Cookbook encourages easy meals

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I have a bipolar kitchen.

When I invite company for dinner, out come the cookbooks and the scavenged Martha Stewart back issues. The fussier the better. It makes me happy to have ingredients such as pine nuts and anchovy paste in my condiment-laden fridge. I sear, blanch and puree. I’ve actually made my own cheese.

But when it’s just me and Moxie-cat settling in for a Monday night, I sneak into the kitchen and whip out the instant envelope o’pasta hidden behind the cereal. Sometimes I even eat it from the saucepan with a big wooden spoon.

The recipes that fill “Seat-of-the-Pants Suppers” by Brunswick author Nancy Heiser bridge the mammoth gap in my cooking habits.

This book has the soul of the spiral-bound, church fund-raiser cookbooks that all Mainers grew up with. It’s down-home comfort food – without the reliance on high-fat, high-sodium prepared ingredients.

The stews, casseroles, and sauced meat dishes, to ladle over rice or noodles, are exactly the type of hearty, warm suppers that I find myself craving, but don’t have the energy to make, when I come home from work on a dark winter afternoon.

But Heiser promises that all her “satisfying and nutritious” recipes take 30 minutes or less to prepare, use a minimum of ingredients, and dirty few dishes.

So I set up my own little test this week. I invited my brother – a fellow kitchen hypocrite – to share dinner on a work night, knowing that he would expect cookbook fare, and knowing that I would have only an hour or so to shop, cook and tidy before his arrival.

Working with the leftovers from last weekend’s fussy roast turkey dinner, and $10 in groceries (vegetables and chicken stock), I made a creamy turkey tetrazzini. With a little cheese for garnish, mesclun greens and a crusty baguette, it looked and tasted as though I’d spent hours on the meal.

We washed the pot, skillet and plates, and with time to spare, used Heiser’s easy recipe to whip up a batch of Snickerdoodles to munch while we stretched out in front in front of the TV to relax.

Simple isn’t so bad, after all.

Turkey Tetrazzini

12 ounces pasta

2 cups fresh or frozen cut-up vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, or cauliflower (optional)

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons flour

2-3 cups cooked leftover turkey

1 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons cooking sherry

? cup whole milk

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup grated Parmesan

cheese

Cook pasta with optional vegetables, and drain. Meanwhile, saute onion, pepper and garlic in butter or oil in a large skillet until tender. Stir in flour and stock, then cook until thickened. Mix in turkey, milk, herbs, pepper and sherry. Stir and heat to a scald. Add pasta, toss mixture, top with cheese, and serve.

Snickerdoodles

1 stick butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

11/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon for topping

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together thoroughly. Add vanilla and milk to butter mixture. Add mixed dry ingredients and stir well. Drop by teaspoon onto a baking sheet, sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar, and bake 15 minutes.