Chocolate-Orange Cornmeal Cookies mark special occasion of meeting new kin

Though I have many decades of life under my belt, little stirs me as much as does meeting flesh-and-blood kin. I’ve been fortunate to have this experience many times now, yet I’m still like a kid on Christmas morning when I realize I’m looking on the face of someone who shares my same bloodline.

That’s because as an adopted individual, I spent many years not knowing anyone to whom I was genetically related. Many adult adopted persons testify to the same take-your-breath-away sense of wonder when they realize they at last can gaze on “biological relations”.

Both my cookbooks, Way Back in the Country and Way Back in the Country Garden, are written in praise and devotion to the adopted family that loved and reared me—some of the finest folk on the face of the earth. I owe so much to these wonderful individuals; all the ink in the world is not sufficient enough to sing their praises.

But more than 30 years ago I was privileged to begin meeting members of my birthfamily and to uncover many rich stories of the physical heritage from which I sprang. This week I made the acquaintance of two more of their number, as some cousins from my maternal side paid me a delightful visit. Having traveled to the sunny West to celebrate the 35th birthday of our son (mentioned in the two previous blogs), we were able to connect with these cousins who are snowbirds from a colder climate and winter in the same city in which our children live year-round.

What kind of treats to prepare for a celebration such as this? Something that reflected our current Western geography—specifically, the citrus season about which I blogged earlier. The recent issue of Southern Living magazine, which features numerous “sweet-on-citrus” dishes, shared a recipe for Chocolate-Orange Cornmeal Cookies. I took an orange from our son’s backyard citrus grove and used it for the fresh orange juice and orange zest that the recipe specifies.

Pressing the dough into the log shape and cutting the log into slices made perfectly shaped, round cookies. The citrus gave the dough a special bright tang. The cornmeal addition was indecipherable in the finished product and actually helped the dough solidify. Drizzling the chocolate over the cooled cookies—well, it does what a bit of chocolate frosting does for any recipe. These cookies were just amazing!

Hours ticked away as though they were seconds as Hubby and I exchanged some special conversation with these newfound “cuzzins”. Comparing a physical resemblance here and there never ceases to bring huge amazement for one who never knew any physical kinfolk until I gave birth to my son and finally set my eyes on a face that looked like mine. One of the two visitors—a sprightly 93-year-old who’s still going strong—encouraged me about quality, long-term life expectancy. Firsthand accounts of her own grandparents—my great-grandparents on my birthfamily side—brought highly cherished moments for me.

Hubby and I never again will dine on Chocolate-Orange Cornmeal Cookies without thinking about these few rare hours in which we once again gathered some missing pieces (the title of my book, Gathering the Missing Pieces in an Adopted Life, which tells about my initial experience of finding birthfamily) and enjoyed fellowship with some interesting relatives.

Chocolate-Orange Cornmeal Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup plain cornmeal

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 large egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

wax paper

Combine flour and cornmeal. Set aside. In a large bowl and with an electric mixer beat butter and sugar at medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Add egg and next three ingredients. Beat until all are blended. Gradually add flour mixture. After each addition beat just until blended. Cover and chill dough one hour. Using wax paper shape dough into a 12-inch log. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill 8 hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove log from refrigerator and allow to soften a little at room temperature so it will slice easily. Slice log into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place 1-inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12 minutes or until set. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely (about 15 minutes). Drizzle 1/4 cup melted semisweet chocolate morsels over cooled cookies. (Use a small drop of cooking oil to thin melted chocolate if needed for drizzling.) Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Many of the recommended "5 to 9" get satisfied in this one humble sandwich

If health between two pieces of whole wheat ever existed, it's this sandwich. I’ve held onto this recipe FOR-EVVVVV-ER trying to decide whether it interested me enough to try. Now that I've dined on it (day after day, because it makes so many sandwich halves), I can't imagine why I put off preparing it.

Draining and rinsing the garbanzo beans is crucial to rid them of the extra sodium content and make them less sticky as the food processor purees them along with the water, cumin, red pepper, and lime juice. The fresh parsley processed with the onion and garlic gives the garbanzo mixture an amazingly fresh taste.

Piling on the veggies atop the pureed beans spread on one side of the pita brought a smile as I thought of how many of the “5 to 9” (recommended servings of fresh fruit and veggies we’re supposed to have each day) were being satisfied in that one humble sandwich.

After the sandwiches were all finished, I still had quite an ample amount of the garbanzo-bean mixture, so I spread it on some leftover cornbread instead of using butter. Just as good as on the pita!

Why’d I wait? This unique pita partner is terrific!

Garbanzo Bean Sandwiches

1/8 cup onion, sliced

1 garlic clove

2 tablespoons parsley

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon lime (or lemon) juice

4 whole-wheat pitas

2 cups spinach, shredded

1 medium tomato, chopped

1/2 cucumber, medium, sliced and quartered

1 cup carrots, shredded

1/2 cup fat-free ranch dressing

Place onion, garlic, and parsley in a food processor or blender. Process until roughly chopped.

Add garbanzo beans, water, cumin, red pepper, and lime juice. Process until smooth. Cut each pita in half to for 2 pockets. Spread 2 tablespoons of bean mixture into each pita half. To each pita half add spinach, tomato, cucumber, and shredded carrots. Then to each pita half add 1 tablespoon of ranch dressing. Makes 8 servings.

This Friendly Puppy salad brings smiles to kids of all ages

My son’s request for fried okra on his Dream Birthday Dinner menu went afoul. As much as I desired to serve him heaping helpings of this Southern delicacy, dipped in egg and cornmeal batter and golden-fried to perfection, the local produce departments of supermarkets at which I shopped didn’t help me out.

In one place no okra was to be found at all. In another place the small handful of okra that was available was $4.29 per pound and looked as though it was about to sprout fungus at any second. Possibly this was occurring because we were away from the part of the U.S. in which okra is king. In the Western region, in which our son lives, okra isn’t exactly everyone’s first-choice veggie.

The designated hour for our guests to arrive fast approached. Hubby encouraged me to try no more stores and reminded me that before too many months we’d be fighting off the okra “trees” that take over our backyard garden in the summer, so we could have our fill of it then.

Since I had to make an emergency switch-out, I opted for "Friendly Puppy” Salad. Part of our party decor was a terra-cotta pot that had been handpainted with a Snoopy dog on it as a centerpiece for our son’s third birthday when he was a child. All these years I had saved it; now for his 35th I was using it as the base for a balloon bouquet. The Friendly Puppy with his doleful eyes (made from raisins) and his floppy ears (made from prunes) would fit with this party theme.

Wish I’d had time to peel fresh pears for the occasion, but since the moments sped by, I drained pear halves from a can, rinsed them, and plopped each on a spinach-lined salad plate. Onto each pear went the raisin, the prune, orange sections for the dog’s collar, and a cherry for his nose. This made a very healthy substitution—one that the kids in the audience (grown kids as well as the munchkin variety) would find appealing.

Maybe on his next Texas visit, when the garden is up and running (and over-running) with this Southern staple, our son can drop in for some fried okra. Meanwhile the healthful Friendly Puppy brought smiles and made a great substitution.

Friendly Puppy Salad

4 pear halves (fresh, peeled pears are preferred, although canned, drained pears can be used)

dried, seedless raisins

oranges (fresh orange sections are preferred, although canned, drained Mandarin orange pieces

can be subbed)

cherries (fresh cherries are preferred if in season, although jarred, drained cherries can be subbed)

dried prunes

spinach leaves

Arrange these items as described above and as illustrated in the photo. Chill before serving.

Birthday celebration morphs into fiesta with addition of green bean dress-ups

The event was our son's 35th birthday, so he got to choose the menu for his birthday meal. No surprises there; in my head I already had the menu planned because I knew what choices would pop out of his mouth: meat loaf (prepared with lean ground beef this time instead of our usual ground turkey), mashed potatoes, corn bread, fried okra, and green beans—all favorites from his childhood.

With the green beans, however, I couldn't resist a little fancy footwork. I had a new Fiesta Green Beans recipe that called for leeks to be added; I had one extra leek from my earlier preparations (mushroom burger topping and fresh mushroom soup that I blogged about previously). I also had some remaining tomatoes and fresh corn, so my Fiesta Green Beans recipe would use up all of those.

To be safe I pulled aside a small saucepan full of fresh green beans and cooked them the regular, basic way (just a little seasoning tossed in) that I knew he'd like. But the remainder went into the skillet to be steamed along with the leeks, tomatoes, and corn for the green-bean fiesta.

The birthday dinner was a big success. Turning 35 (ah, youth!) is a great milestone; we wanted to mark it appropriately for him. But the best news was, he (and the others around the table) liked the dressed-up Fiesta Green Beans as well. Everybody left happy—our son having been fed with his traditions and me having pulled off the great green-bean experiment.

Fiesta Green Beans

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 leek, sliced thin

2 tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup water

1 pound fresh green beans

3/4 cup corn (cut from cob)

In skillet heat oil over medium heat; add leeks; cook until leeks just begin to brown. Add fresh tomato and water; simmer for 2 minutes. Add beans and corn. Cover and cook for 6-8 minutes or until beans reach the desired doneness. Makes 4-6 servings.

Citrus season inspires experimenting with this bright new salad recipe

In citrus country where our son lives, oranges grow on trees like roses on a rose bush. Sometimes, from a distance, a citrus tree in bloom will appear to be almost ablaze because of its brilliant orange color. This time of year, in the peak of citrus season, folks will have huge baskets of oranges, lemons, or grapefruit sitting on their curbs; these boxes bear signs that say, “Free. Take some.” Residents are more than happy to offer up their overflow citrus to passersby—and believe me, the overflow from their citrus gardens is plenteous.

Naturally, when I visit there during the season that citrus is king, I'm eager to try some of the citrus recipes I've been saving. A recent issue of Southern Living magazine dedicated itself to extolling what it called “the incomparable sassy tartness and vibrant good looks of citrus” and helped out with several delicious recipe suggestions that I’m eager to try with some of the fruit I've collected.

However, the first of my citrus treats—Citrus Bulgur Salad—was prepared with a recipe from the Chickasaw Nutrition Services. I'll be the first to admit that not only had I never cooked with bulgur, I really wasn’t familiar with the product and had to look it up on the Internet so I’d even know in which section of the grocery to search for it. I learned that bulgur, a whole-grain wheat product, is considered one of the best ways to incorporate whole grain into the diet. As a growing number of people know, diets rich in whole-grain foods may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers.

Mixing the bulgur with sections of a fresh orange and grated orange peel, along with tomato, fresh parsley, onion, and seasonings, made an amazing salad. I started out by cooking the bulgur in a covered pan much as one would cook brown rice: two parts water to one part bulgur. After it simmered for about 20 minutes and all the water in the pan was absorbed, it was ready to cool and then add to the remaining ingredients.

The recipe with the odd name—Citrus Bulgur Salad—was excellent; the oranges made an dynamite pairing with the nutritious grains. I had stretched and grown and learned a new ingredient; the salad it made was fit for any family gathering or buffet table. Best of all, eating just one portion of bulgur provides nearly all of USDA's recommended daily dietary guidelines for whole grains. One serving also contains only 70 calories, 5 mg sodium, and 0 mg cholesterol. Now who can argue with that?

Citrus Bulgur Salad

1/2 cup bulgur, uncooked

1 large orange, peeled, membrane removed, chopped

1/4 cup medium red onion, chopped

1 small tomato, chopped

3/4 cup parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated orange peel

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Cook bulgur as directed on package, omitting salt. In a medium bowl toss bulgur and remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Makes 6 1/2-cup servings.

Think cream-of-mushroom soup only happens in a can? Try this from-scratch version.

Recently someone told me she dined on “mushroom soup—not the kind you get from a can, but mushroom soup from scratch”. That idea tickled my fancy. I mean, don’t you just get mushroom soup by visiting the Campbell’s section of the soups aisle at the store and run the can rim under the opener? What would something of this nature taste like if it were from-scratch?

My recipe yesterday for Mushroom Burger Topping provided me with some leftover fresh mushrooms and a couple of additional leeks. Lo and behold, my Celebrating a Healthy Harvest cookbooklet featured a Fresh Mushroom Soup recipe that included both of these. I was ready to tackle it and see what difference is made from preparing this pantry staple from one's own ingredients.

I browned the sliced, fresh mushrooms in the bottom of a heavy stock pot; I removed them and then browned the chopped leek and added the wheat flour for thickening. (You also can use chopped onion if you don't have leeks on hand.) Into the mix went homemade chicken broth (collected from my stovetop pan after earlier boiling some chicken pieces). The simmered, thickened mixture went into a blender for pureeing before I added the low-fat evaporated mix and seasonings.

Man, did I feel pleased with myself when I finally was able to sample the finished brew! Homemade mushroom soup, along with some warm, crusty wheat bread—and the only can I opened was the one for the evaporated milk!

Fresh Mushroom Soup

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 1/2 pounds fresh mushrooms, washed and sliced

1 large leek, chopped (white and green parts)

3 tablespoons wheat flour or corn starch

6 cups chicken broth (if using canned variety, choose reduced-sodium broth)

3/4 cup low-fat evaporated milk

1 tablespoon fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot over medium heat cook mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of oil until the mushrooms are browned. Set mushrooms aside. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add the chopped leek. Cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour (or corn starch); cook for another 2 minutes. Set aside one cup of mushrooms. To the pan add remaining mushrooms and broth. Gently simmer for 15 minutes; stir occasionally. Cool soup, then puree it in the blender until the liquid reaches desired texture. Add in reserved mushrooms, evaporated milk, and parsley. Stir; heat to serving temperature. Makes 6 servings.

Can't help yourself about craving burgers? Try this healthy topping.

I can't help myself; I just love a good hamburger.

I get this yen honestly. Practically until her dying day at age 93, my mother still was calling for us to bring her a good ole juicy burger from Burger Street. Any time previously when I might have been out in the car running errands with my mother in tow, I always knew that a stop for a cheeseburger would be on her list.

Only problem with burgers, of course, is that they are good ole juicy. That usually means lots of artery-clogging, cholestrol-and-sodium-laden elements that have the potential to shorten our lives. (Didn't seem to mess with my mother's odds any, since she lived to be 93, but I'd rather not take my chances.)

So my heart did a flip-flop when I saw this recipe for mushroom burger topping. It looked like a good way to scratch my forever-itch for a good ole juicy burger, minus the bad stuff.

My burger, of course, was made from lean ground turkey, a healthy substitution to which I've grown accustomed. A nice plump pattie cooked on the countertop grill and seasoned with some salt-free seasoning can't hurt anything. Then the simple mushroom topping, which features chopped leeks, was prepared. I'm not sure how frequently in my lifetime I've ever cooked with leeks, a giant-sized version of green onions, but they plus some minced garlic surely kicked up what could have been a run-of-the-mill burger topping, which also could be used atop steaks, fish, or even atop some other grilled veggies such as grilled zucchini or squash.

No need for me to sit around and pine for bygone days of good old and juicy when a recipe such as this one can deliver something even juicier to the table. Mushroom topping with leeks gets my vote for building a better, and healthier, burger.

Mushroom Burger Topping

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 leeks, white and green parts

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cut leeks into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Put all ingredients into skillet and stir-fry until leeks and mushrooms are softened, about 6 minutes. Serve on burgers or steaks. Makes 4 to 6 servings.