Pook's Pantry Recipe Blog

A Life in Food by real-life Chef Cheryl Bennett

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Tom and Jerry Recipe

It has come to my attention recently that some of you only know this pair of names as a cartoon duo.

As soon as there is a chill in the air, I start craving this drink.  Think of it as a warm, boozy milkshake. Doesn’t that sound amazing?! It’s even better than you think…

I won’t lie, it isn’t one of those “Oh, I’ll just pull a bottle down and shake” kind of drinks.  It takes a little planning and effort, but the end result is worth the 10 minutes of energy it requires.

This drink has such a loyal fan base that there are special “Tom & Jerry” punch bowl sets with matching mugs.  I kid you not…  Here’s a pic to prove it:

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Fall Panzanella Salad

I’ll be honest with you, I was in the grocery store with a big loaf of crusty bread in my hand thinking “What’s the big deal…  I’ll just buy it instead of making it”, but I JUST. COULDN’T. DO. IT.  
So, I put that gorgeous loaf of bread back amongst it’s friends and headed home to start the focaccia. 

I pulled out the stand mixer, made my dough, let it rise…  Placed it ever so lovingly on my sheet pan to puff up again before sliding it in the oven…  And yet, something was amiss.  It just didn’t look quite right, but I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.  Once it was time for the bread to come out of the sauna, I realized I had a bit of a problem.

Not really sure how I screwed it up, but it was more of a focaccia pancake.  It didn’t rise properly and looked rather pathetic.  So I salvaged what I could, not wanting to waste everything and started over.  
Truth be told, the Ohio State game was on and I was a tad distracted…  There, I’ve said it.  I wasn’t paying attention to my work,  I was watching football. 
That’s what happened.

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A-Maze-Ing

 

Well friends, just because Halloween is behind us don’t think you have no use for pumpkin patches until next year.  Many of them, like this one, grow amazing varieties of squash. 
Everyone knows how I feel about supporting local farmers and buying food that was locally grown whenever possible, so I will refrain from going on and on about it today… but, just in case you don’t:
Please support local farms!

 
Scout out something you’ve never had before and try it, although I wouldn’t necessarily suggest doing so on a day when you are cooking for a house full of people… 

Salty, Crunchy… Healthy?!

As we are all abundantly aware, the Northeast suffered a major storm this week.  I am one of the lucky ones that was relatively unaffected in comparison to so many others.   While things are still getting settled, I humbly offer a quick snack today.

It’s what I had on hand and  about making the most of what I have until the pantry is fully stocked again.  These chips are incredibly fast, require minimal effort and you don’t have to feel the least bit guilty if you finish the entire plate by yourself.

 

Serenity

 

I love the earthy smell of freshly fallen leaves and the way they crunch under my feet on a perfectly crisp fall day.  It was as if the entire universe aligned for that one perfect moment of complete serenity.  One of those moments that you wish you could put on a loop so it never ended.

When I was home last week, I took a couple of hours and went to one of my favorite spots.  It’s a state park about 2 miles from my parents house.  I spent countless hours there when I was younger and autumn is the best time of all to wander through the park. 

I was walking along the water and came upon this boy playing his guitar and singing his heart out.  It could not have made for a more idyllic setting.  We smiled at each other as I walked around shooting photos of trees while he provided a beautiful soundtrack.

These are the things that I miss living in a big city.  It’s never quiet here, there are people everywhere no matter the time of day.   It was exactly what I needed.  Those two short hours allowed me to “reset” and I felt so connected to nature again, a feeling that is hard to come by in the city.

So as my dog and I hunker down in my tiny Brooklyn apartment waiting for Hurricane Sandy to huff and puff, these are the images that will be my source of serenity as we wait it out…

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Pulled Pork with orange and garlic

BBQ pulled pork is a game day favorite. Pork shoulder slow cooked in garlic and orange juice until it is fall-apart tender is mixed with your favorite barbeque sauce and piled high on toasted buns.

This is the kind of food I want to have bubbling away in the oven making my kitchen smell of divine porkiness while I am preparing to entertain a group of friends waiting for my beloved Buckeyes to take the field.
(whew…  how’s THAT for a run-on sentence?!)

For most people, this is summer food… For me however,  I equate having my oven going for over 4 hours with cooler temperatures and for me, cooler temps automatically mean football.

I’m sure this seems absurd to most of you.  Everyone else in the blogosphere is making pumpkin this and cinnamon that and here I am making pulled pork.  Well, I’m sure someone somewhere understands my particular brand of crazy…  it’s called football people and it’s not just football, it’s my Ohio State Buckeyes. 

If you are from the Midwest or the South where meetings are rescheduled and Saturday afternoons are off limits “on account of there’s football”, then I needn’t explain any further. 
To the rest of you who can’t quite conceive of this, it’s irrational.  Those of us that love football with the fervor of a sale-seeking Jersey Housewife with a platinum card understand what it’s all about.

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The 4 Food Groups…

Bacon, Eggs, Cheese, Pasta.   
It seems every time I make pasta, I always have leftovers.  Every. Single. Time.    I used to hear the phrase “your eyes are bigger than your stomach” on an almost daily basis and I think it may still be true.

So, seeing that sad bit of pasta hanging out in the fridge I felt the need to rescue it.  I’m not a fan of throwing food in the garbage (unless of course it has started to look like a science experiment gone horribly wrong).   With that sense of resolve,  I scanned the kitchen to see how this bit of leftover pasta could transcend its current state into something seriously good.

Staring into the refrigerator, I felt a bit like the woman from “Romper Room”…  you remember her right?   She would look through her looking glass and say the names of the kids she saw.  Every week I waited and waited to hear my name.  Never happened.  

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Israeli Salad – The Perfect Summer Bite

Israeli salad is the perfect summer bite. It takes the absolute best of summer’s bounty and combines it into a light and refreshing salad that you can eat all summer long. It makes a great side or light lunch during the warmer months when we all crave healthy salads and lighter meals.
Israeli Salad
I first had Israeli Salad when I was visiting a friend in Brooklyn. It was the hottest July I could remember and the sweltering heat zapped us of all our energy. She suggested a stop at a deli for a few prepared items and this was one of our picks. It is fresh, healthy and refreshing of a hot summer day. If you have a garden or you happen to have salad ingredients in your fridge, odds are you have almost everything you need already.

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Plum Crazy…

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like every year summer goes by even quicker than it did the year before. 
I wait and wait all winter for stone fruit season to arrive,  daydreaming about all of the amazing things I’ll make…  fantasizing about juicy peaches, ripe plums and perfect nectarines. 

Awaiting that first taste of summer, sinking my teeth into the perfect bite, juice dribbling down my chin… 
and then it’s August.

When did that happen?!   I realize I barely had a chance to make any of the delectable things I spent so many hours, days, weeks thinking about.  And here we are again, summer more than halfway gone.
So, upon this rather startling revelation I decided I had better get it in gear if I was going to accomplish at least a few of the things I had set out to do.

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