My One Hundred and first - Pu Pu platter for two -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My One Hundred and first  - Pu Pu Platter for Two -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Dedicated to the Aku Aku Restaurant in Massachusetts, that nurished a number of college students through the years

Yea, I bet you didn't see this one coming . . . The beauty of this recipe - there is too much food for one person to eat, so you have to share a meal with a friend.  Sharing is caring.

When I lived in Somerville, MA back in the 80's, my housemates and I used to order Chinese delivery all the time.  We tipped well, so we were always delivered food first - and HOT.  Now, unlike most houses that waited until everyone came home before we ordered, the first person came home and ordered Chinese food, and then the next person ordered more Chinese food, and typically there was a third order before the night was through.  Free delivery was wonderful, and the driver got tipped each time.  I remember one night he was driving with his young daughter in the car, and he brought her up to our door to meet us. . . 


Takee Outee was a New Orleans Mardi Gras favorite, but I don't remember Pu Pu Platters . . . it was 2 AM though, that might have had something to do with it.

For those not familiar with the American-Chinese Pu Pu platter, it is an appetizer for two typically containing an egg roll, boneless spare ribs, chicken wings, chicken fingers, beef teriyaki skewered beef, crab rangoon, and shrimp tempura. Typically served with sweat sauce and hot Chinese mustard sauce on the side.

For the pureed eater, this recipe is going to take a lot of extra work, because instead of dumping everything in and pureeing it, you need to make 3-4 different small purees.  I simply rinse out the blender between serving.

Since I do about 2 cups per meal, this means I'll make four 1/2 servings.  Typically 3/4 pieces of meat make about 2 cups, so you only need one or two pieces to make a 1/2 cup.  The big decision maker it whether the meat is breaded or not.

You have the option to puree everything before you sit down to eat, or puree as you go.  I'll give you the puree-as-you-go option.

I break the grouping into - seafood, chicken fingers, beef, then pork.  I typically consume them that way too.

LIQUID
Instead of using warm water, I blend each one with hot tea.  If you are a green tea drinker, use green tea. Add the solids, then fill the blender to the 1/2+ cup mark.  

SEAFOOD
 (Remember to remove the hard tail piece of shrimp before you puree.)
This would include the crab rangoon and the shrimp tempura.  You only need two pieces, so one of each or two of the same.  I typically use regular tea and no sauces.  I love me crab rangoon by itself.

CHICKEN FINGERS
As I have already posted on sweet and sour chicken, we are basically headed in the same direction.  I typically use the sweet sauce here, and save the hot mustard for the boneless spareribs. 

BEEF SKEWER / EGG ROLL
Since the beef doesn't have any starch, I pair it with the egg roll.  You are going to have to cut the egg to make sure that the size of the egg roll portion is equal to the beef section. Typically this is going to make closer to a 1 cup size, if you use the whole beef skewer.  Remove the beef off the skewer before pureeing . . . just saving.  Also, I've been known to use the bamboo skewer to push through any pieces of meat that get stuck in the feeding tube . . . don't tell my family.

BONELESS SPARERIBS
Yes, I saved this for last.  Finish with Chinese mustard sauce.  I'm too afraid to start the night with hot mustard sauce. Just sayin . . . 

Since there is no starch on the boneless spareribs, I use whatever starch is leftover.  Are the egg rolls gone?  Did we order rice?  In a pinch I will use a fortune cookie . . . 

CHICKEN WINGS
I skip the chicken wings, and save them for lunch the next day.  There is no spacial seasoning on the chicken wings, and no one ever fights over who is going to get the chicken wing, so it is what it is

Traditional Chinese-American take out

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

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

I felt I needed to give STEWS their own post.  For me, stews are chowders without cream.  For me, stews are soups with large chunks with less liquid.  But most importantly, stews can be kept in a slow cooker all day; they can be ladled out in any volume; and they can be pureed by just adding additional water.  Stews also fill the house with great aromas that help build an appetite for those who has lost the joy of eating.

Stews range from a thick paste to chunks in a broth, so the general rule is that you will need to add 50/50 stew to extra liquid.

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, I thought now was a great time to talk about stews.  Corned beef and cabbage - it's a stew.

So the first stew I posted was Bison Chili. Yes, Chili is a stew.  Although most Americans think of chili made with ground meat.  I've been to a number of Chili cook-offs that had chucks of meat - including alligator and rattlesnake - delicious. 

Which takes us to the close cousin - American Chop Suey and Hungarian Goulash. One of the Classic American school cafeteria meals.  I've been on FB with a group of parents who have children on g-tubes, today, there was a post about "How do you send your child to school with pureed food?"  Many school post what the daily lunch menu is, and a parent could replicate that daily menu with a home-made version . . . just thinking out loud . . . 

The last stew I posted was Boeuf Bourguignon - a standard beef stew.  The more I thought about stews the more I also believed the spicy Szechuan bean curd my wife orders from Bamboo Restaurant is a type of stew. OK maybe a chunky soup

About a year ago, I posted the Russian dish - Beef Stroganoff.  This would be more of the "paste" variety of stew. OK, it has cream . . . just to show you the variety available in the world

We have beef covered well, but what about other meat stews.

On the seafood side, we have the Bouillabaisses and the paellas.  When most people think of stews they think of long-cooked root vegetables, but rice stews and pasta stews can sit in a slow cooker too.

Étouffée, Jambalaya, and Gumbos and great regional versions of seafood and chicken stews, so think about the stews that are popular where you live. Like Chicken mull, Callaloo, or Booyah.  And yes, it is OK to google the recipes.


Coq au vin, although I have not covered it yet,  is a classic chicken stew.  I suppose I'll work on this recipe this summer.  I'm hooked on the chicken porridge right now, I'll have to wait until this phase passes.

Irish stew is the classic lamb stew.  When my sister-in-law Dorothy, comes over for a visit I always prepare lamb.  Nothing like sharing a favorite meat with someone else who appreciates it.  In the summer I grill lamb, but earlier this month the grill was snow covered, so I slow-cooked Irish stew for her.  Made sure I made enough to send her home with a container of un-pureed goodness.

My son has found a great place to pick up "goat",  I'll have to try goat stew soon.

There are so many ethnic varieties out there, I recommend pulling out your mom's old cookbook and looking through the meals you have not had since you were a child.

Online, I found "Karelian hot pot*" and although I do not have a Finnish cookbook, I know someone who does.  So you know where my research will take me . . . Oh look Mulligan stew too!

Classic American stew ingredients.

*I got my recipe -  Equal amounts of beef stew meat and pork (I buy a pork loin roast usually) cut in 1-2" chunks. Place in an oven safe dish, chop an onion and spread over the meat (you can add some baby carrots or rutabaga pieces too☺). Cover about 3/4 with water (nearly to the top anyway), add salt (depending on the amt of meat, if 2 lbs total then maybe 1 tsp) and like 10-15 whole peppercorns. In the oven, 375 Fahrenheit, covered for about 2 hrs. Great in the crock pot too.

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My One Hundredth - Boeuf Bourguignon -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My One Hundredth  - Boeuf Bourguignon -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

I dedicate this recipe to Rev. David Milam, who has been a spiritual inspiration.  Not just because he is a Rector, but because he is an awesome cook.  This summer we are going to test out these recipes with both able-bodied, lip-sippers, and tummy-tubers.

April 2010, I was diagnosed with tongue cancer. By July, I had a stomach peg. On 24 April, 2011, my wife, Randi, and I published our first recipe -  Stomach Peg Original Soup™ -SPOS.  

In 2014, I discovered I add Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC).  I opted to not have a stomach peg, but I still needed to make sure I got my nutrition.  Since both radiation treatments caused trimus, I decided that since God decided to keep me alive, I would create "100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients".  By 2015, my swallowing muscles had given out and it was time to put in a permanent G-tube. So I have been both a lip-sipper and a tummy-tuber

Which brings us to today.  My 100th recipe!!

I felt I needed to finish the list with a slow-cooker recipe.  Of all the things I learned during this process, it is that a heavy duty blender and a slow-cooker are the two most important tools you can have.  Boeuf Bourguignon  is a fabulous beef stew and really easy to make in a slow-cooker

SIMPLE RECIPE
In a slow cooker dump:
1 Unit piece of beef cut into <1 font="" pieces="">
1 Unit carrots cut into <1 pieces="" span="">
1 Unit celery cut into <1 pieces="" span="">
1 Unit onion cut into <1 pieces="" span="">
1 Unit potatoes cut into <1 pieces="" span="">
1 Unit red wine
1 Unit beef (or chicken) stock
1 Unit red tomato paste
1 Unit mushrooms cut into <1 nbsp="" pieces="" span="">
  ( I like portabello mushrooms, Julia Child likes button mushrooms) 

OPTION
1/2 Unit diced bacon

 Season with
Thyme, rosemary, sage, garlic, salt, black pepper, olive oil

Add water to cover the entire pile of ingredients.


UNIT
I use "UNITS" so you can vary the size of the recipe to fit your situation.  I now own a 6-quart slow-cooker and a 1 gallon slow-cooker.  This recipe can be made to both share with able-bodied eaters.  The longer you cook, the softer the food gets.

BEEF
If you want to be more traditional you can braze the meat first, to get a caramelizing brown yumminess. 

VEGGIES
Some people had other root vegetables, which is fine.  his recipe was created with vegetables I typically have on hand

POTATOES
I typically use fingerling potatoes, solely because it is easier for potion control.

PUREE
When you puree, you will need to add additional water.  Do not use additional red wine.  The idea was to burn off all the alcohol in the cooking process.

My newest toy a 6-Quart Hamilton Beach cooker.

This is not the end of recipes, just a landmark.  

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My Ninety-ninth - Grits, Gruel, and Porridge -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Ninety-ninth  - Grits, Gruel, and Porridge -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Whenever I went to the southern states of the USA, I made it a special point to go to a Waffle House.  There is something special about grits with extra butter at a Waffle House.  I've recieved some fack from my family that Waffle House might be a little low-brow . . .  I remember sitting at the counter, one time, next to two big burly and bearded truckers, who were discussing how much they were putting into their 402k verses investing in the stock market. Don't judge a puree by it's cover, or something like that.

Last week, I was challenged to make Chicken Arroz Caldo, which is very similar to Congee, and it washed over me that I should have a recipe for the "grey stuff".

"Try the grey stuff, it's delicious" - Beauty and the Beast

Every nationality has version of "grey stuff" or "mash" call it grits, oatmeal, gruel, porridge, polenta, farina, sour cream porridge, etc.  It is what I call "mash potatoes for breakfast and brunch".  The point being that it is familiar, and you can mix in other things to make it worth while.

The importance is that you can make a pot, and if you are the person who can only eat 1 cup to 250 ml at a time, you can keep the pot warm on the stove (slow cooker) all morning.

I discovered that the morning meal is key because you just woke up and some morning, you want something plain that won't ruin your day.  Yea, this meal is for the crabby person who is in a pissy mood.  Someday you just need to make something that you just don't want to fight over.  I've been there done that.  I've woken up a number of morning where, the pain the night before was un-real, and I just could not sleep.

Other morning, you make up and your stomach fells "wonky".  Maybe you had reflux issues all night.  You want something "safe".

There are five parts to the recipe - grey stuff, water, protein, fat, fruit/veggie.  I post them in this order, because if you have to leave something out, this is the order of importance.

RECIPE FOR TWO CUPS OF PUREE
2/3 cup of grey stuff
tablespoon sized piece of protein (chicken or mild sausage)
2 Pats of fat (like butter)
1/4 cup of fruit or veggie  - (fruit jams count as well)
1 cup of water


WATER
This is going to vary depending on how thick you have made your starch in the beginning.  Use warm water if the mash is cold; use cold water is the mash is hot.  This morning was the first time I ever made grits.  It was perfect, until I let it sit on the stove for 30 minutes, and then it was more like a grit patty . . . lesson learned

EGGS
Most people opt for eggs in their morning mash.  One cooked egg is perfect sized.

CHICKEN
I have discovered that chicken in breakfast mash is really pretty terrific.  It leaves a happy taste in my mouth.  Most recently, I have been cooking dark meat on the bone in a slow cooker, to get the bone broth benefits.  I pick the meat off the bones and store in in the juices in the refrigerator. Yea, it's unattractive to look at, but it make it easy to portion out into a morning puree.  Make sure you serve the puree warm, or the fat in the chicken tends to slow down or clog tummy tubes,

FAT
If you are not using chicken fat.  Add a pat of butter to the mash.  Some morning (don't tell my family)  I will scoop out a pat of bacon grease to flavor the mash.  Close to Godliness. 

FRUIT
In America, it is very popular to mix fruit in your mash - strawberries, and blueberries at the top of the list.  I also like to mix in jams and marmalades.  A little orange marmalade, help tames the savage beast. 

VEGGIES
Be careful adding veggies that are not normal to the mash meal.  This is not a time to try and be "healthy".  Pick your battles, and a pissy cancer treatment patient, is not a beast to be challenge first thing in the morning.  Remember, the food does no good if we don't get it in the belly.

My home away from home for grits.
GET YOU SOME OF THAT.

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My Ninety-eighth - Omelette -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Ninety-eighth  - Omelette -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Half the fun of an omelette with cooking it.  Most of the horror of an omelette is cooking it.  There is definitely a technique for cooking a fluffy omelette.  This is the wrong article to learn how to make an omelette.

For the purpose of a puree and omelette is basically scrambled eggs with stuffing.  This is one reason it has taken me so long to add this to the list of pureed recipes.  Also, the traditional 3-egg omelette is too large for people who are eating via a tummy tube, or sipping one cup of food and calling that a meal.

A 3-egg omelette needs a starch to keep the egg solids from sinking to the bottom of the blender.  Whether you add a piece of toast, hash browns, home fries, or English muffin, you are still making 6 cups of puree.  That is a lot of puree.  Most omelettes are pretty mild in flavor which make them perfect for a person who's stomach is upset with most spicy foods.  BUT NOT THREE MEALS IN A ROW.  When I was a lip sipper, that would make it 6 meals!! That is a lot of the same ol' same ol'.

My recipe for Sloppy Joe, gave me the inspiration for how to add omelette to my recipe list - SHARING.

RECIPE FOR TWO CUPS OF PUREE
center 1/3* cup of the omelette including stuffing
One toast, English muffin, or "like-size" cooking potato
one cup warm liquid like water or coffee

ADDITIONAL
extra butter
black pepper

FULL BATCH
Yea, six cups to too much to make and save in the refrigerator. SO make an Omelette that two people can share.  Cut the center out and puree that section.

SCRAMBLED EGGS
Yes, this is basically one scrambled egg, one piece of breakfast meat, toast, and/or cheese.  If you still want to make a meal, but don't want to go through the hassle of making a 3-egg omelette - cook the stuffing, and then drop an egg on top and scramble it up. 

DENVER OMELETTE
When I make an omelette my favorite is a Denver omelette with peppers, onion, and ham/bacon (and a dash of sherry).  If I am out of meat, I will make an omelette duxelle +/- the spinach.  

If you add spinach to your Denver omelette you will end up with green eggs and ham . . .  :)

CHEESE
OK, I didn't include cheese in this recipe. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?  Of course any cheese is good whether it is Havarti, Jarsberg, Cheddar, Brie, Velveeta, Emmental, Bleu, Feta, Stilton, Lancashire, Gruyère, Roquefort, Queso Blanco, Colby-Jack, Monterey, Cremoso . . . I'm starting to feel like Pvt. Benjamin Buford 'Bubba' Blue. 

MORE THAN ONE SERVING
If you decide to go the route of more than one serving, I recommend adding a flavoring to additional servings.  If I am having a potato omelette puree, I will add Ketchup to the second puree.  If I am having toast with the second puree, I with add grape jelly or orange marmalade.  If I am having a English muffin omelette I would have made a Eggs Benedict (just being straight with you here). 

Fresh eggs matter

* Proper answer (with much love) according to my son in college: The case for an unfolded omelette, that is, a circular omelette, is analogous to the folded case excepting for the form of the description of the height gradient. For an unfolded omelette of uniform height, each cut has to have volume of pi r squared h divided by 3. To find the length of the circle segment, one solves a pretty basic integral, which is a form of Kepler's equation. That gives a length of the circular segment of 0.73, or about 3:2:3 ratio. So, for a perfectly even omelette, it's 1/4. If you make the omelette fatter in the middle, this ratio becomes smaller. The answer is closer to 1/4.

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My Ninety-Seventh -Sloppy Joe -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Ninety-Seventh -Sloppy Joe -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

One of the biggest issues with enjoying food while going through cancer treatment, is sitting at the table with the family and having a meal.  We just don't eat at the same pace as everyone else.  We might not be hungry at that time.  We have a ton of reasons why we can't.  And it is hard to share the same meal that the children enjoy

Sloppy Joes are a kid favorite, and easy enough to share at the same time as your kids meal time.  Extra Sloppy Joe can store easily in the refrigerator. Most important of all, it fills the air with the scent of family and nostalgia. 

I can remember playing a game out on the city street with my friends (Yes, I'm that old), and when mom called us in for dinner, that smell of Sloppy Joe was the smell of heaven. Now when I say "us" I mean myself and +/- four brothers.  Fierce badminton in the yard would include +/- three additional sisters.  Of course there could also be the additional neighborhood children.

I grew up with Sloppy Joes made with a packet of McCormick Sloppy Joe Seasoning. So it made it a dump-and-cook-in-one-pot recipe.  However, when I just looked up the McCormick recipe online, I discovered that it was missing two important ingredients from my mom's recipe - fresh onion and fresh bell pepper.

ground beef
chopped white onion
chopped bell pepper
McCormick seasoning
small can of tomato paste
water

RECIPE FOR TWO CUPS OF PUREE
1/2 cup Sloppy Joe
1/2 Hamburger bun
1 cup warm water

FULL BATCH
Yea, this recipe does not scale down from a full pound of ground meat very well.  You have to remember to make this when you are feeding an squad of children.  

GROUND MEAT
No, I have not tried a vegetarian version.  No, I have not tried a ground turkey version.  No, I have not tried a ground bison version (that would be like cheating on my chili).  But I can imagine having an issue with feeding an army of children with only one ground meat option. ::SIGH::

BELL PEPPER
OK, the fact that I just finished grilling orange and red peppers in February was the trigger that made me remember Sloppy Joes.  Although I hardly buy green bell peppers anymore, this recipe is fine for green ones, because there are so many red spices in this meal, that there is little worry in turning the puree camo green.

FRESH ONION
I always has an assortment of large onions in my pantry.  My mom traditionally bought large white onions in a large bag.   But remember back then you bought what was ever available at the supermarket or PX. Vidalia onions used to have a short season.

Go with the onion type that your family likes best.

TOMATO PASTE
I grew up on tomato paste.  Many people use tomato sauce instead, and reduce the amount of water in the recipe. Go with what your momma says to use . . .

I buy is by the case.
One of the few canned items I'm allowed to buy.

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My Ninety-Sixth - Sausage and Pate: The Spice from Heaven -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Ninety-Sixth - Sausage and Pate: The Spice from Heaven  -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

WARNING
Just to get it out of the way . . . a lot of people view nitrites as a health issue.  I'll just leave that here.  I view food as one of the joys of life. I'll just leave that here.

Just four days ago, I posted on Facebook that I was craving pate', especially a country-style pate' but I had no idea where to purchase it as my favorite place went out of business.

On Thursday, I visited my son at Brandeis University, and for lunch he wanted to introduce me to one of his favorite places on the main drag - Moody Street, Moody's Delicatessen & Provisions.  I had my portable blender in my backpack so I was ready for a little adventure.  Little did I know, I would discover the place that I felt I could cross off an item on my bucket-list.

Now, growing up my mom tried to serve me liverwurst - sorry not a fan, and always thought that anything that looked like liverwurst tasted like liverwurst. YUCK!  It wasn't until I worked at the Versailles Restaurant in Lexington, that I discovered that country-style Pate' is fabulous.  Add a little brown mustard on a baguette . . . YUM!

So as my son and I were walking to Moody's, he was telling me about the fabulous selection of meats they prepare and everything is made right there.  When we walked in, his voice disappeared as I had found heaven on earth.  The front chilled case was filled with an assortment of New England Charcuterie prepared meats - BEEF SALAMI, BOURBON & BACON, CHORIZO SECO, FINOCCHIONA, GENOA, HOT SOPPRESSATA, PEPPERONI, SAUCISSON AU CIDRE, SWEET SOPPRESSATA, BRESAOLA, MAPLE BREAKFAST LINKS, CURED PORK SAUSAGE, BIERWURST BIERC, SMOKED CHORIZO, KIELBASA, BOHEMIAN PÂTÉ, PORK & RABBIT PÂTÉ, BEEF BACON, SMOKED BEEF BRISKET, OMG I'M SCREAMING LIKE A LITTLE FAN GIRL. RABBIT PÂTÉ!! DID YOU SEE THEY HAVE RABBIT PÂTÉ!!!

OK, Jeff get a hold of yourself.  I'm sure my son said a number of other wonderful things, but I knew I had to drop some serious coin here. He ordered "the Katz" (a pastrami or rye).  I thought "SKIP IT".  I'm just going to order some hunks of meat, and head back to my son's place and properly prepare a puree.  You can't fit a whole pastrami sandwich in a portable blender.

So now that I've whetted your appetite, let's talk a little bit about using sausages and pate's in a puree.

Don't view them as proteins.  View them as spices.  All of these ground meats puree very well.  All of these meats are powerful flavors, and bring back a lot of memories, so they are an excellent option for people who are trying to rekindle their love of food.

Except for a Pastrami sandwich, which should be piled high with meat, most sausage and pate' recipes add just a dash of meat to flavor and not over power the dish.  A pepperoni pizza is not completely covered in pepperoni. No one ever scooped up a huge spoonful of chopped liver and dumped it on their appetizer plate.

So go light on the meat.

BREAKFAST SAUSAGE
I typically add about one paddy, or one small link to every four cups of puree.

DRY SALAMI
1/4" to a 1/2" of meat is all that is headed for four cups of puree.  I give a range because some salami's are far more powerful than others.  I also view salami like "hot peppers"  some people grow accustom to the flavor, so you need to add more.  The best thing about dry salami is they store well in the refrigerator, so you can use a little at a time over a long period of time.  You can also keep two or three, and rotate the use of them.

PATE'
For me, Pate' is all about the after-taste.  Not for nothing, but a good pate' burp a couple of hours after the meal, is pure joy.  I also like my pate' with brown mustard, so about 1" cube is all I need.

FRESH SAUSAGE
Now you are in the realm of my Fenway favorite Sweet Italian Sausage.  The favor is milder, so I typically had a 6" link to my 4 cup puree.

FOUR CUPS
Nothing special about four cups.  It is just my typical size.  I usually get two two-cup servings.  I have six servings a day - 2 for breakfast, two for lunch, and two for dinner.  I'm a couple of years out of Cancer Treatment, so I can tolerate larger meals.  If you can hardly get a cup of puree through your mouth, think of your meat portion as the size of two pieces of pepperoni.

This picture of Moody's is courtesy of Star Chefs

Don't even get me started on the cheese selection . . . 

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