Cooking Demonstrations at Windemere in Stamford

Windermere on the Lake to Host
Series of Cooking Demonstrations
By Award-Winning Chef Nicole Straight
On October 5 and October 12

STAMFORD, CT – Award-winning chef Nicole Straight will be holding a series of weekend cooking demonstrations at Windermere on the Lake, the new luxury eco-village in North Stamford. The events, which are open to the public, will be held Sunday, October 5 and Sunday, October 12 from 1 to 4 pm.

Ms. Straight, mother to two children and published author, is the Founder and President of Time to Eat!, a company dedicated to teaching parents, professionals, young adults and those interested in great recipes how to prepare fast, healthy and delicious meals in 15 minutes.

Designed in the style of a classic English village, Windermere on the Lake features semi-custom designed lakeside homes beautifully sited on 74 wooded acres. The Cumbria model home at Windermere on the Lake recently received LEED for Homes certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its design and “green” technologies. The Cumbria model residence is the first home in Fairfield County to receive the prestigious LEED certification and the first luxury home in the Northeast to receive LEED certification from the USGBC.

For more information about the weekend cooking series at Windermere on the Lake, please call (203) 322-0055.

Upcoming classes at Christopher Peacock

For those of you who don't receive my annual email, I have created some fantastic new cooking classes for the fall and winter. The next few coming up are:

October 7- Soups class-learn how to make 3 soups and a delicious baked apple with a brown sugar crumble topping. Perfect for those upcoming cool fall evenings.

October 16- A favorite... 15 Minute Meals class #5... The newest in our line of fast and easy menus your whole family will love.

October 22-Thai Dinner Party- Learn how to make a fantastic Thai themed dinner that won't keep you in the kitchen all night.
Fresh Spring rolls, Roasted salmon over a cellophane noodle salad and broiled pineapple with coconut ice cream.

To register for any of these classes- visit my website-www.timetoeat.info

School Lunch Reform in Westport

Hi,

Here is the press release for a documentary that will be shown at the Westport Public Library at the McManus Room on Tuesday, Oct. 8th. We will have a panel as well to discuss the film, including Amy Kalafa the movie's producer and Award Winning Chef Michel Nischan. Hope you can make it!

***PRESS RELEASE *** PRESS RELEASE *** PRESS RELEASE ***

Westport Moms get angry about school lunches, and push for change…

Two Angry Moms – the Movie and the Movement –
Sponsored by Parents for Change
Showing at the Westport Library McManus Room
Tuesday, October 28th 9:30a.m.


Local Mom, Amy Kalafa in Weston, made the movie, ‘Two Angry Moms,’ because she was fed up with her children eating heavily-processed food, filled with additives and preservatives, at school.

Now, a group of Westport Moms, headed by Television presenter and Time to Eat’s Nicole Straight want other Westport Moms to come together to look at what our children are eating in school, and how we can change it to ensure they are eating food that is better for them.

If your kids are eating pizza, chicken nuggets and100-calorie snack bags, the chances are they aren’t getting the right kind of nutrition for proper growth.

A growing number of kids aren’t getting enough nutrients like calcium, iron, and assorted vitamins, which is affecting their brainpower, behaviour, and ability to concentrate at school.

Timely, controversial and cutting edge, Two Angry Moms, the film and the movement,
address an issue of great concern to parents across the country. What is happening to the
health of our children and how does school food factor in?

Two Angry Moms, the film, will be shown at the Westport Public Library in the McManus Room on Tuesday, October 28th from 9:30a.m.-11:30 a.m., and chronicles what happens when two fed-up moms take on the system and start a grass-roots revolution aimed at establishing programs that safeguard the health of our
kids. Chef Michel Nischan and Amy Kalafa will be at the screening to answer questions.

Amy Kalafa (filmmaker in Weston) explores the roles the federal government, corporate
interest, school administration and parents play in the feeding of our country’s school
kids and the impact it has on their health.

The screening is free to the public. For more details about the movie and the movement please visit http://www.angrymoms.org, or contact Nicole J. Straight at: 203-221-8306

For more about Two Angry Moms visit www.angrymoms.org

Turkey Chili with corn bread

The weather is perfect for a nice warm bowl of chili.

Here's how I make my chili:

Heat 1 tbs. oil in a deep nonstick pot. Add in 1 finely diced onion and saute for 3-4 minutes or until onions begin to color. Add in 2 cubes frozen cilantro and stir until thawed and incorporated. Add in 1 C. diced mushrooms ( I like to dice everything so it's harder for the kids pick out what they don't like!) Stir to incorporate and saute for another minute. Add in 1 lb. of ground lean turkey meat. 1 tbs. cumin, 1 tbs. chili powder, a good pinch of kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper.

Saute turkey until cooked through, about 7-8 minutes. While the turkey cooks, rinse 3 cans of kidney beans. Once the turkey is cooked through, add the kidney beans and a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes. Bring to a medium boil, then lower to a simmer. Let cook for at least 30 minutes. Add in 1 c. of frozen corn kernels.

You can serve chili in a bowl over some pasta, brown rice or with a little corn bread.

I use a boxed corn bread, and add 1 C. or frozen roasted corn, a handful of shredded cheese and 1 diced jalapeno. Another great trick to spruce up corn bread is to sprinkle the top with chili powder and demerra sugar (this is larger crystals of sugar). It gives it a great color and a nice crunch.

Our kids LOVE chili and so do we. I add lots of hot sauce to mine and a handful of cilantro leaves to the top.

Roasted beet and green bean salad

My girls double as guinea pigs in our house for trying new foods. Last week we made scones, which they loved! This week the girls tried roasted beets. I can't make beets without thinking fondly of my grandmother who taught me the easiest way to prepare them.

Preheat oven to 500. Rinse beets and snap the tops off. Wrap beets (4-5) in foil, double the foil up if necessary to ensure no beet juice will leak.

Pop them in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a knife can be inserted through the foil and slides in easily.

Once the beets are cooked through, remove them from the foil and rinse under cool running water. Gently rub the skins and they slip right off. I like to dice them, add a little bit of butter and salt and eat warm.

I tell the girls the story that was told to me when I was a little girl that women used to dye their lips and cheeks with beet juice before they had makeup. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but it's a fun story to tell while enjoying these sweet delicious red gems.

I had a friend over today for lunch and we enjoyed some leftovers from last nights party. Steamed Haricot vert (baby green bean) salad with roasted beets with a dijon vinaigrette.

If your only experience with beets are the ones that come from a can, try roasting beets, they are so easy to make and mild enough that kids will love them too.

Dad does dinner

I had to work last night so Kirk was on his own with the girls. I had bought some skinless chicken drumsticks and had couscous and broccoli in the house. Kirk can handle the couscous and broccoli, but needed a little direction with the chicken.

Here's the simple recipe I have him.

Preheat oven to 400. Line a brownie pan with foil and place drumsticks in the pan. Add about 1/2 C. BBQ sauce. Rub drumsticks with sauce until well coated. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until browned.

Serve with couscous and steamed broccoli.

He said the kids loved dinner and he was very proud of himself.

The last time he made dinner, there were many tears and scowls. He made pork chops and corn. Apparently the chops were dry and the corn was too hot (?) !

Dinner tonight, probably ball park chicken thighs, baked potatoes and peas. We get home late tonight activities and this is a great dish that can be made in advance.

Recipe for Ballpark chicken:
equal amounts of yellow mustard and ketchup (about 2-3 tbs)
1 tsp. garlic salt
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Combine and bake in a deep dish ( a pie plate works well) . Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes. Potatoes can be baked at the same time, put them in the oven 30 minutes before baking chicken.

Indian spiced shrimp with steamed vegetables

Every now and again when I venture into NY, I go to a great spice store called Kalustyan's, I've blogged about it before.

When I was at the supermarket today, I bought some shrimp and assorted veggies, had some leftover cilantro and lime juice and decided to make a stir fry-ish...

I used a bamboo steamer to steam green beans, broccoli, mushrooms, red pepper and shredded carrots.

While those steamed, I made some couscous. In another pan I heated up about 1 Tbs. of peanut oil and when it was very hot, threw in 1/2 pound of uncooked, peeled, cleaned and deveined shrimp. I added in a handful of fresh chopped cilantro and the juice from 1/2 lime.

I stirred that around for about 30 seconds, then added in my mystery spice from Kalustyan's. It's a type of curry, but I took it out of it's container and put it in a ball jar with NO label. Use any kind of curry powder you have and add a pinch of cayenne pepper.

The veggies steam quickly, so I removed some and threw it in with the shrimp, reserving the rest of the veggies for the girls.

They happily ate the veggies and couscous with a little left over steak.

I bought a roast to make in the next day or 2, hoping the weather will stay coolish.

A cooking slump

I realize I have been in a bit of a cooking slump. I wonder if it has to do with the weather being so schizophrenic.. Yesterday warm and lovely, today humid (my least favorite type of weather) and rainy. I tend to follow the climate to help me decide what to make and it's all over the place and I think so am I!

The next few days should be sunny and cooler, and we've just been eating whatever happens to be around the house, nothing terribly exciting. Our neighbor gave us green beans from her garden which got mostly eaten raw on the walk home from the bus and the rest were steamed for dinner last night.

I am also getting v. busy with work, especially preparing for the Whole Foods event on Friday from 4-6 p.m. Stop by, have a taste and pick up a cookbook.

Thai noodle soup

We are all a little under the weather today so I decided to make soup. It is, however about 85 degrees here with 100% humidity!!

This soup started out as a vegetable saute, but I just kept adding things.

Start with a nonstick pan with high sides. Add 1 tbs. peanut oil. Add a diced shallot and 2 cubes of frozen garlic and a cube of frozen ginger, saute about 1 minute. Add a handful of sliced mushrooms and saute for another minute.

Add about a cup of green beans that have been sliced in 1/2. Saute for another minute, then add a pinch of curry powder and a good pinch of kosher salt.

Add in a can of diced tomatoes, a can of coconut milk and an 8 oz. container of chicken stock.

Zest 1/2 a lime and add that to the soup as well as about 3 tbs. roughly chopped cilantro.

I happened to have an ear of corn, so I cut that in half and added it to the soup as well as a leftover cooked chicken breast that I thinly sliced.

Lastly, I added in a handful of cellophane noodles about 5 minutes before sitting down to eat the soup.

I know the kids won't eat it, so they're getting some leftover chicken breast, noodles, and an ear of corn.