E-Recipes

I love my iPhone.  I had a brief flirtation with the iPhone when it first came out, but it did not work with my e-mail server.  So I had to settle for a Blackberry for years.  That all ended when my employer announced late in 2010 that the iPhone would now sync with our work e-mail.  Just after Christmas, I ordered the iPhone 4.  I got it refurbished for only $99.  So what if I had to sell my soul to AT&T for another two years. 

What does this have to do with family dinner?  Apps.  I immediately downloaded Facebook, Sparkpeople (to track diet and exercise), Snooth (wine), and Beat the Traffic.  (I'm not sure what this says about me and my priorities.  I'm sure Freud would have a heyday analyzing what people put on their phones.)  That sated me for awhile, but there had to be more.  Electronic recipes, of course!  I've been using the internet for recipes for awhile now.  I particularly like http://www.foodnetwork.com/, http://www.allrecipes.com/, and http://www.vegweb.com/.  I have been absolutely thrilled with user ratings (to tell if something is good) and user comments (that often contain suggestions to make it better). 

There are countless recipe apps.  I chose Whole Foods Recipes because I shop there, can easily find the ingredients, and trust Whole Foods to consult with foodies for recipes.  I also chose Allrecipes.  There is a cool feature that will randomly select a recipe for you.  I am too picky for that, so I upgraded from the free version to the $2.99 version so I could have more advanced search options and a virtual recipe box to store the recipes I like.  Allrecipes shows user comments and ratings which is key if you don't trust the person providing the recipe.  I trust Peter Berley and Nigella Lawson.  I'm giving Whole Foods the benefit of the doubt.  Will all others, I am skeptical and need user feedback.

Around the same time I got the iPhone, I got a Kindle.  It took me awhile to come to terms reading "books" without books.  I love slowly turning the pages on a lazy Saturday afternoon (to the extent I have them anymore, which is rare).  But the Kindle is surprisingly awesome.  On the recommendation of my friend Amy, I downloaded Hungry Monkey by Matthew Amster-Burton.  It is a "A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater."  The daughter he is trying to turn into a foodie is the same age as Annika.  I relate to his humorous anecdotes.  But more importantly, there are mouthwatering recipes in every chapter.  The Kindle makes it super-easy to bookmark recipes that look interesting.  It is the virtual equivalent of a sticky note, but it doesn't come off so easily when you throw the book in your purse, briefcase, or cupboard.  I am tempted to purchase a real cookbook on my Kindle and would love to hear the experiences of anyone who has done that.  It is tough.  In addition to the superior pictures in paper books, there is something about a spattered and battered cookbook that makes me sentimental.

Tonight, all of our recipes were e-recipes.  From Hungry Monkey, I made parsnips and chard.  For the parsnips I quartered them, coated them in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted them in a 425-degree oven for about 15 minutes.  They were slightly crisp on the outside and mushy on the inside.  They were sort of like home-made french fries, but with that distinct sweet parsnip taste.  Definite thumbs up.

For the chard, I roughly chopped the leaves from two bunches (as long as I'm proclaiming my love of inanimate objects, I should give a shout out to my new food processor that has a slicing function, making this very quick and easy).  Then I melted 1.5 tablespoons each of butter and olive oil in my wok.  When the butter/oil were hot, I tossed in the chard and sauteed with two minced cloves of garlic.  When it was nice and wilted, I stirred in a tablespoon of lemon juice.  The tart lemon makes salt completely unnecessary.  And the butter/oil proved that even the scariest vegetable can be made appetizing by cooking it in a bit of fat.  Don't feel guilty.  Fat helps your body absorb the vitamins and minerals in the veggies.  Fat is practically health food. 

I also made baked barramundi with lime, salt and pepper (the recipe calls for tilapia, but I had barramundi). 
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/bobbys-baked-tilapia-recipe/index.html
The fish was very mild, which allowed the lime to shine through.  The subtle seasoning would not work for a stronger fish like salmon.

Annika took an unscheduled nap before dinner and was super out of it when we sat down to eat.  When I passed her the water pitcher she tried to drink out of it instead of pouring herself a glass.  Uh oh.  Sleepy four year olds are volatile.  And staring her in the face was half a plate of greens.  The recipes proved kid-compatible, though.  She ate the fish and parsnips readily and the chard only took mild coaxing.  She ate it all with no complaints, no fights, no threats to take away her DVD player.  I think I have to add Hungry Monkey to my list of trusted recipe sources.