Banquet Quiz -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Earlier this week I post a quiz about my meal at an award Banquet  - here is my answer

QUIZ TIME:
Last night, I was at an award banquet, and brought my portable blender.

It was a semi-potluck, and all dishes were labeled for allergens

Below is the list of dishes - WHAT DID I PUREE?

Caesar Salad
Baked Beans
Mac and Cheese
Chicken, Ziti and Broccoli
Beef Meatballs
Chicken Parm. Tenders
Pasta Primavera
Vegetarian Sushi Rolls
Vegetables cruite

Marbled Cake
Homemade pumpkin pie
Blueberry crumble cake
Chocolate-chip cookies
Brownies
Brownies with cherry and cheesecake topping
Oatmeal cookies

(My answer this weekend)

So first, I had to take a measure of how much I could eat, and how many times I could puree the food.  Answer is 4 cups over 2 hours, which means two purees at most.  This is just my food habit.  I could have done 4 purees of one cup each, but I felt I would have spent all night in the kitchen.

Second, priorities the food.  Find out what matches - chocolate cookies do not puree well with Pasta Primavera.

Finally, remember what my mini-blender can handle out in the field.

My overriding thought is - What do I never eat at home, and so now is the best time to have it.  Remember, I live in a house with people who have specific references, so what could I have that I would probally never have at home

Item by item thoughts - 

Caesar Salad

Not sure that my blender can shred the lettuce well enough.  I've never done lettuce in the mini blender before, not a good time to try. Although flavor-wise, garlic, parmesan cheese, and croutons are excellent for a larger puree.

Baked Beans

Always a good choice.  Great thickener for any meal.  This is a real contender because it blends well with other foods.

Mac and Cheese

Although this might have been a first choice, it doesn't blend well with other flavors.  I could have had this by itself, but I restricted myself to two blends. If there were any left at the end, I would have brought it home to blend.  There were a lot of high schoolers there, so I knew it wouldn't last.

Chicken, Ziti and Broccoli

Would have been a good choice at home.  Again, the broccoli might have been an issue for the mini blender.  I would have brought this one home.

Beef Meatballs

This is a staple at my house.  I keep pre-made frozen meatballs in the freezer.  In fact I had meatballs at the banquet the year before, so I knew they were going to be awesome.  So if you picked meatballs, you made a good choice . . . but not this year.

Chicken Parm. Tenders

OK, I didn't let you know that I have been craving Chicken Parm for several months now.  Particularly, a sandwich with a toasted roll.  No one at my house eats chicken parm besides me, so buying a chicken parm sandwich or chicken parm meal would be a lot of food for just me. Tonight was the perfect night to indulge. 

Pasta Primavera

By now you figured out that the veggies were going to be a concern, so I passed. I might have brought this home for my daughter.

Vegetarian Sushi Rolls

What a fabulous idea. I almost skipped a blend and went for the sushi rolls.  Might have taken me a little bit of time, to figure out how much water to use.  Ideally, I would have chosen a rice dish, but there were no other rice dishes on the buffet. When in doubt - choose rice.  The group there LOVED this and is was devoured.  I will remember this for my next potluck, especially one where I know there are vegans and vegetarians

Vegetables cruite

Pause.  Actually the carrots might have been a good choice to add with a little ranch dressing . . . 

Marbled Cake

ALWAYS A SAFE CHOICE.  Only issue is that frosting tend to foam up.  If you are using a tummy tube it might have been an issue.  Once again I chose this one the year before, so if you chose this one, you did well.  A "four puree/one cup Jeff" would have chosen this in a heartbeat.

Homemade pumpkin pie

DING DING DING.  A homemade Pumpkin Pie was the framework for the whole meal.  I am a sucker for a homemade pie.  The rest of the meal was going to be - WHAT GOES GREAT WITH PUMPKIN PIE?

Blueberry crumble cake

Another great choice.  In truth, at the end of the night, this is what I brought home to puree - and it was fabulous.  The reason I didn't puree it at the banquet, I knew I had vanilla ice cream at home . . . I was born at night, but not last night . . . 

Chocolate-chip cookies

For lip-sippers this is a great choice.  For a tummy tuber, the chocolate chips don't always puree well, and form a gravel pit at the bottom.  You really need hot water to soften the chips.  I've had them clog my tube more than once.

Brownies
Brownies with cherry and cheesecake topping

Another excellent choice, and if the pumpkin pie was not an option, this would have been my dessert of choice.  Brownies are always a safe choice, as long as they don't have nuts.  And I would have taken these home to go with the ice cream.

Oatmeal cookies

Another excellent choice.  My only issue is that I have oatmeal regularly for breakfast.  Now that I'm sitting here, an oatmeal cookie in the pumpkin pie blend could have been awesome.

ANSWER

Knowing that I was going to have pumpkin pie for dessert, I had to figure out a starter.  On the main meal table, the baked beans seemed to be the most compatible.  Especially, since it would go well with the chicken parm.  The key was that the chicken were already "tenders", so I didn't have to cut a large breast of chicken down to size.  One tender in a mini blender is perfect.

The banquet location had a kitchen area where I could set up my blender.  It also had the facilities where I could wash my blender cup between uses.  Best of all it had a garbage disposal, in case I ran into blending issues, and need to start over.

I could have easily done 4 different one cup blends.  If I had it would have been - 

Vegetarian Sushi roll, with a dash of wasabi and ginger

Beans and parm

Pumpkin pie

Cake

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My Eighty-fourth - Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Eighty-fourth - Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

I miss Velveeta cheese.  Nothing says November like grilled cheese sandwiches and a hot tomato soup.  Nothing says January like grilled cheese sandwiches and hot tomato soup.  Nothing says February like grilled cheese sand . . . OK JEFF WE GET IT.

Soon the snows will fall, and it's time to pull out the recipes that warm the soul and well as the belly.  The smell of a grill cheese cooking on the stove can also be an intoxicating smell.  I've had children run downstairs from a closed bedroom door, to find out what dad is cooking.

I miss Velveeta cheese, a childhood favorite.  I also miss Spam, but don't let my family know.  OK, there are a bunch of foods from my childhood that I have to sneak into the house . . . Cap'n Crunch. You're judging me aren't you?

I raised my children on Cabot Cheddar (I'm still a big fan of supporting local businesses).  They are still huge fans of Sharp Cheddar.  I also discovered the Cabot offers a Lactose-free cheese, so I'm going to be trying that soon.  So, I learned to cook at a lower temperature to melt the harder cheese and still get that nice gooey texture.


RECIPE:
Real butter
Bread - prefer white bread, really gummy white bread
Cheese

1/2 cup of hot tomato soup
1/2 grill cheese sandwich
1/2 cup warm water

MIXTURE
I will admit this is a personal preference.  I prefer a 1/2 cup of tomato soup to 1/2 grill cheese sandwich and then thin with water.  The issue is that your eat grill cheese, then tomato soup, then grill cheese, and then tomato soup.  You get a strong taste of each piece.  It is not like a donut that some people dunk into their coffee/hot chocolate.  Although, you will end up with the same aftertaste in your mouth; the idea of sipping a homogenized meal, might get panned.  Cancer treatment patients love to pan foods . . . but you knew that . . . 

This is definitely a meal that needs to be shared with others, because a full sandwich and bowl of tomato soup is to hard to manage to stretch across two of three meals - puree temperature is a bear.

TOMATO SOUP
Let's start with the fact that the acid in tomatoes can burn the mouth.  Second, we'll talk about how tomatoes can upset the stomach.  There, I feel better that we got that out of the way.  

Let's talk about all the different brands of tomato soup.  They are all quite different in flavor. I am a fan of "boxed soups", but several of them have been panned by my children.   If you are feeding a traditionalist - stick with your traditional brand.  This is a not a battle to be fought, you have other battles that are more important.

CHEESE
The important thing to note for lip-sippers is that the cheese can stick to the room of the mouth, and they might not be able to react fast enough.  For tummy-tubers, cheese tends to stick to the insides of the tube.  Which is why I tend to use one slice of cheese per sandwich.

BREAD
There are two sandwiches where my children have emphatically told me don't vary from Standard American White Bread - Grilled Cheese and PB&J.  We have them so infrequently, why ruin the experience.  I am allowed to vary on French Toast.  Once again, not a battle worth fighting.

MAC & CHEESE AND TOMATO
For the life of me I thought this puree reminded me of something, and I couldn't place it, until my daughter asked for Mac&Cheese.  In a pinch, Mac & Cheese and Tomato soup is delicious.  Especially, if the snow is lightly coming down.

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My Eighty-third - bouillabaisse and paella -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Eighty-third - bouillabaisse and paella -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

New England is to seafood as Iowa is to pork and Kansas City is to beef.  So, this blog will contain a lot of seafood recipes.  New England also has pockets of great ethnic restaurants, and I have to say that I miss both bouillabaisse and paella.  No they are not the same; however, for puree, they have they same common problem - lack of tongue flexibility.

But let's back up why it should be on the list.  I'll start with steamed mussels.  I love steam mussels in butter, parsley and white wine (not a fan of licorice flavor).  This was one of my favorite summertime treats.  No one else in my family liked them, so I could make it when everyone was out for the evening.  Nothing like sitting on the back porch listening to the birds, while peeling muscles from the shell . . . reminds me of a song . . . but I digress.

OK, start adding more seafood, spice, and some starch and you have the seafood stew which is either  bouillabaisse and paella.  Now there are a thousand variations based on local catch and ethnic preference - mussels, clams, crab, lobster, fish, scallops, shrimp, cockleshells, urchin, etc.

In full disclosure, my friend are vastly better at making bouillabaisse and paella, than I am.  I'm the type of guy that would buy these dishes at a restaurant, because at home I would make a giant pot, that no one else would eat, and I would be eating it for weeks . . . 

Bouillabaisse and paella are both dishes that are popular for family sit-down dinners.  So don't be afraid when you go to your family gatherings.


RECIPE:
Get fingers wet pulling meat off shells
dump in blender
add water
screen blend


GET FINGERS WET
Ok, let's get to the heart of the issue - removing all the inedible shells and skins.  No, normally we are smart enough to remove shells and skins of seafood before we eat them.  However, there is always that stray piece, that we catch with our nimble tongues which we have to force back through our lips and spit into a napkin.

Lip-sippers and tube-eaters don't have this luxury,  so the first thing we need to do is manually remove all the clam shells, shrimp skins, crab shells, etc.  Second we need to look through the broth for any loose shells and large pieces of sand. No, I didn't say this was going to be easy, and this meal is not for the most frustrated caregivers.  I view this meal as the reward for the "Near the end" of the journey dinner.  

SCREENING
I highly recommend screening the puree.  Especially for tube-eaters.  Most wire screens will work.  Some wire, flour screens might be to fine a mesh to allow acceptable pieces of meat and tomato through.  What we are looking to do is catch shrimp shells and get lost in the broth and we failed to fish it out.  Shrimp shells also seem to avoid blender blends like little ninjas . . . just saying.

WATER
The amount of water is more about how nibble your tongue is, or how thin you want your tube puree.  I recommend that you go very thin on your first batch, at least until you have mastered it.  The nice thing about wither recipe is that you can make any size batch you want from 1/2 cup to a full pitcher.

DOWNSIDE
With any seafood, the aroma might not be appetizing.  Seafood tends to be a love/hate smell

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My Eighty-second - Sole Meuniere or Chicken Piccata -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Eighty-second - Sole Meuniere or Chicken Piccata -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

DEDICATED TO  a group of Facebook parents with children with tummy tubes.  So this is for them. 

I'm doing a #FlashbackFriday to the years I worked at the Versailles Restaurant, where Sole Meuniere and Chicken Piccata were staples on the menu.  For those who are real foodies, who know all the subtleties between both of these dishes - besides the obvious chicken vs. sole; the most important thing to know if that they are both terrible when served cold.  So make sure you serve this dish warm.

The best thing about them is that they are both a ray of sunshine on a bored palette.  For lip-sippers, there is an issue of fresh lemon on open mouth sores, so I'll just put that out on the table.  However, if this is not an issue, these are great mouth refreshers.

As I listen to more and more parents talk about how they are picking up dinner, instead of making dinner in the kitchen, I thought I would skip my typical "Make a batch and then puree some in hot water" speech and come up with a new mash-up.  Today, I'm giving you a quick version of Fish Sticks Meuniere of Chicken Nuggets Piccata.

Spend more times eating with your children.


3 fish sticks or chicken Nuggets
3 pats of butter
1/2 a squeezed lemon
olive oil
cream
capers
hot water


Yea, I'm off my rocker.  I worry that cooking is becoming a lot art with our children,  so I'm coming up with a recipe that children caregivers can make with a parent.

The hardest thing for children to learn about cooking is making sure that meat is cooked completely and safely. The nice thing about fish sticks is we are halfway there.

In a saute pan, heat up an 1/8 inch of olive oil on medium heat (this is to make sure you don't burn the butter).  Add the butter, and melt.  When the butter is melted, add the meat and turn up the heat and brown them on both side ( if you are using meat that you already cooked in the oven, browning might happen very quickly).  As the meat is about finished, squeeze the half lemon on top, then remove from heat.

Now typically, you do a lot of chef type things to cook the capers and cream, but we are going to skip that and let the blender do the rest.

Add contents of the saute pan to the blender, add a couple of capers, and equal parts hot water and cold cream - then puree.  This should give you a nice warm puree.

KIDS FISH STICKS or CHICKEN NUGGETS
I cannot stress enough that sharing a meal with your child while you go through cancer treatment, is as important to them as it is for you.  If your children are having chicken nuggets or fish sticks out of the oven, you can also use this recipe to make a variation for yourself.

RISOTTO
Now typically, there is enough starch on the outside of the chicken or fish sticks that you may not need more starch.  But if I don't include risotto in this recipe, there will be some traditionalist who will frown at me. 

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My Eighty-first - Hot Pastrami Sandwich -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Eighty-first - Hot Pastrami Sandwich -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

I've always been a huge fan of Pumpernickel bread, and I know a lot of people are die-hard Rye bread fans - so let's just agree to disagree.

My son and I are the two that love pastrami and corned beef in my house.  So when he comes home from college, I like to purchase it and send him back to school with the extra, which never happens, because we will gladly eat the meat without any bread, mustard, or sauerkraut.  This is why it makes the list of 100 meals you never thought you would eat pureed.


2 parts bread (toasted)
2 parts Pastrami
dash of course mustard
2 parts sauerkraut/coleslaw
1 part cheese
Hot Water


HOT WATER
This meal is mostly about aroma, and the hot water releases the aroma of the meat, cheese and mustard.  You can use warm water if you pre-steam the meat.   

MUSTARD AND VINEGAR WARNING
Just a reminder, the vinegar and mustard can burn a mouth with sores.

CHEESE
Although I prefer Swiss cheese, because it is aromatic, you can also use Havarti and American cheese.  The hot water also helps the swiss cheese be more aromatic.  

TOAST
There is a certain extra yum about bread being toasted that seems important in a puree.  If you are the type of person to grill your sandwich - do it.

CABBAGE
Cabbage "in a form" is key to a great pastrami sandwich.  Sauerkraut is the top option, although it might burn your mouth, which is why I mention coleslaw, which can be made without a vinegar ingredient. I've even used sliced red cabbage without seasoning.  

COMMENTS

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My Eightieth - American Goulash or American Chop Suey -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Eightieth - American Goulash or American Chop Suey -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Always popular in American school lunches because it is easy to make a large pot and slop it out onto the trays.

Both dishes are similar and there are hundreds different variations.  If you haven't heard of either of these before they are basicly macaroni, tomato sauce, and typically ground meat.  Seasoning ranges from Italian to Hungarian spices.  

I view it as that pasta version of chili.  The biggest difference between Hungarian Goulash and American Goulash is stewed meat vs. ground beef.

This is my GO TO when people are having pizza, because pizza is very hard to puree easily.

1 part Goulash/Chop Suey
2 parts Warm water

Option
1 part Sour Cream

WARM WATER
Yup this one need to be served warm.  Not only for the comfort, but because there is typically cheddar cheese, and you want to make sure it doesn't stick to your mouth or the tubing.

TOMATO WARNING
Just a reminder, the tomato sauces can be a problem with both mouth sores, and stomach upset.  Make sure you have no mouth sores.  If you are not sure, don't do it.  Tomatoes have a way of finding sores you didn't know about.

CHEDDAR CHEESE
Go light on the cheddar cheese, a little cheese goes a long way on strong taste.  I always recommend sharp cheddar, so you can use less, for the same taste level.

SOUR CREAM

Just to add a little fat in your diet.  I also finds it helps calm my stomach.

ADD MEAT LATER
Turns out I make a lot of meatless dishes, and then add my own pre-cooked meat later.  Last night, I added pre-cooked swordfish to my Goulash.  It was a nice change of pace.

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My Seventy-ninth - Chicken Marsala -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Seventy-ninth - Chicken Marsala -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

So, in cleaning out the kitchen cabinets, I found a bottle of Marsala wine in the back.  It has probably been there for over 6 years.  I haven't made Chicken Marsala since well before my first oral cancer treatment in 2010.  I love chicken Marsala.  But, I'm the only one in my house that does.  As I held the bottle in my hand, I thought about all the meals that require a little bit of liquor / liqueur like cognac, Cointreau, red wine, beer, etc.

For many cancer treatment people, these are strictly forbidden, because of the alcohol.  However, for cooking there are often non-alcohol alternatives, like flavored extracts, or non-alcoholic beer and wines.

Marsala does not have an alternative. But you can cook the alcohol out of it. by boiling the water on the stove, and add the Marsala wine to boiling water, and turning the heat off, and letting the water cool down a bit before adding it to the blender.  There is a little magic required trying to estimate how hot the water should be compared with the cold items in the blender.

This recipe is for people like me, where no one else in the house will eat it.

1-part pre-cooked chicken

1-part starch

1/2-part mushroom

1-part cream

4 parts warmed chicken stock 

warm water

Dash of Marsala wine

WARM LIQUID

The key to this dish is to make it warm enough that the Marsala wine gives a nice fragrance.  It is also a dish, where you need to feed it to lip sippers in a small portion, so that you can make sure that they always have a warm cup in front of them.  It will lose all its charm when it is cold.  Yes, I would not start with this dish, as the first one I make for a patient.  Maybe the twentieth and thirtieth, once I've gained their trust.

PRE-COOKED CHICKEN

This is a perfect example of a dish where I keep unseasoned pre-cooked meat in the refrigerator. Some call it leftovers, I call it life.  When I cook myself a meal, I typically cook the meat unseasoned, and then pull half of it out and store it in the refrigerator for a meal for the next day.  Most of the issue with pre-cooked meat, is the texture - pureeing solves that problem.

LIQUEUR

The beauty of liqueur is they add a lot of aroma.  Liqueurs remind the patient of good times, and good days.  

Remember, it takes very little liqueur to add a lot of flavor.

STARCH

Some like Chicken Marsala with rice, others with pasta.  I like mine with egg noodles.  It's a personal preference. 

CREAM

I've had chicken Marsala without cream - it is a little too intense of a flavor for my taste.  Typically, the patient needs to put on weight, so cream is good.

COMMENTS

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