Today, as I approach my 100th recipe from Martha’s American Food, I decided to keep it All American with a Green Bean Casserole from page 53.

This is the kind of recipe that’s puts a homemade twist on a nostalgic dish.  In post World War II America, eating and cooking habits started to experience a drastic change.  At the same time modern conveniences like washing machines and vacuum cleaners were becoming affordable for the middle classes, canned and pre-packaged foods were also appearing on the scene to make life easier for overworked housewives.  The green bean casserole was created by the Campbell Soup Company in 1955 using their cream of mushroom soup with green beans and was a huge hit with women looking to make delicious but less labor intensive dishes for their families.

Martha’s recipe doesn’t stray too far from its roots in terms of flavor.  The difference is that instead of using a canned soup you make a bechamel sauce and saute up some onions and mushrooms.  With the toasty breadcrumbs, creamy sauce and the addition of fried shallots this casserole has a lot of nicely contrasting textures.  The homemade bechamel sauce creates a greater depth of flavor than you can get with a can, making this green bean casserole a great nostalgic comfort food that surpasses the original.

I had this with some beef on the side.  Normally, the veggies are the side dish and the meat is the main attraction, but Martha’s green bean casserole made itself the main attraction!

With Fall only one week away, I decided to celebrate the coming of the new season with Martha’s Autumn Squash With Sage-Cream Sauce from the Northeast on page 111.

This will be my first autumn in Florida.  That means instead of a sudden onslaught of cold weather, the temperature will start falling into the mid 70s – 80s instead of the constant 90+ and near daily thunderstorms we’ve had here since May.  Although I’m looking forward to sitting outside evenings again and enjoying things cooling down a bit, I can’t help but miss the start of “sweater weather” and colorful autumn leaves.  For me, this delicious autumn squash with sage-cream sauce is a lovely reminder of my Northern past.  What can be more comforting on a chilly fall evening than buttery squash with fresh herbs and cream?

I’ve met a lot of people who are intimidated by making squash.  I understand why, after all, they’re big and heavy and not that easy to cut.  But if you get past your fear of working with them, squash can be delicious and simple, yes I said simple, to make.  Here’s a handy guide to working with all sorts of squash:

1. Cut down the middle carefully – no need to be macho about it – use your best chef’s knife and press down on it slowly until the squash is fully split.
2. Remove all the seeds and pulp using a spoon.
3. Season the squash with salt, pepper and your favorite herbs and then rub it thoroughly with olive oil and a little butter too if you just can’t get enough butter.
4. Wrap the squash in parchment paper and then in aluminum foil and place it in a 350°  oven for about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size.
5. Your squash is done when it’s tender enough to pierce with a paring knife or a fork.

That’s it!  No need to stress at all.  If you’re making a spaghetti squash (one of my personal favorites) wait for it to cool a bit and then fluff it with a fork until you’ve removed all the delicious squash inside.  You can also use butternut squash make to wonderful, creamy soups that will sooth your soul on a cold winter night.  With squash, the culinary possibilities are limitless!

Martha’s autumn squash with sage-cream sauce was very flavorful.  I’m lucky to have fresh sage growing in my garden to work with, it’s the perfect with the simple creamy sauce.  I’m looking forward to adding this autumn squash dish to my sides for Thanksgiving dinner.

So today I finally finished Martha’s All-American sandwiches with her Tuna Salad Sandwich from page 19.

I made this on toasted rye bread instead of a roll and added a little bit of cheddar cheese to make it more like a tuna melt.  It’s hard to say a lot about a tuna sandwich, so instead of my usual post, I present…

A Play In One Act – Me n’ Jeff Eat Lunch Setting: a dining room in a tiny home off the canal in Florida.  One man (Jeff) and one woman (Me) speak to each other between bites of their tuna salad sandwiches.

Me:  You know, I wasn’t really looking forward to doing a tuna salad sandwich because they’re pretty boring.  But this tuna salad sandwich is really very good!  I think it’s the red onion that pushes it over the edge.

Jeff:  Yeah, it’s delicious!

Me:  In New York, you could pay something like $7 or $8 for a sandwich like this from one of those gourmet sandwich carts.  You know how I know that?  Because I’ve paid $7 or $8 for sandwiches like this from those carts!

Jeff:  I bet this is better anyway.

Me:  Yes, I’d have to agree with that.

Jeff:  Why would you pay that much for a sandwich?  What a waste of money!  What were you thinking?

Me:  I was thinking “I’m hungry and I need something to eat!”  That’s what you do when you’re hungry in New York City, you pay a lot of money to buy an overpriced sandwich.

Jeff:  You’re better off with a hot dog.  You can get one of those for a buck or two and there’s a hot dog cart on every block of the city.

Me:  That’s living life too dangerously for me, Jeff.  I’m not willing to take my chances with the hot dog carts.  That water the hot dogs sit in…I have no idea how long it’s been there…or what else has been in it!

Jeff:  You take your chances with the fancy sandwich carts too, you know.

Me:  Look, anytime you walk down the streets of New York City there’s a certain amount of risk involved.  It’s a matter of odds.  I believe you stand a better chance of not getting poisoned with the gourmet sandwich cart than the hot dog cart.  It’s worth the extra money to play the better odds of not getting poisoned.

Jeff:  I guess you make a good point.  But I still prefer the hot dogs.  I’ve eaten countless hot dogs straight from the cart over the years and I’m still here.

Me:  That’s because you’re very, very lucky.  We probably made it out of New York just in time…before you ate the hot dog that killed you!  I’d have been so mortified!

Jeff:  Because I’d be dead or because you’d have to tell everyone that you married a man who liked eat at New York City hot dog carts?

Me:  Because you’d be dead, of course.  I’d just lie and tell everyone you died heroically saving a small child and you were killed by a runaway hot dog cart.

Jeff:  Wow!  I died a hero saving a child from being run over by a hot dog cart…cool!

Me: No, you were saving the poor child from eating one of those poisonous hot dogs but when you flung yourself between the child and the hot dog you slipped and the cart suddenly spun out of control and rolled away, crushing you in the process.

Jeff:  You’re right, hot dog carts are dangerous after all!

Me:  I knew you’d come around to my way of thinking Jeff.

Cue laugh track.  Lights fade.  The end.

The moral of the play is that you’re better off packing one of Martha’s delicious sandwiches with you for lunch instead of paying a lot of money to go to a gourmet sandwich cart for a sandwich that’s not even as tasty.

Or even worse, taking your chances at a hot dog cart!

We all have our own idea of the big game day.  Sure it usually brings to mind football, but for me, a real game day is U.S. Open Tennis so it made sense to serve up Martha’s special game day Seven-Layer Dip from the Southwest section on page 297.

For the past week I’ve been taking it easy with some simple recipes.  That’s how it is with cooking, even the most passionate home chef wants to take a break from complex recipes sometimes and just enjoy some down-home comfort food that can be done up quickly without a ton of ingredients.  This seven-layer dip is a breeze to whip up and it’s incredibly tasty with refried beans, sour cream, lettuce, cheese and some hot and tangy toppings that bring it all together.  With some crispy tortilla chips for the dipping, it’s a great snack to enjoy while watching the big game…whatever your favorite game happens to be.

Of course a big bowl would go fast at a Super Bowl party too, and even though football season is just getting started it’s never too soon to plan your menu for the big game day.  Martha has some great recipes for the occasion.  I suggest her seven-layer dip, buffalo wings and pigs in a blanket served with some ice cold beer for a terrific Super Bowl party that’s super easy to put together!

Today I stayed in the Midwest and made Martha’s Twice-Baked Potatoes With Sour Cream and Chives from page 258.

My inspiration for doing these twice-baked potatoes came from the fact that the recipe was on the opposite page from the Wild Rice Salad I did the other day.  Hey, not all inspiration is very inspiring!  But I was kind of looking forward to trying these because I used to do a stuffed potato skin recipe back in a bar I used to work at in Chelsea.  For those you fried the potato skins, and I wanted to see the contrast in the baked style.  I would say I liked the twice-baked style better.  Now as you might know, I’m a big fan of frying, but not everything is improved by cooking it up in hot oil and I’d say potato skins are one of those foods that can come out just as well if you bake it.  The double baking gives it a nice crisp without any oily residue that comes with frying them.

Martha refers to this recipe as “unbelievably easy” to make.  I’m not entirely on board with that.  The recipe is quite simple and you only need a few kitchen staples to put the whole thing together.  But there’s the matter of scooping out the potato flesh from the skin in order to execute these perfectly and that’s not as easy as it sounds.  Potato skins are delicate, so you need to use a gentle hand in getting the flesh out without tearing the skin.  Once you get that done right it’s smooth sailing from there.

Who doesn’t love the taste of tangy sour cream and chives on a baked potato?  These twice-baked potatoes are a nice twist on an ordinary baked potato where the sour cream and chives are merely toppings.  The skins are good and crispy with a nice contrast from the creamy potato filling.  Because I used small potatoes you could practically chomp them down with one bite like an appetizer.  But I’d say it’s better to eat them slowly and savor the flavors.  They make a great side dish with almost any meat, but if you have a nice juicy steak with them that’s even better!

Today I tried something a little different with Martha’s Wild Rice Salad from page 259 of the Midwestern section.

Wild rice, which is not actually a rice at all, it’s a grain producing grass, happens to be very rare and therefore very expensive.   According to Martha’s book, wild rice is plentiful and more affordable in Minnesota where this dish was made popular. But here in Florida it’s hard to find and even harder to afford, so I used a mix of brown and wild rice that was quite hearty and tasted great.

I’d say I’m at least familiar in passing with at least 85% of the recipes in Martha’s American Food, but this recipe was brand new to me.  The use of dried cherries, ginger and shallots lent a unique flavor that mixed with the rice gave this dish a kind of Asian flair.  I always enjoy finding new and exciting flavor profiles, and this was definitely the kind of thing I would never have thought of putting together on my own but now I can’t wait to try different ways to work with these ingredients together!

Eating healthy doesn’t need to be boring.  Martha’s wild rice salad is a great way to fill your tummy with a treat that’s as delicious as it is nutritious!

Today I kept it light and simple with Martha’s version of a West coast classic, Crab Louis from page 359.

Crab Louis a/k/a Crab Louie a/k/a The King Of Salads is one of those great American salads that goes way back to the turn of the 20th century.  Its origins are unknown, though various chefs named Louis have taken credit for it and some even think it was named after King Louis XIV.  I guess its real origin will be one of those mysteries of the ages.  This salad was very popular in the 1950s and it was considered a delicacy for the burgeoning middle class.  Over the years it’s lost some of its popularity, but none of its flavor.

I made this the easy way by getting pre-shelled lump crab meat.  There are few kitchen tasks more tedious than picking through crab shells in an attempt to get to the meat.  I must also note that I’m very allergic to crustacean shells and they make me break out in horrible welts all over. Crab shells happen to be the worst for me to touch, the last time I did I looked a hot mess! However, I don’t have a reaction to the meat, which is good because a life without crabs, lobsters and shrimp would hardly be a life worth living!  There are several different versions of the classic Crab Louis salad, some call for the addition of olives for example, but Martha’s recipe was simple and straight forward and let the crab be the star.  I really loved the homemade dressing which is creamy, tart and spicy and goes just perfect on crab.

This was a nice cool salad for a hot summer evening.  I hope Martha’s Crab Louis recipe helps this classic retro salad make the comeback it deserves!

Tonight I traveled to Seattle for their famous Pike Place Fish and Chips on page 384.

I love fish and chips!  When I was a child growing up in Brooklyn there was an Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips right down the block.  My mom and I would eat there about once a week and I always looked forward to it.  For me, biting into the firm, flaky white fish with a golden crispy fried batter is one of life’s great pleasures and nothing compliments it better than chips.

Martha’s recipe is easy to make and creates a light and crispy batter.  I made one change to the batter, I used half beer and half cold seltzer water.  The reason I prefer to make it that way is because I find that the yeast in beer weighs down the batter a little, however it does provide a nice, rich flavor.  That’s why I like to do it 50/50, so that I can get the flavor of the beer and the lightness of the seltzer water.  I also made a curry aioli as a dipping sauce which is a nice change from the usual tartar sauce that’s typically served with fish and chips.  I also did the chips more like french fries, because that’s my personal preference.  Can I just say that if you don’t have your own deep fryer, you really should get one?  It’s so much easier to fry up a tasty little comfort meal like this one if you have a little fryer equipped with baskets.  I consider my deep fryer one of my most important kitchen staples, right up there with a stand mixer.  Sure, you can use a heavy pot and wait for it to come to temperature and use a slotted spoon, but the deep fryer makes it so much easier and is also safer to work with.  Like hot sugar, hot oil is no joke and you need to work safely to avoid getting any splattered on you.

Martha’s fish and chips go great with a cold beer on the side!  This is the perfect summertime meal that’s easy to make and tastes great.

Today I took my kitchen road trip to a Midwestern county fair with Martha’s Caramel Corn from page 275.

Caramel corn is one of those things we’re very used to getting in a plastic bag.  The original and most popular is Cracker Jack, which is so much a part of Americana it’s been immortalized in the stadium classic, Take Me Out To The Ballgame.  Cracker Jack also delights children with their little prizes enclosed with each package.  Fans of the movie Breakfast At Tiffany’s might remember the inscribed Cracker Jack ring that Paul gives to Holly as a symbol of his love for her.  So, you might ask, why would I go through all the trouble of making my own caramel corn when there are both iconic and even not-so-iconic brands out there that I can buy cheaply?  The simple answer is, like so many other things, homemade just tastes better!

This is easy to make, although it does involve working with hot sugar which always has an element of danger.  Here’s a tip for how to stay safe when you’re cooking up a bubbling volcano of molten hot sugar: be careful!  I know, that’s pretty cheap advice, so let me be a bit more specific.  With many things we worry about waste so we try to get the last drop out of the pot as we pour it but with hot sugar just let it go.  It’s going to be sticky and therefore a little will be wasted at the bottom of the pan, but when your pushing to get those last drops out there’s a good chance you’ll use too much force which will cause some to fly out and hit you.  Remember, with hot sugar it only takes a tiny drop to cause a huge amount of pain!  Another thing to be mindful of is the spoon when you’re stirring it, because if you don’t place it in and take it out very cautiously drops can splatter up at you.  Again I need to stress that just a drop on your skin can cause a serious burn.  I’m not saying this to scare anyone out of working on things like homemade caramel.  Quite the contrary, I think it’s great to take risks in the kitchen and expand our horizons in all sorts of ways.  But I also think that if someone had given me the advice I’m giving you here I’d have saved myself some pretty nasty second degree burns I’ve taken over the years!  If shampoo makers feel compelled to tell us that we shouldn’t stick their product in our eyes no matter how disturbing that Patton Oswalt sex scene was, I think professional cooks should warn us not to play around with hot sugar in a careless way.

Martha’s caramel corn recipe is a salty sweet delicious treat that’s good nostalgic fun.  Parents might want to put it in a bag for their kids and place a little gift surprise at the bottom for them just to make it even more special.

Today I tried one of our nation’s most famous treats and The Official State Dessert of Massachusetts, a Boston Cream Pie from page 141.

This was the second recipe I’ve made from Martha’s American Food that originated at the Parker House Hotel, the first being Parker House Rolls.  I decided that any hotel with such a rich culinary history was worth researching.  Turns out the Parker House Hotel has a very interesting history that goes beyond it’s contribution to cuisine!  Let’s take a look at some of the fun facts I discovered about this fascinating hotel:

• John Kennedy proposed to Jackie in the dining room at table 40.
• Malcom X worked there as a busboy in 1941.
• Hồ Chí Minh worked there as a baker from 1912 – 1913.
• Room 303 (now a storage room) is fabled to be haunted and is said to be the inspiration for the Stephen King short story turned  super-scary John Cusack film, 1408.

Well, I guess none of this has much to do with Boston Cream Pie, but I thought this was a history worth sharing!

But now onto the Boston Cream Pie, which isn’t really a pie, it’s a cake, but why quibble over details.  This is a somewhat tougher cake to make than some, I suspect because the recipe strives to capture the luxurious texture of the true Boston Cream Pie.  In addition to the cake you need to make a pastry cream and a chocolate ganache to top it with.  But for all the work involved, it sure is worth it!  There’s a reason why some people consider this the greatest cake in the world.  From the light as air cake to the creamy filling and the rich chocolate topping, this cake is outrageously good!

I’m sure that there’s easier ways to make something similar.  For example if you made a yellow cake mix and used some vanilla pudding and a chocolate icing you’d have a decent facsimile of the real thing and I’m sure it would taste pretty darn good.  But if you’re down for doing some hard work in the kitchen, you’re sure to be delighted with Martha’s more authentic Boston Cream Pie recipe.