naptime Chef-ed the batter in just 5 minutes(!), leaving me the remaining two hours of my daughter's naptime to tackle other projects. I love this cake because the delicate almond flavor couples so nicely with the sweet-tart rhubarb. It has a tender, moist crumb and is perfect for pairing with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, or, even better, fresh whipped cream. The best part is that this recipe is so flexible it defies seasonality. When rhubarb is not in season (or if you plain don't like it), you can substitute almost any chopped fresh fruit you want. In the past I have used apples, cranberries, blueberries, peaches, plums and blackberries. It is virtually fool-proof, you can't go wrong as long as you make sure the fruit isn't too watery, so it doesn't dilute the batter. Luckily for me I'll be heading back home soon to cut some more rhubarb from my parent's garden. I can hardly wait to get my hands on it, and to grow my own as well.

Naptime's Simple Rhubarb Almond Cake
-adapted from Barbara's recipe and Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin
1 c. sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 c. all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 t. pure almond extract
1 1/4 c. chopped rhubarb in 1-inch chunks or smaller (or any other fruit)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Butter and flour 9-inch cake pan.
3. Scatter fruit evenly on the bottom of the pan and set aside.
4. Mix first five ingredients in a large bowl until fully combined.
5. Pour batter over fruit in the cake pan and sprinkle top lightly with sugar, this will make a nice crust.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Naptime Notes:
Naptime Recipe Props: I don't know if there is a simpler cake in the whole world. It is delicious everytime, no matter what fruit you use. It is also a great way to use up fruit that you have in your kitchen, nobody will protest when it is put into a cake!
Naptime Stopwatch: The batter of this cake takes about 5 minutes to prepare and about 40 minutes to bake. It is very efficient to make and requires only the easiest of stirring.
Naptime Reviews: My daughter loves this cake and can't get enough of it. Everyone I have served it to loves it as well, it perfect for a summer luncheon menu, or at a cookout.

Napping in My Mother's Kitchen

Growing up one of my favorite activities was baking with my mother. Together we would bake everything ranging from cookies and brownies, to scones and cranberry muffins. We mostly preferred to bake for our own enjoyment, though, on occasion, we were persuaded to bake en masse, once producing over 600 molasses cookies for my babysitter's wedding. Under Mom's expert tutelage I learned all of the important lessons about baking including the difference between baking soda and baking powder, the importance of sifting flour, and how to remove cookies from the oven at just the right time. I adored our hours together mixing batter with the old KitchenAid, watching it rise in the oven - almost magically - to become a moist, delicious treat. In those days learning how to bake at my mother's knee was one of the most fun activities I could imagine, and, frankly, it still is.


Last week I took my daughter to visit my parent's (her doting grandparents) in Cooperstown for a few days. I was excited to get there, I couldn't wait to load up on spring vegetables at my favorite farm stands and clip fragrant purple lilacs from the trees in my parent's garden. But, above all, I couldn't wait to get home and bake in my mother's kitchen. When I arrived she had already prepared a pyrex glass filled with two cups of grated organic zucchini along with two greased loaf pans. From the set-up of equipment on the counter it was obvious she wanted me to make our family's favorite zucchini bread. And, naturally, I got started the minute my daughter went down for her nap.


Since my parent's have lived in their house since I was eight, navigating the kitchen for this baking quest was not a problem. I pulled the mixing bowls off the same shelf where they have been kept for over twenty years, fetched the cinnamon from the spice rack next to Dad's canning supplies and tossed the egg shells in the long-established backyard compost heap. The rhythm of sifting, stirring and pouring on the rainy afternoon in my childhood home was warm and familiar, a feeling of comfort for me that is almost unmatched anywhere else. As with most baked goods, preparing the bread while my daughter napped was a cinch. Mixing the batter was simply a matter of carefully adding the ingredients and making sure they were fully combined before pouring it into the loaf pans. While I followed the recipe I was reminded of one of my mother's favorite calorie-reducing baking techniques and substituted applesauce for some of the vegetable oil. I know that to some this sounds unusual, but please don't fret, having tasted zucchini bread that has been baked with the full amount of oil I can honestly say that the applesauce version is better. It is more flavorful and moist, but is considerably less greasy and doesn't leave any residue on my fingers.

(The view from mom's kitchen)

The bread baked for almost an hour in the oven and, once I removed it, I exercised an amazing amount of willpower, letting it cool completely until the evening. Then, finally, after clearing my family's dishes from the dinner table - a habit held over from my grade school days when it was one of my most dredded chores - I cut pieces from a loaf for dessert. As I watched my daughter enjoy her first slice, eyes wide with delight at the tasty treat, I got excited realizing that the day will soon come when we can bake together. She will bake at my knee, learn the rhythm and language of our own family kitchen, and I will teach her everything I know about baking, too.

Naptime Chef Favorite Zucchini Bread (or Zucchini muffins)
an old favorite recipe from Mom
2 c. all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 t. baking soda
3/4 t. baking powder
1 t. coarse salt
3 1/2 t. cinnamon
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. plain applesauce (not low-fat)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. freshly grated zucchini
2 t. pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 (two) 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. OR, one 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl stir together eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Make sure it is fully combined.
4. Carefully pour flour mixture into egg mixture, stirring until completely combined.
5. Pour entire mixture into loaf pans, making sure there is an even amount of batter in each. OR, if making muffins, fill muffin tins 3/4 full.
6. For Zucchini Bread bake for 40 minutes. OR, for muffins bake for 20 minutes.
7. You will know when the bread or muffins are down when the centers are set and spring back when they are lightly touched.

Naptime Notes:
Naptime Recipe Props: This is a simple and delicious zucchini bread recipe that also works well as muffins. The applesauce cuts calories too, making it a more healthy alternative to cookies. It is the most delicious when made with fresh, local zucchini, for which the season begins shortly. Plus, these loaves freeze beautifully, so you can put one in the freezer for later.
Naptime Stopwatch: The batter preparation takes about 10 minutes and the baking time is about 40-45 minutes. The entire project can be completed during naptime, and there is minimal clean up.
Naptime Reviews: I make this recipe more as bread than muffins, but either are great. Since there are no nuts in them they are great for children, I have never met a child that doesn't love a nice slice of zucchini bread for dessert!