Second Breakfast

I like to cook, and my husband likes to eat, and we like to share, so we often have a friend or two over to share a weeknight meal. Our friend Kevin, who practices family medicine and obstetrics near Detroit, has been our regular diner for some time now, and we recently introduced him to a delicacy Alan’s side of the family, and he’s been bugging me for the recipe ever since. So here it is.

Tater Tot Casserole is essentially a prepared foods version of Shepherd’s Pie: cooked meat, vegetables, and a sauce, topped with potatoes and baked, and finished with cheese. In this case the potatoes are tater tots, those nuggets of shredded, baked potato goodness that one associates with pizza rolls and other artery-clogging inhabitants of the freezer aisle at the grocery store. I tend to be one of those who shops around the edges of the store and eschews most prepared foods, but this is tasty and easy and sometimes I don’t want to mess with a lot of prep.

This can be made with meat or as a vegetarian version. We usually leave the meat out and don’t notice the lack. This can be varied and fussed with endlessly. Since this is Alan’s mother’s recipe, he believes that any modifications are heresy.

Items

• 1 lb ground beef, or 1 pkg Morningstar “Grillers” Recipe Crumbles/TVP (yes, you can do that to the English language).
• 1 medium onion, fine chop
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 2 cups frozen or 1 can corn
• 1 pkg Ore-Ida Tater Tots (I like the Onion-flavored kind myself) — you won’t use them all.
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
• 10 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Brown the beef or TVP and onion in a skillet. You’ll want to add a couple of Tbsp olive oil if you’re using the crumbles. Drain the excess fat from the beef. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
3. In a 2 1/2 quart round casserole, layer 1/2 of the beef, 1/2 of the corn, and 1/2 of the soup, spreading with a spatula. Repeat with the remainder of the beef, corn, and soup.
4. Arrange the tater tots in a single layer on top of the soup, in whatever arrangement or pattern pleases you best. I arrange them like little barrels standing up in circles for optimal packing.
5. Cook in a microwave on high for 10-15 minutes, until the inside is hot and bubbling. Alternatively, cook in the oven for 45 minutes at least.
6. Top with the cheese, and finish under the broiler for 5-10mins until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Serves 4-6.

As usual, this is my variation of something I found elsewhere, this time on Epicurious.

My idea for this pasta was to create a sauce that would capitalize on the inherent creaminess of fresh corn, and to use the vegetables in both their uncooked and cooked forms. Fresh, good local corn is the key to this being fabulous I think.

The resulting dish can be made with our without dairy, and is quite rich and satisfying either way.

Items

• 4 ears fresh sweet corn on the cob, husked and washed
• 1 large zucchini, skin on, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 1/2 cups shelled baby peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 2 Tb olive oil or butter (your preference)
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
• 1 lb linguine
• 1/4 cup cream (optional)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Over the sink (its messy), cut the kernels from the corn, reserving the cobs.
2. Cook the linguine according to the package directions in well-salted boiling water. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.
3. In a blender, process half of the corn kernels, plus half of the zucchini and peas, until smooth. Scrape the cobs with a knife to release the juice into the blender, along with 1/3 of the basil, and process for a few seconds more.
4. Heat a chef’s pan over medium heat. Melt the butter (or heat the oil) and saute the shallot until translucent, 3-4 mins.
5. Add the reserved corn, peas, and zucchini, and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is softened.
6. Turn the heat down to low, and add the sauce from the blender, plus the optional cream, and cook very gently just heated through. The idea here is to not lose the raw taste from the blender portion of the sauce.
7. Add at least 1 tsp salt and some black pepper to your taste.
8. When the pasta is finished cooking, toss it with the sauce and remaining basil leaves, adding a bit of the reserved pasta water and adjusting the seasoning as needed. It will be a saucy dish, but the sauce is light enough that it is pleasant and not overwhelming.
9. Serve with the grated cheese as desired.

Serves 4-6.

If memory serves, I discovered Laurie King’s “Mary Russell” books from Diane Rehm’s “book group”. I’ve never read the Conan Doyle “Sherlock Holmes” mysteries (for some reason the Holmes character didn’t particularly interest me, perhaps because of the ham-handed way Star Trek: The Next Generation used the trope), but for whatever reason, the description of “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice” fascinated me, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

This is my second time around re-reading the series, and they are perfect summertime companions. The central conceit of the books is that King was sent a trunk of various scraps and mementos, including a series of manuscripts of one Mary Russell, the young female apprentice and later wife of the famed investigator Sherlock Holmes. Holmes himself is quite different (given my impressions at least) from the character that Conan Doyle (and his followers) invented. Although still incredibly perceptive and ferociously intelligent, the Holmes character here is singularly focused and somewhat manic-depressive. Facing what he sees as an uninspiring future of solitude and research, he has retired to the Sussex countryside to tend his bees and retire from public life. Into his life literally walks Mary Russell, a young American orphan and Oxford student, still recovering from the circumstances that led to death of her entire family.

The two characters strike up an immediate if unlikely friendship. While the series follows their progressive adventures and intrigues in good mystery-novel fashion, there is also a continuing thread of the development of their relationship and marriage, and the events that threaten to dismantle their sometimes fragile partnership. This progression on two levels - intellectual and emotional - makes this a quite satisfying series. The books are set in the period during and immediately after The Great War, and King has a wonderful ability to evoke both the atmosphere of the period and the place.

Of the first three books in the series: “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice”, “A Monstrous Regiment of Women”, and “The Moor”, I find “The Moor” to be particularly delightful. Set in the Dartmouth region of the southwestern-most corner of England, the story is a continuation of the famous “Hound of the Baskervilles” tale. What I find so appealing about this book are two particular characters: The Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, and the moor itself. Baring-Gould is a name that was familiar to me, as he is enormously published (he held forth on any topic that caught his attention, however briefly), and was famous for collecting the songs and lore of Dartmouthshire. As a result, several of his tunes are published in church hymnals, including the Presbyterian one. There’s an Advent tune in there I think.

I read “The Moor” for the first time while traveling in London and Ireland for my honeymoon in 2002, and so enjoyed the book that I was half-tempted to change our travel plans and go tromping down to the south-west, but I was certain my more practically-minded husband would have other ideas. But the book is such great fun, and King is so clearly in love with the place and Baring-Gould that I wanted to follow along.

The series continues with “O Jerusalem”, “Locked Rooms”, and “The Art of Detection”, which brings together the Mary Russels series with King’s contemporary Kate Martinelli series (and likely brings the latter series to conclusion). King was in Ann Arbor quite recently (alas! I did not know!) promoting her most recent book, “The Language of Bees”, which continues the Mary Russell series with the appearance of Holmes’ long-lost and previously unknown son.

These are great fun. I’m not at all a fan of the mystery genre, but these are for me a wonderful exception.

This has been floating around for a while, but I saw it at the back of this month’s “Windows IT Professional” (*sigh*).

My previous employer changed its name from “Nephros Therapeutics” to “RenaMed”, which meant that they re-named the company to renamed.com. That company is, shockingly, no longer in business.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for domain name stupidity. Check these out:

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is

www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at

www.expertsexchange.com (I’d definitely want an expert.)

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at

www.penisland.net (Can I visit?)

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at

www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company…

www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales (that’s in Australia):

www.molestationnursery.com (is this affiliated with the Catholic church?)

7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always

www.ipanywhere.com (well, almost anywhere)

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is

www.cummingfirst.com (I’m guessing services there are relatively short.)

9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website:

www.speedofart.com (hopefully you wait ’til you’re out of the pool)

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at

www.gotahoe.com