Cookbook author aims to help busy cooks get away from fast food habit
DETROIT • Never be without bacon in your home.
That’s one slice of advice Lucinda Scala Quinn says all cooks should heed. And she should know.
The mother of three sons has a new cookbook, due in stores today: “Mad Hungry — Feeding Men and Boys: Recipes, Strategies & Survival Techniques.”
“You can always whip something up if you can layer it with bacon,” says Quinn, who also happens to be vice president and editorial director of food and entertaining for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (the umbrella company for the whole Martha empire ) and co-hosts PBS’s “Everyday Food”.
That’s just one strategy Quinn shares in “Mad Hungry,” which is packed with cooking tips, techniques and advice on making satisfying family meals. Quinn crafted and made the recipes to feed her boys, now 15, 18 and 22, and her husband.
And she’s on a mission to help other busy cooks resist the temptation of fast food and feed their broods homemade fare.
Recipes include ethnic dishes and hearty comfort foods. There are also recipes for not-so-everyday dishes such as seafood paella and oven-braised short ribs.
In a recent phone interview, Quinn, who lives in Connecticut, talked about being around homemade food from the beginning, whether it was the family meals her mother made or her dad’s big Italian family, in which, “food was a centerpiece of celebrations, rituals and holidays.”
“I was lucky because my mom was somebody who cooked dinner every night,” says Quinn, who has four brothers. “She created an amazing foundation … and my brothers all cook now.”
Quinn says she made the same commitment when she had kids.
“I knew it was going to be hard,” she says. “And then all of sudden I woke up after 20 years and it was, ‘Oh my goodness, my guys like to cook and eat.’ … So this is something that can be very beneficial in people’s lives.”
That is why she said she wrote this cookbook, her third. And it’s not just for feeding male mouths, even though Quinn writes that “men eat differently from women — they eat more, they eat constantly and they eat passionately.”
“It’s for anybody who wants to get back to the table or start home cooking,” Quinn says. “It’s a simplistic way to hit so many notes of wellness. It’s all there in the family meal.”
Even so, Quinn stressed that the minute you have more than one male who is hungry and dependent on you, “there is an urgency there that I don’t necessarily see with females. Obviously it’s a gross generalization and one that only I am making,” she says.
But with a husband and three sons, Quinn says, mealtime “wasn’t just an urgency, it was practically an emergency.”
“You had to have plans, you had to have strategies and you had to have stuff that they love to eat.”
ITALIAN FRIES
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Yield: 6 servings
6-7 Idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/3-inch-thick french fry-style strips, soaked in cold salted water
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs or combination of dried oregano, thyme, marjoram and basil
2 cups freshly grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter, cut into 6 cubes
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Drain potatoes and pat dry with paper towel. Spread 1 tablespoon olive oil on each of 2 rimmed baking sheets and spread out potatoes (overlapping is fine). Sprinkle dried herbs evenly over potatoes. Liberally spread cheese and parsley on top. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over cheese. Scatter cubed butter over all.
3. Bake until potatoes are golden brown, rotating pans after 30 minutes, for 45-50 minutes total. Use a spatula to lift potatoes with all the crusty cheese adhered to them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve hot.
Source: “Mad Hungry — Feeding Men & Boys: Recipes, Strategies & Survival Techniques,” by Lucinda Scala Quinn
CREAM CHEESE PASTRY
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Yield: Enough dough for 10 pocket pies (see recipe, below)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour,
plus more for rolling out dough
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Procedure:
1. In food processor, with electric mixer or by hand, process butter, cream cheese and heavy whipping cream. Add flour and salt; process just until combined and dough holds together in a ball. Turn dough out onto well-floured surface and divide into 2 pieces. Flatten into disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before rolling out. If dough is chilled overnight, take out 15 minutes before rolling out.
2. Rub flour all over rolling pin. Working with one disk at a time, place disk on clean, well-floured surface. Roll gently from center of dough to top and bottom edges. Rotate disk, and roll to top and bottom edges again. Reflour work surface and rolling pin, turn dough over and continue to roll dough from center out to edges. Turn over and roll again, rotating disk to ensure even rolling until dough is about 12 inches in diameter, thin but not transparent.
Source: “Mad Hungry — Feeding Men & Boys: Recipes, Strategies & Survival Techniques,” by Lucinda Scala Quinn
SAVORY CHICKEN POCKET PIES
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Yield: Makes 10
1 heaping cup shredded chicken from 1 (3-pound) poached chicken; freeze remainder for other recipes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped carrot
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (from reduced poaching liquid)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 recipe (2 disks) Cream Cheese Pastry (see recipe)
1 large egg, for egg wash
Procedure:
1. Place chicken in pot and add water to barely cover. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 50 minutes. Skim and discard any foam as it rises to the surface. Remove chicken to cool. Continue to boil broth to reduce to about 1 quart. Remove meat from chicken and shred.
2. In skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add onion, celery and carrot. Sauté 2-3 minutes. Stir in salt and flour and cook 1 minute more. Add chicken broth and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1 heaping cup shredded chicken and Parmesan cheese. Cool in fridge.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter or line a baking sheet.
4. To form the pocket pies, work with half a disk of dough at a time, rolling it out on a floured surface to about 12 inches in diameter. Using an overturned bowl (about 5 inches across), cut out about 3 circles from each piece of dough. After cutting out all circles, gather all dough scraps, reroll, and cut out a final time. Place 1/4 cup filling on one side of a dough circle. Wet edges of dough with water. Fold dough over to form a half-circle. Pinch edges of dough together. Crimp edges with a fork. Repeat process until all filling is used. The pocket pies can be frozen at this point.
5. Place pocket pies on prepared baking sheet and chill a few minutes. Prick each pie on top twice with a fork. When ready to bake, beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush egg wash over each pocket pie. Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
6. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. The pies can be cooled and frozen to reheat in the microwave.
Source: “Mad Hungry — Feeding Men & Boys: Recipes, Strategies & Survival Techniques,” by Lucinda Scala Quinn
