Today I traveled to the Northeast and made some whoopie pies from page 146.  My motivation?  I had the ingredients!  We’ve been having some epic storms for days here in Florida and the roads are all flooded making shopping impossible, so until this passes, I need to find recipes in the book that don’t require any ingredients that I don’t already have available.

With that said, these little whoopie pies are made of awesome!  They make you feel like a kid again.  I know cupcakes have been the hot retro dessert for many years now, but personally, I’d like to see whoopie pies make a comeback, then you can have shows called “Whoopie Wars” although I guess that could be taken the wrong way!

Now I must add that I made the “7 minute frosting” on page 69, as was called for in the recipe.  That sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  Ah, but it’s actually another variation of an Italian Meringue! That Martha sure is clever!

I have friends from culinary school who won’t touch an Italian meringue with a 10 foot pole because they’re too intimidated.  Why?  Because it’s not that easy to time whipping the egg whites with your sugar coming up to just the right temperature.  In the case of this frosting, it was 230° which is a bit lower than the 235° – 240° that’s typical for an Italian meringue.  Once I was watching a cooking competition that had actual pastry chef preparing a frosting with an Italian meringue and she couldn’t understand why her egg whites kept cooking when she was adding the sugar that had cooked to 280°!  I was yelling at the television “They’re cooking because you don’t cook the sugar to 280° you idiot!” And I’m leaving out all the swear words I used when I yelled at her, because I’m polite and stuff.

I liked the instructions on the 7 minute frosting because it was very specific.  The reality is that you can’t time things to the exact minute in cooking because everybody’s stove is different and even the humidity in the kitchen can impact cooking times; but it’s good to have a general idea of your timing.  I think I’ve been taking my meringues off too soon out of fear of over-whipping them, because this time I went longer and it really did turn out much better.

As you might be able to tell from the picture, I used a cutting round to shape the pies so that I could make them perfectly round, but that’s optional.  But this was a terrific dessert, chocolatey, creamy and fluffy; perhaps my favorite so far in the project!

After tackling a complicated Black Bottom Pie yesterday, I decided to embrace a bit of simplicity today by making Martha’s Potato Salad from her All-American section on page 49.

I always read the stories associated with the recipes and this potato salad is considered a must-have for picnics.  This made me laugh and say “Hey, Jeff, let’s have a picnic today, I’ll bring the potato salad!” The reason it’s funny is because we’re on our second straight day of torrential rains and thunder storms here in not-so-sunny Florida, so an outdoor picnic was not an option!  Instead I made a roast pork that I cooked up the same low and slow way I did for the Italian Pork Roast, only this time I added some honey mustard glaze at the end and then gave it a few minutes on broil.  I topped the pork with some warm sauerkraut, and had this awesome potato salad as a side dish.  The flavors all worked together in harmony and I drank it down with a nice citrus ale – it was like eating at a German pub – very comforting during a storm.

I really enjoyed this potato salad recipe, the scallions are what makes it special.  A potato salad is also the kind of dish where you can tweak the recipe a bit to accommodate your own taste.  I added a little cayenne and a dash of ground cumin.  Recipes are not all created equal; when you’re making something like a meringue, the slightest deviation can throw everything off, but when you’re making almost any kind of salad, you can play around with the seasoning and use the recipe as a guide, while making it your own.

When the weather clears up maybe we will have a neighborhood picnic, and I’ll take Martha’s advice and bring a huge bowl of this potato salad – it’ll go along way towards making me a popular person to invite to a party!

My plan to delve into Florida’s signature Key Lime Pie experienced technical difficulties today when stormy Florida weather deep-sixed making a trip to the store for the ingredients.  But that didn’t stop me from trying a southern pie, in this case, a Black-Bottom pie from page 206.

This was about the toughest recipe I’ve encountered in my Martha adventures so far.  See, the johnnycakes weren’t actually that difficult in getting the recipe right, the problem was with the execution.  Because if you follow a recipe perfectly, it can all fall to pieces (or in that instance, to mush) if you can’t properly cook the recipe you created!

This recipe required a lot of steps.  The graham cracker crust was simple enough, and I didn’t have much of a problem with the filling (which, by the way is FABULOUS!!!)  No, the problem I encountered was with the topping.  It involved doing an Italian meringue which is tricky, hey, let’s face it, all meringues are tricky because egg whites whipped with air are magical, yet quite temperamental. There are few things in cooking that need to be related to as an exact science in the way that a meringue does!  I haven’t yet mastered the art of making the perfect meringue, although I’ve improved a lot by working on it.

However this recipe wasn’t content to stop at the Italian meringue (which involves cooking sugar to a softball stage and then slowly pouring it into your egg whites as they whip to firm peaks).  You also needed to make a creamy gelatin that you fold your meringue into…that’s where things went somewhat awry!

I didn’t have powdered gelatin as the recipe called for, so I used a gelatin sheet that I soaked in a little bit of warm water to dissolve.  I was hoping it would have the same effect, but unfortunately, it simply ended up a little too watery, which kind of deflated my whole topping.  Now don’t get me wrong, this was no johhnycake-style disaster, it was actually still a creamy, rich and utterly decadent dessert!  But as a kitchen perfectionist, it wasn’t exactly what I set out to do and I’d really like to try this topping again (and again, and again, and again, if necessary) until I get it just right.  I’d also like to try this again using nothing but the Italian meringue, adding only some dissolved gelatin while it’s whipping and make it a marshmallow topping that I can take my blowtorch to and do a s’mores pie, because that would be yummy!

I was going to do the Key Lime Pie tomorrow, but after this pie, I think I need to wait at least a few days before I make another creamy pie because I’m going to die of a heart attack if I eat like this again tomorrow.  And while I’d certainly go out with a smile on my face, I need to stay alive to get through my Martha project!

After having to eat some deep fried humble pie with yesterday’s johnnycake debacle, I decided to stay in the south and attempt to redeem myself with some fried green tomatoes from page 196; lest my Floridian neighbors come after me with torches and pitchforks and run me out of the state all the way back up to New Jersey!

Green tomatoes are easier to get in the south.  Back when I lived up north, Fried Green Tomatoes was the name of a book that was turned into an awesome movie starring Kathy Bates, not something you ate, because it’s hard to find a green tomato in New York and New Jersey, even in specialty shops.  In Florida, green tomatoes are common, so I could finally find out why Fanny Flagg waxed poetic about them in her book, Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe.

They really are a uniquely southern delicacy!  Tart and crunchy with just a touch of spicy bite from the cayenne pepper in Martha’s recipe.  I made them the centerpiece of a salad with avocados, chèvre, toasted walnuts, a few fresh mint leaves and honey mustard dressing.  It’s a delectable salad, with just the right mouthfeel of crispy and creamy, and the mint adds a nice, cooling touch to offset the spiciness.

Tomorrow I’m attempting Key Lime Pie.  According to Martha’s book, this is The Official State Pie of Florida!  So if I mess it up, I bring shame not only to The House Of Martha, but to the entire state of Florida!!!  Failure in this mission is simply not an option.

They say 13 is an unlucky number, so unlucky that in fact many buildings skip from the 12th floor to the 14th floor on the hopes that the folks on the so-called 14th floor are not clever enough to know that they really do live on the 13th floor, it’s just been mislabeled.  Until today, I thought this was only a silly superstition…

Perhaps you are wondering what any of this has to do with the Me n’ Martha project?  Well, it’s day 13 of the project and a most unlucky day indeed for me – for today was my first EPIC FAIL!  Today I faced my culinary kryptonite – the johnnycake!

It all started innocently enough, as I turned to page 119 of the Northeast section and said “Johnnycakes!  That sounds like a nice, simple idea for breakfast, and I had them when I was in the Caribbean years ago and liked them a lot.  Let’s try that today.”

It all sounded so simple at the time.  I toasted the corn meal, boiled the water, added some milk and heated my skillet and I was good to go…until I actually ladled on the johnnycake batter, that’s where it all went horribly, horribly wrong.

Here’s the main problem, I couldn’t turn them!  By the time they were browned the were stuck to the skillet like glue, and if I tried too soon they turned to mush!  I tried many times over, burning my wrists in the process, but I didn’t even care, what’s a few second degree burns in the name of my beloved Martha project?  I thought they would function in a similar manner that pancakes do, but they don’t, because you can turn pancakes – you can’t turn these babies!!!  If somebody out there knows what I was doing wrong please let me know so that I can try this again and get it right!

Finally, after going through the entire batter, I had to give up in despair.  Surabaya, Johnnycakes, is it really the end?  Now that doesn’t mean I didn’t eat it – oh, I ate it and I even seasoned it with the salt of my own tears!  The odd concoction I came up with tasted a little like a porridge, and I put some crumbled bacon and maple syrup over it – not bad, but not johnnycakes.

Of course I considered trying something else and not posting about it…what if one day Martha reads this and knows that I mangled her johnnycake recipe beyond all recognition…how will she ever respect me then?  But I figured that it’s only right to be honest and to let anyone reading this know that hey, we all make mistakes sometimes, but you don’t just throw in the apron, you keep on keeping on…here’s hoping Day 14 will be better and I can once again make Martha proud! (Go to the link below to hear The Divine Miss M sing about my pain…)

Surabaya Johnny – Bette Midler

Today I’m sayin’ howdy to y’all from Texas, where everything is bigger, especially the flavors! I did up some Texas Chili from page 302 of the Southwest section, knowing it would be served to the world’s toughest chili critic — my husband Jeff! You see Jeff fancies himself a chili connoisseur and he was dumbfounded by the concept of a chili without beans, but since he supports the Martha project, he was willing to endure a bean-free chili. His verdict? Best! Chili! Ever!

I needed to make a modification because I didn’t have dried chilies available, so I substituted sriracha sauce because it’s made from ground hot chilies; that likely why, as you can see from the picture, I wasn’t able to achieve as dark and rich a color to my chili. I’d like to try this recipe again with the dried chilies, so I can really get it right. But even so, the flavor profile was distinctive and complex: smooth, hot and mighty tasty! And although I sometimes complain about country living, it sure was nice to pick a jalapeño and send it straight from the tree to the pot. I also did up a nice cornbread and just crumbled it right into my dish to cool it off a bit and add another layer of texture. The best part? The tender chunks of top round steak — so much better than ground beef in my humble opinion!

Now I know that a lot of you don’t think of Martha when you think of a Texas Chili, but that’s the beauty of her epic American Food Cookbook…it takes you on a trip to unexpected places with unique flavors all their own! Thanks to Martha, I’m on a culinary journey across the nation and I can’t wait to figure out where I’m going next.

Tonight I made Peanut Butter cookies from page 56 of the All American section. I happen to love peanut butter cookies, in fact, I love anything with peanut butter in it. I even love savory dishes with peanut butter, like Thai noodles in peanut sauce – mmmm-I have got to make that again one of these days!

Strangely, I’ve met a lot of people who don’t like peanut butter cookies. I can’t say I understand, but it’s okay, because it leaves more for the rest of us 😉

Actually Martha’s cookie recipes were my earliest experience of her culinary expertise. You can’t go wrong with them — the woman is a cookie genius! So many people are scared of baking, because it’s considered an exact science with little room for error. If you’re one of those people, I suggest starting with cookies, because with perseverance you can and will master the art of cookie making!

If you don’t want to invest in a cookbook, go to Martha’s website and find a cookie recipe that’s right for you and give it a try. After all, in this economy, there are better ways to spend your hard-earned dough than wasting it on mediocre pre-made cookie dough. And for just a little more time and effort, your homemade cookies will taste so much better!

Today I decided to keep it simple with a Meatball Sub from the Northeast section, page 104. I hope it’s not bragging too much to say I’m an old pro at the art of the meatball, since it’s actually one of the first things I ever learned to cook when I was a child. Martha’s recipe was a bit of a departure from my usual style; I always use white bread, but I’ve never soaked the bread in milk before, or even entertained the thought of doing something like that. So for the first time since I’ve started the project, I kind of thought “Oh my! Soaking the bread in milk…that’s, um, clinically interesting, but, no, I really don’t think I should actually soak the bread in milk and then put it in a meatball…it’s just wrong!”

But as they say, no guts, no glory! That’s why I’m doing this, because as much as I enjoy my own style of cooking, I need to let go of my way and be humble enough to try Martha’s way. And I must say, of all my years of making meatballs, this was the best texture I ever achieved! I guess I’ll be changing the way I’ve made meatballs for the past 35 years as I intend to stick with the soaking method from now on!

The marinara sauce is so simple and so good! Then I topped them with the leftover provolone cheese from the Italian Pork sub I made on Wednesday… e ‘stato magnifico! Buon mangiare!

As you can see from the photo, Jeff got into a mighty battle with a saber tooth tiger over who would get the first sub – Jeff won! Don’t mess with my hubby when he’s hungry!!!

Whenever I’m feeling down and stressed out, nothing soothes my troubled soul like some good old fashioned comfort food. And there’s no food in the world that comforts me more than macaroni and cheese. That’s why earlier this evening, when I was a bit of a nervous wreck, I turned to Martha’s All American section on page 46 and made this creamy, chewy, buttery mac and cheese. After chowing down on this oh-so-comforting dish and watching some DVR’d Monk reruns, I’m feeling much better now! I think that if more people made this macaroni and cheese recipe they’d be able to save a fortune on therapy and anti-anxiety medication.

It’s easy to make so if you have some of those boxed, pre-packaged mac and cheese atrocities in your pantry, I strongly advise you to take the box out back, set it on fire and salt the earth where its ashes rests so that nothing may ever grow there again! Then go make Martha’s recipe instead and discover how delicious real mac and cheese can be! As Monk would say, you’ll thank me later.

P.S. Isn’t it cool the way this photo makes it look like I reached into the book and took a big piece right out of it?

Today I bring you a very special, cousin Chris’ birthday dinner edition of the Me n’ Martha Project!  Since we’re an Italian family, it made sense to make Chris a Roast Pork Sub Italian Style from page 103 of the Northeast section. I came across a little problem when I got to the store – no broccoli rabe! After muttering some swear words in Italian I decided to buy some radicchio, an anaheim chili pepper and some tomatillos and do an Italian/Mexican fusion style topping. The cashier was quite baffled by the radicchio and tomatillos because even though he works at a supermarket that actually sells them, he’d never laid eyes on them before. I didn’t used to encounter this problem  in NY and NJ, but I guess these aren’t ingredients that a lot of the residents of Hudson, Florida cook with.

So I roasted the pork with only the salt, pepper and olive oil, per Martha’s recipe and cooked it low and slow. OMG – so tender, it melted in my mouth!!! Then I did up a relish with the radicchio, tomatillos, chili pepper and garlic by reducing them in some balsamic vinegar…YUM! The Birthday Boy was very happy!!!

I must ‘fess up to one embarrassing error. When I made the sub I used in the photo I forgot the provolone cheese. So after I made a special trip to the store to get provolone cheese and broccoli rabe, I forget to add the cheese and they don’t have the broccoli rabe – sigh – but that’s cooking in the real world folks, stuff happens and you need to find a way to make it work anyway. It still was a wonderful meal and it showed me a whole new way to do a super tender pork roast.

Everyone should have a very happy Martha Birthday, and if it’s not your birthday, then have a very merry Martha Un-Birthday!