243 new of 494 responses total.
I know I dont know you but if you ever want to invite me over for dinner, I would accept. ;) That soup sounds GOOD.
Time to kick life back here. :) One of the things we've been eating alot lately is Sweet Potato Enchiladas. I first had them at Seva, and while I liked them, I thought I could do better. I did. :) There are no measurements....I've always dome them freeform. Boil up sweet potatos. In a fry pan, saute sweet red peppers and onions. I use Chile Rojo oil, which has hot peppers in it, and it gives them a really nice flavor and slight bite. Smush peppers/onions into potatos. Add salt and smoosh all together. Roll mixture into flour tortillas. Put in oiled 9x13 pan. Dump salsa around the edges and between enchiladas. Top with shredded Montary Jack cheese, stick in oven at 350 for about 1/2 hour, or until cheese is melted and yummy looking. I'm making them almost every week!
How many potatoes make how many enchiladas?
Probably be less soggy with corn tortillas.
I've had no soggy ones yet. Um, last time I did 4 med. size, and made 9 enchiladas. Added 2 peppers and 2 onions. 2 Jars of salsa (I've been using Frog Holler) and 2 8oz packages of cheese. Wasn't quite enough salsa. Made 2 9x13 pans worth.
Thanks. Sounds like an interesting recipe. Although I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes, I'm guessing this might be a lot different than eating them plain ;)
I detest the traditional mashed sweet potatoes with orange juice and with marshmallows on top, but have found a ton of other uses for them. I make a fantastic Sweet Potatoe Pancake. :)
Pronounced chorba de burta This is an old eastern European sour soup recipe. When you serve it, its customary to put a dollop of sour cream to melt in the middle and a basket of bread on the side. Ingredients: 500 grams tripe yellow onion bulb 1 lemon or vinegar 1 DL cream lovage herb celery soup vegetables (celery, carrots, parsley) 6-8 garlic 1-2 eggs 300 grams calf bone parsley root Boil tripe (in thumb sized pieces) for 2 hours with bones in 3 liters of water with 1 tablespoon of salt along with soup vegetables (celery, carrots and parsley root) and add an unchopped onion bulb. Optional after 2 hours: Take out vegetables and bones. Simmer soup and salt it while adding lemon juice (or vinegar) Slowly stir in egg and cream with fork (separating is normal...). Add approx. 2 big spoons of oil and pressed garlic. At the conclusion, add fresh herbs (above all add chopped Lovage herb). Side notes: Bors is normally used i.e. a sour soup boullion (pronounced Borsh). Knorr or Maggi make them as "Bors" or "Bors Magic" but they're not easy to find in the USA so I listed lemon juice or vinegar which works almost as good. Don't confuse bors with borscht(beet juice) Also, if you can't find lovage herb (also known as maggikraut), you can use a combo of chopped celery leaf with italian parsley.
Can you use sorrel instead of lemon/vinegar?
I've heard of people using steamed sorrel with lemon juice together actually. That's a good idea that I'll have to try.
Basic Cashew Milk 1/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews 1 quart or liter hot water, not quite boiling Optional: honey or maple syrup or other sweetener (I usually add ~1 tbsp honey) a dash of vanilla cheesecloth Pulverize the cashews using your favorite method. Be careful not to make cashew butter. Aim for somewhere close to the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Put the cashew meal in a blender. Add the hot water and any sweetener or flavoring. Blend for 2-5 minutes depending on how powerful your blender is. Pour into a container with a lid. The milk keeps in the refrigerator for five to seven days. Shake before using. Other notes: If you don't want cashew meal particles in the end product, let the milk steep a while longer, then strain through cheesecloth before refrigerating. If you want to use any other variety of nuts, use a half cup instead of a quarter because they are not as rich as cashews. Raw almonds and hazelnuts can be skinned before making milk, or the skins can be left on for darker color and more intense flavor. If you want thicker milk, use more nuts. For thinner milk, use fewer.
How do you use the particles after straining them? We have made soy milk and the solids that are left are the best part. We cook them with rice.
The last thing I cooked was chili: -browned ground meat, tomatoes, onion, kidney beans, and a bit of corn thrown in for more color. Plus chili powder, italian seasoning, a bit of salt and pepper and a secret spice.
Cocoa?
re resp:263: I don't usually strain mine. The particles can be used to make a kind of cheeze, though. Recently I discovered that oat milk tastes just the same in black tea as dairy milk. So I think I'll start making my own oat milk. The last thing I cooked was 'maters and sprouts for yesterday's dinner: ~1 to 1.5 lb Brussels sprouts 1 30-oz can diced tomatoes with onions and garlic 1 15-oz can white beans (I used cannelini yesterday), drained and rinsed Dried sage to taste Wash and trim the sprouts. I cut a 1/4-inch-deep X in the bottoms, but I think it might have been better if I had simply halved them. Put everything in a pot. Bring to a slight boil, then simmer till the sprouts are done. Serve. Yesterday I needed to add an extra 15-oz can of tomatoes because I had more sprouts than I thought I did. This dish also makes a pretty good supper served with a salad and good chewy bread.
Hmm, what's oat milk?
Light-colored liquid made from oats that can be used as a dairy milk substitute. Like almond milk, soy milk, or rice milk. Pacific makes a pretty good oat milk, but store-bought stuff always costs a boatload more than what you can make at home. See resp:262 for a recipe for homemade cashew milk. Here's a link to Pacific's grain and nut beverages: http://www.pacificfoods.com/products-nut-grain.php I am looking for a recipe for oat milk using steel-cut oats. All I have found so far are recipes calling for rolled oats and I have none of those on hand.
Seems to me that extracting stuff from oats would be about the same process, no matter how they had been milled. The main difference between rolled and steel cut is that the steel cut are not mashed down, so access to the starchy part is protected by the bran more. You may have to physically push on the steel cuts more than you would the rolled.
Made some oat milk tonight: 1 C rolled oats 5 C water Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Pour into a blender, blend, and then strain. It turned out very thick. I'm not sure I like it. Next time I won't blend, I'll just strain off the liquid.
I made a veal ragu last night for dinner. The recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_22275,00.ht ml?rsrc=search It's a fabulous recipe and would have been great had I not totally TORCHED my batch. If you like Osso Buco, you'll love this. It makes a bunch and is really tasty.
Bummer, I can't seem to get that link to work. I really like rustic dishes, like ragu. I'm planning to make this recipe tomorrow: http://tinyurl.com/yk97d6 The last thing I did cook was a slow cooker chicken noodle soup. Very traditional. Nothing unusual. Very good.
Since its almost dinner time and I brought the stuff, I'm going to make some stew this evening. Things like stew, chili, and once in awhile, soup, I don't use a set recipe for. I just buy the appropriate meat [if used in the dish] and whatever good vegetables I find. Add some seanonings [again that varies from time to time and I don't usually measure it] and simmer for awhile. Taste adjust seasonings, if needed.
Hmmm. I suppose I dont get to count the frozen pizza I had for dinner last night, huh? ;) The last thing I actually cooked was a bacon and cheddar quiche.
Try this one - it might work: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_22275,00.ht ml?rsrc=search
shoot...I know what's wrong... http://tinyurl.com/y9znt8
I like that recipe except for the part that says "Cook the alcohol out of the wine" WHAT!? ;) That's just crazy
Heh....well in my case last night, I more than succeeded..burnt the living crap out of it...which is a bummer, as it's so tasty.
Thanks for the link, Brooke. It does look good.
Hmm, the last thing I made was Sunday dinner- whole wheat spaghetti with DeLallo spaghetti sauce (tomato and basil) with my own assortment of herbs added. Hubby made 'Stuff' yesterday for lunch, which is something like a shepherd's pie- but it's his own creation. Ground sirloin, onion, corn, gravy and mashed potatoes on top. We think it's yummy.
I made a soup last night that I took from Weight Watchers and changed a bit. Chicken broth, some roasted chicken from a chicken I cooked a week ago, some chopped frozen spinach thawed and squeezed out, and when it was close to serving time, cheese tortellini in it. Sprinkle a bit of shredded parmesan on it and it was tasty.
Anne, your husband's 'stuff' sounds good! :-)
For dinner it was the recipe I mentioned in #272. I'm pleased and will be making this again and essentially ditching my family's recipe for goulash. Sorry mom. The only change I made to the linked recipe is I substituted lean "stew" beef instead of the chuck, and I served it over couscous instead of the dumplings. The slightly healthier version was still plenty rich. Yummy stuff.
The stew I made on Monday evening includes the stewing meat [browned first], then added a can of onion soup, crushed tomatoes, diced potatoes, chopped onions and chopped onion. Also added was a bit of salt and ground pepper, Italian seasoning, cumin and tumeric [they smelled good and I hardly ever use them; I brought them for a particular recipe, but i forget what the recipes are]. Then let it all simmer for awhile. It was good but needed a bit more salt. Oh, and sometimes after reheating the stew, I add a bit of sour cream and stir that in to make a creamier broth. Tuesday evening, I made cheese quesidilas.
Stew is rich winter comfort food. In fact, having the opportunity to eat a steamy bowl of stew while an ice blizzard rages is why I'm not living in Key West. ;-)
That's true, Mary; stew IS a good comfort food, though as a kid, I hated the stuff! In my response in 284 in my list of ingredients, that should be chopped onions and chopped green peppers [not onions and onions].
resp:286 I dunno, I like the original typing better. ;) Especially as green peppers and I don't get along. resp:282 Yes, Stuff is yummy. :)
What was in the canned onion soup that you did not also add? Canned soups are mostly salt and water.
I added the soup for a little bit of liquid.
Water is cheap, and has less salt in it.
There's a whole "lack of flavor" thing though...
I drink lots of water, so in the stew, I wanted a bit more flavor. And I don't go overboard with my salt intake in general, so that's not much of an issue. There ARE a few things that I believe salt enhances the flavor of and since I don't have problems with my blood pressure, I do use it from time to time. All in moderation. :-)
Read the label of your can of onion soup. YOu can probably add whatever is in there other than the water and salt, much cheaper and better, such as using fresh vegetables, herbs and spices instead of canned ones.
Potato-fennel soup: 2 fennel bulbs, sliced 8 or so smallish potatoes, scrubbed and cut in smallish chunks Water Plain soy milk Dill Rosemary Soy sauce Adobo seasoning Nutritional yeast flakes Saute the fennel in the bottom of a soup pot. Add everything else but the nutritional yeast flakes. Bring to a boil, then simmer till the potatoes are done, stirring occasionally and adjusting the seasonings to taste. Add the nutritional yeast flakes close to the end of the cooking time, stir in, and adjust seasonings again if needed.
Sindi, I *did* use a number of vegetables in my stew along with some herbs and spices. I don't have a full cabinet of herbs and spices, though, to use in my recipes. I'm sure there are lots of things that people use to cook with are not what you would use but are still ok. We do what we can with whatever time, resources, and money available, again, in moderation. I *have* been doing better with my cooking and food choices of late. And I do enjoy food and eating--and want to be able to fully participate in these discussions without having t o defend everything I use or don't use. I do appreciate your concern for other people's health and well-being, so I hope you don't take offense with these comments.
I did a quick and easy dinner myself last night. Sprinkle an envelope of dried onion soup on the bottom of a baking pan. Place two chicken breasts on top. Roast for 45 minutes. Remove chicken breasts, stir sour cream into the drippings. Serve chicken breasts on brown rice, slathered over with sour cream gravy.
I too use dried onion soup mix, Lipton, and really like the results. It makes for a mean pot roast. Note to Denise: Let it flow on by.
I had heard a friend of mine describe something he apparently gets at Trader Joe's called Soycotash - using edamame instead of limas, so I tried to put together my own batch last night. I used canned corn that I wanted out of the house - ran one can through the mini processor, tossed it into a pan with a can of drained corn and the cooked edamame. Added a bit of butter and about a half cup of fat free half and half, salt and pepper. It had a good flavor and I figure it's a bit of a protein boost with the edamame. Or I could just be deluding myself.....
Last night was fairly simple- chicken breast cut up and browned in a tidge of olive oil with salt & pepper, served over brown rice with DeLallo Tomato and Basil spagehtti sauce. :)
That sounds good. Do you use regular brown rice or instant? I have a hard time with brown rice because I can never get it done enough.
Regular brown rice. I'm a measurer and use the same water for white or brown rice, and then boil it, turn down the temp and cover it and then ignore it for at least 45 minutes. ;) Sometimes it turns out, sometimes not... last night it worked out.
I left an ingredient out of resp:294. Here's the corrected versions: Potato-fennel soup: 2 fennel bulbs, sliced 8 or so smallish potatoes, scrubbed and cut in smallish chunks Water Plain soy milk Dill Rosemary Soy sauce Adobo seasoning Instant mashed potatoes Nutritional yeast flakes Saute the fennel in the bottom of a soup pot. Add everything else but the nutritional yeast flakes and instant potatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer till the potatoes are done, stirring occasionally and adjusting the seasonings to taste. Add enough instant mashed potatoes to thicken the soup to a consistency you like. Add the nutritional yeast flakes close to the end of the cooking time, stir in, and adjust seasonings again if needed.
Batch o' Bachelor Leftovers (or Spicy Spartan Geek Chow if you need a fancier name) 1.5 lbs. ground round - start cooking & breaking up in a 3 Qt. pot with: 1/2 T olive oil 4 oz. water - meanwhile, chop up: 1 medium yellow onion 2 thai peppers (+/- to taste) 1 lb. firm tofu* - when the water's mostly gone, add the onion & peppers, and keep stirring until things are well-browned. Then dump in: 3 C water 1 C brown rice 1/2 t salt - plus the *tofu, stir to a boil, then drop to a simmer, cover, set a timer for 30 minutes (but stir occasionally), and get out: 1 lb. frozen green peas - when the timer dings, reset it for 15 minutes, dump the peas into a seperate pot, and start heating with a few ounces of water. As soon as the peas are thawed & boiling (target ~7.5 minutes), dump & mix them into the main pot. Let rest 10 minutes after the timer dings again, then into the fridge or freezer it goes to be quick-e- microwave main dishes for about a week. I've usually added black pepper and Worchestershire sauce just before eating.
Sweetie found this recipe in a magazine. I'm going to make it for the first time tomorrow: Leeks stewed in wine with figs 1 C dry figs, coarsely chopped 2 C ripe tomatoes, chopped 6 fresh bay leaves 2 Tbsp virgin olive oil 1 Tbsp garlic, minced 1 lb leeks, cut into 1-inch pieces 1/2 C dry white wine Salt & pepper to taste Pour 1 C boiling water over the figs. Soak till soft, ~25 min. Pour softened figs and water into small saucepan. Add tomatoes & bay leaves. Cover & stew till tomatoes are falling apart, ~20 min. Remove from heat and set aside. Heat oil in a skillet or saute pan. Add garlic and leeks. Cover and saute for 3 minutes, then uncover and add wine and tomato-fig mixture. Continue cooking over medium heat till liquid is reduced to a thick sauce, ~20 min. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot or at room temperature.
We just made matzo dumpling (kneidle) soup. First the soup - frozen bok choy, thawed in a bit of warm water, add some dried daylilies and chopped salted radish (which is sweet). Then beat one egg yolk (extra large) and add 1/2 cup matzoh meal from our friendly neighbor and 1/2 cup hot water, add one stiffly beaten eggwhite, refrigerate at least 15 min (it says 30 - 60 min), shape into balls, heat the soup to boiling (it says to wait another 30 min in Joy of Cooking), put in the kneidle's and boil 15 minutes. Add red brewer's yeast for salt and vitamins, eat with bread or rice and beans. Not quite like my mother's chicken soup but I suppose you could add a chicken.
I took the turkey carcass from the turkey I cooked on Monday (big New Year's gathering) and boiled it down for soup. It's good and I love having stuff like that to take for lunch.
I love making turkey soup after having cooked a turkey! Good stuff. :-)
For dinner today, I decided to get creative with last weekend's leftover crown pork roast. I took the pork off the bone and chopped it in chunks. I then sauteed garlic and onions in some veggie oil (not sure why I didn't use olive oil), then added the pork, a can of stewed tomatoes and some chicken and beef broth. I've been letting it simmer all day, and when it cooks down, I add more broth or water. It's awesome. I'm going to throw a can of hominy in, to create a funky posole/southwestern corn stew.
How'd it turn out, Brooke? Sounds like it could be good!
One chopped onion, one pint frozen tomato and zucchini from 2 summers ago, one half bag of corn ditto, on rice with olive oil drizzled over and also the last of a box of tomato soup from the neighbor for salt (an ounce goes a long way). Heat on low until thawed then 5 minutes long, while rice is pressure cooking. Sort of similar to the above in ingredients.
What is corn ditto? Though I'm picky with my cooked veggies, the above sounds pretty good to me.
I enjoy hearing about Brooke's kitchen adventures. I'm one of those who finds comfort in working off a recipe. One with a picture is even better. A couple of nights ago dinner was a grilled lemon and thyme marinated chicken thigh thingie and last night was shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce over fresh linguine.
ditto = left over from 2 summers ago.
Re 312 I know what you mean about pictures. It goes a long way towards if you're working to the right end or not. As to the adventures, I read a lot of cookbooks (I'd venture that 40% of the books I get from the library are cookbooks I'm trying to decide if I want to buy) and I'm a devotee of Food TV, especially Iron Chef. I'm not sure why, but watching them go way out on limbs helps me to venture a bit myself. (Though I'll be grateful when they get that witch Karine whatever off as a judge.) The stew is *good*, though Dave didn't like it as much as I did. I also left the hominy out, as when I opened it up and tasted it, it didn't taste right to me and I didn't want to risk it fouling up what I had. Tonight is a turkey shepherd's pie. I'm going to chop up the remaining turkey, add the saved gravy and some veggies, put it in a pan and cover with mashed potatoes and bake. I love getting rid of leftovers in a different way.
I just changed my leftover red-beans-and-rice by adding a bit of cheese [added after the rice mix is heated in the microwave; the cheese still melts]. Easy! And adds a bit of dairy/calcium to it, too. :-)
Wasn't Karine whoever from "Grace Under Fire"? She played Grace's best friend Nadine? No? Rachel Ray's my inspiration for now. I like the concept of 30 minute meals. Made Shepherd's Pie the other night - all of 20 minutes.
While grocery shopping earlier today I stopped in the magazine section. There I spotted a Weight Watcher's magazine that is simply a collection of minimal ingredient recipes. I spotted one for veggie soup that took only 20 minutes, start to finish. I was intrigued. I can easily spend that long chopping veggies for soup. It called for pre-seasoned canned chopped tomatoes, Rotel (spicy) tomatoes, frozen veggies and canned broth. A dump recipe. The only "hands-on" part was where it called for a diced onion to be sauted. Know what? It turned out much better than any canned veggie soup I've had. Not quite home-chopped, broth from scratch good, but we're talking a lot of soup whipped up in less than 30 minutes and no real work to speak of. Cool.
I was impressed by Weight Watcher's cookbook - lots of healthy recipes from common ingredients that also taste good.
What I like about Weight Watchers is their attempt to make foods I love more low in fat/calories. Their beef and broccoli is great, and I love to make their pastitsio.
I have some issues with Weight Watchers but compared to pretty much every other for-profit weight loss seller, they actually generally advocate healthy eating. They also have a lot of resources to help people choose nutritious foods and their recipes are often really good. Good enough even for people to eat when they arent trying to lose weight and just want to eat something tasty.
The Mexican-style meatloaf we're having tonight is an old WW recipe. I agree with others here that their recipes are often lightened in a way that works. I'd try that pastitsio recipe, Brooke, if you'd care to share it.
My cold spicy noodle recipe that everyone loves started out as a Weight Watcher recipe. I just changed the garlic and cayenne that it called for into the Lan Chee Chili Paste with Garlic for a more authentic flavor. I also use natural, peanut only, peanut butter rather than the Jiff or Skippy most people would use. Most of the time I also make it with water rather than chicken broth, especially when it is going to a pot luck; started that for Grex pot lucks at our house so that vegetarians could eat it.
Re 321 As soon as I get the cookbook back, it's a deal.
I'm into comfort food lately (winter thing) so last night I tried a recipe for Beef Stroganoff out of an Eating Well cookbook (from the library). How do you lighten this dish while keeping the rich flavor intact? They did it by using flank steak that's thinly sliced and added at the very end, used light sour cream, bucked-up the seasonings, and used portobella mushrooms. Served it over whole wheat noodles.
And it was yummy!
Last night I made another recipe from Eating Well - meatballs in a spicy red sauce, served with orzo and sauted spinach. 'Twas good. The meatballs consisted of half ground turkey and half ground lamb, corriander, cumin and chopped fresh mint along with the usual garlic, onion, etc. The sauce was nicely spiced. Recommended - from the latest issue of the magazine.
Another new (to me) recipe last night, this time from the latest issue of Cooking Light. It was Cincinnati Chili! Wow. Interesting flavor and it stood up to a base of whole wheat spaghetti.
Did you have it "three way"? :-)
No, ma'am, I did not. It was a two wayer. It was Cooking Light, afterall. ;-)
Oh, and I have not forgotten that I need to get you my pastitsio recipe. I think you and John would like it.
If you get it to me I will make it. Promise.
Is it true the Cininatti Chili has cocoa or some sort of chocolatey ingretient in it? Or is that just a myth perpetuated by Skyline Chili?
It has cinnamon in it. It's tasty. Chicken mole (pronounced like mo-lay) is a Mexican dish with chocolate in it, but it's a savory dish, not a sweet dish.
I had chicken mole once and was not impressed. It was like eating biscuits and gravy without the gravy.
Then you didn't have good mole. ;-)
I wrote that wrong.
What's Cincinnati Chili all about [how's it different from ordinary chili]?
It calls the cops on you if you read Hustler.
Well, I'm no expert, but it seems to be seasoned differently, and the end product, although very flavorful, isn't really all that hot. At least the recipe I made wasn't particularly hot. Some of the spices I added were garam masala, cinnamon and nutmeg. It's served on top of spaghetti and topped with cheese and maybe onions. The sauce is about equal parts meat and beans. The "ways" have to do with how many traditional toppings are used. "Three way" is with cheese and four is onions. Wikipedia has an article on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_chili (Damn, I LOVE wikipedia.)
Five way is with kidney beans added... If you're ever in the DC area, I highly recommend Hard Times Cafe. They do a wonderful cincinatti chili.
And um, EW about reading the definition for a six-way!
I just read a recipe for Skyline Chile - People were right - the recipe uses chocolate
I made this soup for dinner tonight. I added only half the chickpeas she suggested. I also used the Israeli couscous. Yummy. http://tinyurl.com/2wegpb
I finally got around to making that no-knead bread I've been reading so much about. It came out great. I'll leave a link to a blog post I've made that includes the recipe. Needless bread - too cool. ;-) http://tinyurl.com/yw4vfp
I made this yesterday to bring for lunch. I had plenty for two servings. Took some frozen mahi mahi filets (2) from Whole Foods, thawed and poached them in a mixture of wine and water. Let them cool and flaked them. Added them in with chopped tomatoes (2), fresh basil and drizzled it with balsamic. Ate it with some pita chips.
Last night for dinner it was: http://tinyurl.com/yvnhtl I used Asiago cheese, and 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes, and whole wheat orzo. Excellent recipe.
Mary, that looks good minus the shrimp [but with chicken or something in its place; I don't do seafood!]. :-)
So *that's* what happened to my asiago cheese! :) (The results were well worth it, I hasten to add.)
The last thing I cooked was Ina Garten's French potato salad, the recipe for which I think I've already posted.
I have made about three of her recipes and they all ended up being favorites of their type. She's good. It makes me sad that she's being beat-up some because she has no formal chef training. I guess being a famous foodie isn't as easy as it looks. ;-)
And yet Rachael Ray is everywhere? That makes no sense to me.
Rachael Ray is the most annoying thing ever to emerge from Food Network.
She is kinda loud. And sometimes I think that anyone that bubbly must go home and drown goldfish in Listerine as a release.
Hahahahah!!!
re #353 It's an Italian thing. That's why she can cook and you watch.
I promise not to tell Lidia Bastianich and Marcella Hazan you said that.
Do they watch Ray?
Clueless. ;-)
I made turkey pumpkin goulash for dinner - it's a recipe I got from Bon Appetit that looked good. I've sampled it from the pot (dinner is in 30 minutes) - it has a nice flavor and is a fairly lean dish. I've also started baking for Christmas, so I have about 10 dozen peanut blossoms and 3 loaves of pumpkin bread in the freezer. My house has smelled *awesome* this weekend.
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The goulash sounds wonderful. What a nice fall meal. Speaking of fall, WHERE IS IT? It's so hot and humid here and I'm so ready to go into soup-making mode. Tonight we had a mustard glazed pork tenderloin, served with roasted asparagus. Nothing new there. But intead of the usual pilaf or roasted potato I paired it with a pear salad. (It had to be said. ;-) ) Adapted from Eating Well's web site, it consisted of chunked ripe pear, celery, chopped pecans and dried cranberries. The dressing was a mixture of bottled fat-free raspberry vinaigrette and honey. So simple but it worked.
That's a great salad combo Mary. I've been thinking about Waldorf salad. Haven't had it in years, but something put me in the mood (apples, celery, walnuts, mayo dressing). But the pear salad knocked that right out of my head.
Ok - I loved the goulash - Dave hated it. As in, "I can't eat this - it's too strong." As in, he opted for microwaved Hebrew Nationals instead. Guess who's eating goulash for lunch? ;-)
Sounds excellent! I made Hungarian goulash for dinner last night - love it, though my daughter picks around the onions. Ah, well. Egg noodles do *not* reheat well once they are mixed with the goulash.
In Wednesday's Ann Arbor News there was a recipe printed for Cottage Pancakes. I tried 'em this morning, making a few substitutions, and it worked. They're rustic and crunchy but not heavy. Here is a link to the same recipe courtesy of the Washington Post: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2007/10/03/cottage-pancakes/ My substitutions: Whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose Skim milk instead of 2% I halved the recipe but used the whole egg. I used a whole granny smith apple and finely chopped it.
I like pancakes [my mom used to fix them for us all the time] but I've never made them for myself [for whatever reason]. Though this recipe sounds like a keeper and one that I may try some day. Thanks, Mary!
I made some 'vegan brainless banana pancakes' (except the things I used- cow milk not soy milk made them not vegan...) and they came out great. I'll have to find the recipe.
Last night I made a sausage and pasta dish from _Everyday Pasta_, Giada's latest cookbook. I don't really follow her show or have any of her books but a blogger I respect had good things to say about both and linked to this recipe. It was excellent. I made it as directed except for using about half the pasta and using Barilla Plus penna. I did add the optional hot pepper flakes. http://tinyurl.com/2v9mre
I need to get back into a cooking mode again. I haven't done much in quite awhile and my freezer supply of leftovers is dwindling and needs to be restocked.
It's cold and white outside. Brrrr. But inside the windows are steamed- up and it's a soup and sandwich dinner. A big pot of minestrone is simmering and the bread is Whole Foods 12 grain. It's what you call making the best of a dark and wet November day.
Sounds good! I've got split pea with ham sandwiches on the menu for Thursday.
We made soup from ornamental kale, leeks from the garden (they survived when the kale froze), green tomatoes, a runner bean root, some unripe bean seeds, and olive oil. Time to take things out of hte freezer again.
I just took out some homemade chicken and rice soup from the freezer and will have it tomorrow. Mary's right, it'll help overcome [somewhat] this dark and dreary day. Though the little bit of snow fall was kind of pretty. [I don't like the cold and snowy winters here, though. I just wrote a little blurb about it in my blog a couple hours ago.]
I'm liking that blog, Denise.
<blush> Thanks, Mary!
We made some *fantastic* tomato-rice soup with roasted garlic. It was heavenly. The recipe came from a new cookbook called the _Veganomicon_.
That sounds wonderful; can you post the recipe?
Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans (from _Veganomicon: the Ultimate Vegan Cookbook_ by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero) 2 bulbs garlic 1 tabespoon olive oil 1 medium-size yellow onion, diced as small as possible 1 cup long-grain brown rice 2 bay leaves 2 teaspoons dried thyme 1 teaspoon dried marjoram 2 teaspoons salt Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper 2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes 1 (15-ounce) can navy beans, drained and rinsed (about 1 1/2 cups) Preheat the oven to 375 F. With a heavy, sharp knife, slice off approximately 1/2 inch of the entire top of the garlic bulbs, exposing the insides of the garlic cloves. Drizzle abou 1 tablespoon of olive oil onto the top of the bulb, making sure the cut cloves are covered with oil and some oil sneaks into the spaces between the cloves. Wrap tightly in foil and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the cloves are very soft and turned a deep golden color. (void's note: one of my garlic bulbs came apart on me, so once I had it pretty much reassembled I gave each oiled-and-foiled bulb its own compartment in a muffin tin to make sure the one wouldn't come apart again while roasting.) Preheat a soup pot over medium heat. Saut the onions in the olive oil for 5 to 7 minutes, until translucent. Add the rice, bay leaves, thyme, marjoram, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, then fill up the can with water twice and add the water (that's 56 ounces of water). Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes. Remove the garlic from the oven. When it is cool enough to handle, squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin and into a small bowl. Use a fork to mash the garlic to a relatively smooth consistency, then add to the soup once the rice is nearly tender. When the rice is completely cooked, add the beans and heat through. Then it's ready to serve -- just remove the bay leaves beforehand.
So what do you do on a very snowy Sunday morning when your usual routine of going out for breakfast doesn't look doable? Make waffles! Big, thick, fluffy and crunchy banana oat Belgium waffles, to be exact. I made two changes to the posted recipe. I didn't have buttermilk so I substituted 1 cup of skim milk and 1/2 cup light sour cream. I found this tends to work both in terms of consistency and flavor. I also added 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract to the batter. http://jumboempanadas.blogspot.com/2007/11/easy-like-sunday-morning.html
I'm harnessing up the huskies!
I had a big bowl of oatmeal. I used quick oats. I poured oats into a bowl with apple that I chopped up into little pieces and then poured boiling water on them. I covered the bowl with a plate and let it sit for five minutes or so. Then I added a spoonful of sugar, a dash of cinnamon and some milk. I know I dont cook much and that bowl of oatmeal doesnt really count as cooking. But I spent all day yesterday deep cleaning my kitchen so I could eat at home again now that I have gotten rid of the mice. And I went grocery shopping because I knew it was going to snow. Anyways, that bowl of oatmeal was sooooo GOOD!
(Mary toasts Lynne, high-five bonking a waffle into her bowl of oatmeal.) Comfort food rules on snowy days.
pssst slynne, hate to tell you but....... That counts as cooking.
Let's see... it's been a busy day in the kitchen. For tonight's dinner it's grilled cheese sandwiches and tortilla soup. Then there's that batch of brownies for a gathering a little later. For tomorrow I'm bringing a tossed mandarin salad, and ambrosia salad, a triple chocolate bundt cake, cherry cobbler and a pumpkin pie. It's the biggest cooking holiday of the year and I love it. Come Wednesday I'll be happy to let everyone help themselves to leftovers. And there will be leftovers. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Chicken lo mein tonight with tiny corn and snap peas Happy Chanukkah! ;)
I made two appetizer dips - one is beer cheese - a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar cheese and beer. The other is a carmelized shallot blue cheese spread. I'm making sweet potatoes tomorrow. I'm also making french toast for breakfast tomorrow, using Zingerman's challah. The only way to make french toast, IMO.
Oatmeal for supper, with apples we picked ourselves that needed using up. Breakfast was leftovers. We packed up oatmeal, millet and split peas to take along on our five day adventure to Warren (we can put leftovers on them if we want salt) and oranges and cookies for lunch on the train. THe local dollar store has $1 spanish cookies that taste just like animal cookies but are much larger, 13 oz in a package.
There's a train to Warren?
There's a train via Dearborn and Detroit to Royal Oak (and Pontiac) and a number 740 bus which runs Sundays and holidays every 60-70 minutes to a mile south of where we are going. We will walk the mile, much warmer and probably faster than trying to find a connecting route and waiting for another bus. I hope they take dollar bills since the bus station is closed. The Royal Oak train stop consists of a few benches with a wall behind them and a short roof over them. The train is for some reason always one hour late in both directions to Royal Oak, so we are taking lots of warm clothing. At least the bus station near the train stop will be open on the way back. We are leaving in an hour to walk to the 2:09 train which usually comes around 3:10. Ann Arbor has a train station with heat. Jim is bringing two PDAs to amuse us on the train. I copied the instructions to memo files. He wants eventually to port his text editor to palmos. There are palm compilers for asm and C. We are bringing Spanish cookies and oranges for lunch.
That sounds like a nice adventure, Sindi. Happy holidays to you both.
While it's not the last thing I cooked, I have been wanting to post it some place, and no better place than the kitchen conference. While at Zingerman's Bakehouse, I picked up a brochure about the different classes that they offer. I saw that they offer two different week long seminars on baking, one for pastry and one for breads. I've decided to come home and take the pastry class in June. I'm pretty excited. I was going to take some of the life insurance money I got from Dad and buy a nice bag and a piece of jewelry, but I've decided to do this instead. It's actually more appropriate, and I'm genuinely excited to be doing something like that.
I volunteer to eat up all your practice bits. I'll give good feedback too. Pick me! Pick me!
All I know is that I got a chocolate chess pie to have for dessert today and it had to be one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth. Good lord their stuff is amazing. Hopefully I'll learn how to make one. How about I come to happy hour and pass out goodies? ;-)
Wow, a pastry class. I can't even put a nice drizzle glaze on a bundt cake. I'm so jealous of baking talent. Regarding that Happy Hour - I'm there! What is chocolate chess pie?
Oh yeah, I'll be sure to make that Happy Hour too!
Chocolate chess pie - think pecan pie without the pecans and the filling is chocolate instead. When well made, think "little piece of heaven".
I just love the holiday leftovers! Alas, none for me from Thanksgiving or any of the Christmas gatherings. :-( Guess I'll have to go fix my own. About the french toast mentioned about, yep, Zing's challah bread is the best. But this is the time of year to make egg nog french toast. If you like egg nog, you'll love this, too.
We just made it back safely from the train station after spending a few hours at the Detroit Institute of Arts, which is not nearly long enough. We picnicked on the train - millet and vegetables which I cooked there, and some leftovers from Tuesday as topping. Jim enjoys eating unhealthy a few days a year and finished off a pie in the train. We also cooked split pea soup. I packed as if for a camping trip and Jim's sister contributed vegetables. They tried the split pea soup and said it needed salt and pepper. We tried their cooking and it was full of salt and pepper and needed diluting with millet and split peas.
In 7 Samurai, the peasant eat millet so they can afford to pay rice to samurai for protection. Everyone laughs at them because millet has no nutrition.
Millet I think has more protein than rice. Cold millet is not as appetizing as cold rice. Millet grows in colder and dryer areas than rice. It cooks faster. There are different grain species all called millet - small round grains.
Tonight was a heavy cooking night,kmaking three dishes I'd never had before. I made a cold pea salad, that you put a shallot vinaigrette on, and it had small pieces of swiss cheese in it. Dave and Debbie (visiting stepmother) loved it, I was not too keen. A chicken manicotti, with a creamy chive sauce. This was really good, and ridiculously easy. I made a shells stuffed with crab, with a spicy tomato sauce. It was good, but I think I'd adjust the recipe again if I were to make it again. You mix the crab with ricotta, chopped parsley and both orange and lemon zests, then stuff the shells and bake it with the sauce. The flavors were good, but the crab broke up too much. Still, a nice dinner. Oh, I made the chicken dish because Dave hates crab.
Sounds delicious, Brooke. Each dish has a different twist, it seems. Neat. Tonight I made this chicken curry dish. The recipe worked as written. http://sundaynitedinner.com/braised-chicken-curry-yams/
Opps, not quite as written. I used regular curry powder so I did indeed add 1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper, as she suggested in the notes.
Yesterday I made a big pot of chili. Besides 2 kinds of meat, those red kidney beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce and a variety of spices, I also added a bag of [frozen] a pepper blend [red, orange, and green peppers and some onions] and a frozen bag of chopped onion. Several containers of the chili are now in the freezer for consuming sometime down the road. I had some for dinner last night as well as tonight and have one more serving in the fridge for another time soon.
Pumpkin stew - spaghetti pumpkin (it has long strands which are orange), onion, chickpeas, dried apricots from our tree, on millet with wood ear. We froze a large pumpkin. A bit of lemon juice and sesame oil helps. Jim says he does not like pumpkin so I add flavor - last time it was curried.
curried pumpkin sounds like it would be really good!
There's an Afghan dish that is pumpkin which I love. I think it's called kadu burani. It was the first time I realized pumpkin didn't have to be in a pie.
I am thawing another quart of spaghetti pumpkin. What goes in the Afghan dish? This stuff stays in strands so won't make soup. As potential ingredients we have a cabbage, some frozen apple sauce, dried mushrooms, laver (seaweed), potatoes, onions, frozen okara (solids left from making tofu), frozen mustard greens and green beans, cooked millet....
Is it spaghetti squash? I've eaten that a great deal. The Afghan dish is chunks of pumpkin that is cooked to be somewhat sweetened and then continued cooking in a spicy tomato sauce, then served with a yogurt sauce. It's tasty.
This was a big orange pumpkin with the stringy trait.
Garlicky black beans over baked sweet potatoes.
Yum!!! I roasted sweet potatoes last night, spraying them with canola oil first and then sprinkling them with cumin, garlic salt and chili powder. Tasty!!!
This is, bar none, the best homemade bread I've ever eaten. The recipe is from the December 2007/January 2008 issue of "Mother Earth News." No-Knead, Dutch Oven Bread 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 1-1/2 cups warm water 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (you can use all all-purpose, whole wheat, or a combination of the two). 1-1/2 tsp salt 1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees F. 2. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes. 3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side of the dough down in the towel and dust with more flour, bran, or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it's ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger. 4. At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat over to 475 degrees F. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and if off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that's OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to to help distribute the dough evenly, but don't worry if it's not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes. 5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove he lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing. Yield: One 1-1/2 pound loaf.
I have made this and I agree.
Made another loaf of no-knead today using Bob's Red Mill white whole-wheat flour. It didn't rise as much as the last loaf. Next time I'll try adding a couple tablespoons of gluten flour or maybe some honey and see what happens.
I made whole wheat vanilla pancakes for breakfast this morning and they were light and fluffy and flavorful. This recipe is a keeper. I'm especially fond of the fact it doesn't call for buttermilk because sometimes I want pancakes without having to go shopping first. Know what I mean? I did make two substitutions - the usual ones. When a recipe calls for whole wheat flour I use whole wheat pastry flour. And I freely substitute light sour cream for yogurt. This morning I had the sour cream so that's what I used. The link: http://tinyurl.com/4l285x
Milk and vinegar might also work. Baking soda needs an acid.
I don't want to make cheese - I've done it and I just don't want the hassle. I'm only home for a brief time and I'm going to have fun enough just being sure I get the groceries.
This recipe is from _The Garden of Vegan_ by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer. It's fantastic! Hayley & Ian's Peanut Butter Pasta dry pasta (enough for 2 people) 1/3 C peanut butter 1/4 C hot water 1 Tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (soy sauce works if you have no Bragg's) 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp cayenne 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 tsp dry sweetener 3 cups broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces 1/2 C peanuts, dry-roasted In a large pot of water, boil the pasta. While pasta is cooking, in a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter and hot water until smooth. Stir in the Bragg's, Worcestershire, garlic, cayenne, salt, pepper, and sweetener. Set aside. When pasta is almost done, add the broccoli to the pasta and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. Drain and return to pot. Pour in peanut sauce and toss well. Garnish with chopped peanuts. Makes 2 servings.
YUM!! I totally want to make this!!
This one comes from _Lean Bean Cuisine_ by Jay Solomon. This is really good. White Bean and Sweet Potato Salad 4 cups diced sweet potatoes (about 2 large potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled) 1-1/2 cups coked or canned navy or great northern beans, drained and rinsed 1 cup shredded mustard greens or dandelion greens 1/2 cup slivered red onion 1/2 cup chopped celery 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley 1/2 to 3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used olive) 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon salt Place the sweet potatoes in boiling water to cover and cook for about 15 minutes, until they are easily pierced with a fork (check them at 8 to 10). Drain and chill under cold running water. Combine the potatoes with the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend thoroughly. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. (I mixed the oil, vinegar, sugar, thyme, pepper, and salt separately before adding it to everything else.)
That should be 1-1/2 cups *cooked* or canned navy or great northern beans...
For breakfast yesterday I made cherry scones. It was a celebration breakfast. By candlelight. Enjoyed al fresco. What was the special event, you ask? OUR DECK WAS FINALLY REFINISHED! It was a challenging problem the details of which would bore most sane people to death. But know nailing the problem is sweet. And scones were in order.
Tonight, dinner will be my first shot at Chicken Curry. Cross fingers, everyone. ;-)
I'd love to see your scone recipe. I make them fairly often after the bake class, and the smell alone puts me in a happy place. Good luck with the curry! I have no doubt you'll do great.
Cherry Scones 2 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 3 Tbsp butter chilled and chopped 8 oz yogurt (I used Stonyfield cherry) 1 cup dried cherries 1/4 cup cherry preserves (optional) Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and soda & salt in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the yogurt and cherries stirring until the dry ingredients are moistened. The dough will be sticky. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands knead the dough 4 or 5 times; do not overwork. Pat into an 8" circle on a lightly-oiled baking sheet. Score dough into twelve wedges. Make a slit in the center of each wedge and place a tsp of jam into the center of each slit. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes until golden. Recipe (adapted) from Seva, Ann Arbor. The end product's texture is somewhere between a biscuit and a traditional (dry) scone. It's a reasonably healthy version coming in at 200 calories per.
I'll ignore that comment about it being healthy. :)
Those sound yummy, Mary.
I am in love with the website www.smittenkitchen.com. I made this recipe a few times this week: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/kefta-and-zucchini-kebabs/#more-539 It's a kefte ball recipe - I made the meatballs for a baby shower and I formed it into patties and we ate it in pita bread with greek salad tonight. It's TASTY. (I used turkey, not lamb). But if you like to cook, I encourage bookmarking the website.
Ooooh, this sounds good. Thanks for the pointer. And I'll second the recommendation to follow this blog.
The scones do sound good, Mary... And I assume you had some good tea tyo go with those scones? And how did the chicken curry turn out??
I'm actually missing having something homecooked for dinner lately. But I'm still in my partial hospitalization program and usually don't get out til sometime between 5-8:30, depending on how long I have to wait to see my dr. So I'm too wiped out to fix anything more than a peanut butter sandwich or something similar. But we do get lunch served every day, though [usually various kinds of deli meat, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, couple kinds of brread, soup, salad, etc At least I'm doing better at getting in my protein...
Tea? I knew I was forgetting something... ;-) Actually, the scones were consumed with good, strong coffee. Although tea sounds delightful. I'm most pleased with the curry recipe. It was out of Everyday Food Cookbook. What drew me to this particular recipe was its ease and the fact it didn't contain coconut milk or sour cream. I made some couscous dressed with lemon juice, chopped scallions and apples, and it was a good fit for the sauce. I'll most certainly be adding this to my favorites collection. By the way, I froze all but the two scones we had from that recipe and have now tried 'em only to find it they taste as good as day one. Nice.
We are very busy freezing cherry tomatoes from the garden, picking grapes before the critters get them, and now cutting up and drying the good parts of the best of the pears from three trees in the orchard down the street, which does not leave time to cook meals. Bread and pears. Bread and grapes. Bread and tomatoes. Bread and microwaved green beans. Bread and red peppers. For a change, microwaved potatoes and tomato salad (black, green, and orange, and four colors of cherry as well). Crumbled spearmint on the tomatoes. Microwaved early sour apples.
I had a bagel bought the other day from Barry's. I froze it, but thawed
it in the toaster.
I'm planning on making chicken soup on Tuesday.
It's really easy
You need:
1 pot
1 whole chicken, cut up or not, depends on how lazy you feel.
1/2 bunch of celery or celery hearts
1 onion
1 small bag of baby carrots. If you don't like em, don't use em.
Several gallons of water. Ok maybe only 1 or so. It really doesnt matter
too much. Just don't let it boil away.
Put the chicken in the pot, add the veggies. Turn on TV watch for 1 hour
while chicken and veggies cook. It might be a good idea to add some bay
leaves, or whatever spices you'd like inc salt and pepper.
When show is over, retrieve pot from stove. Remove chicken to a bowl. At
this point you need 1 ziploc bag and your hands. Sit down on sofa in front
of TV and begin picking every piece of meat from the bones. Caution, chicken
will still be a bit warm, so let it cool, willya?
Add bones to ziploc bag and freeze. You'll need them for the batch of soup.
You should save all your bones from bbq, KFC, whatever. Bones=flavor.
When you have picked all the meat off the bones, it's time to add the meat
to the broth. Add dried noodles if you have them, but if you don't, don't
worry. Add new spices, add some new veggies if you like, and simmer for 30
mins. When you cannot stand it, turn off the stove and eat your soup.
This is another one. I was inspired by the GEICO cavemen.
CaveMan Soup
1 caveman... oops, wrong recipe.
5 potatoes
1/2 bunch of celery
1 onion
2 cups milk (the good stuff, like from Calder's and not that lowfat crap,
OK?)
3 cups water
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter (the good stuff again, and don't cheap it out by using
margariene)
Make a roux. If you don't know how, it's easy. Melt the butter in the
bottom of a small saucepan. Add the flour and stir while over high heat. It
should be a paste, but don't let it burn. When 5 mins has elapsed, set it
aside.
Boil the taters in the water, and when they're done cut into small pieces,
or you could just cut the taters before you cook them. My mother once said
that if you cut them first they cook faster. Your pick on this one.
When the taters are done, add the onion that you have chopped into fine
pieces along with the finely chopped celery. Add the milk and the roux. Stir
well, let it simmer for about 20 mins, or until the celery is tender. The soup
will thicken upon standing, that is IF it lasts that long. Add salt and white
pepper from Pakistan at your discretion and enjoy.
Mac and Cheese from a box.
This one works well.
Background:
We all know how nasty Mac and Cheese from the box is. Maybe if someone made
it right, it would be served more often.
The secret is the cheese powder mix. Think gravy.
It would be silly and gross to pour powdered gravy mix over your potatoes.
But this is EXACTLY what you're doing when you make mac and cheese. So...try
this
you need
3/4 c milk
2 tbs butter
cheese powder
Combine in a small saucepan the milk butter and cheese powder. Mix well,
leaving no lumps. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly over med heat. When
the sauce cools, it should be thick. Add pasta (mac) to the sauce and enjoy.
If the sauce binds up, add more milk, but just little amounts at a time.
This works with any brand from the cheapie walmart brand upto the Kraft
dinners. You will never make it like the box says ever again.
It was a pretty decadent morning here on the patio at Chez Remmers. I made a blueberry bread pudding that was rich and yummy. It reminded me a whole lot of the kind of dish that's often served at a good bed and breakfast. Anyhow, here's the link. I made two changes. I used 1 1/2 cups of blueberries as I have loads of 'em and substituted half and half for the milk, just because. ;-) http://tinyurl.com/6gvrom
what? no comments on my recipes? set vain=off
Breakfast this morning was very simple. Granola/Kashi 7-Grain mix with homemade almond milk, whole wheat toast with Earth Balance and blackberry jam, and coffee. I have found a new method of making almond milk which I like better than the old one. This method is recommended by Christopher Hobbs: Soak raw almonds in water overnight (or for 8 hours), remove the skins, and put the skinned almonds and soaking water in the blender. Blending time depends on your blender -- 1.5 minutes in a Vita-Mix, or 3-5 minutes in any lesser blender. I also added about a tablespoon of honey. I used a heaping 1/3 cup of almonds and a quart of water. The resulting almond milk is thicker than 2% but not quite as thick as whole milk. Shake before serving.
Omni, I make up my chicken or turkey soup in a similar fashion as you do. And when I do, I make a big pot and freeze leftovers in smaller containers to have some other day when I don't want to cook... Void, I',ve never had almond milk but just recently, I heard about it; it sounds like it might be good. Mary, when are you going to open up a weekend bakery? :-) I love bread pudding and I bet the added blueberries would be awesome. Oh, I meant to ask the other day when talking about your scones--of course tea is a necessary drink to go with the scones [even the queen thhinks so]. But do try a bit of devonshire [or clotted] cream and/or lemon curd. I prefer to have one or the other on an individual scone [or a bite of one], but I've seen people dollop them both on the same bite. Some people also use some kind of jelly or preserves but hey--for me and my scones, I want something a bit more unordinary. :-)
We had a potluck at work last week and I tried this pork dish and had to have the recipe. The sheer ease of it will astound you. Take one pork loin. Stick it in the crockpot. Pour over top 1 jar of salsa (about 2 cups) and 1 cup of brown sugar. Kind of mix the sugar/salsa up. Put lid on. Turn on crockpot for 8-10 hours on low, until pork is pull apart tender. We had it as simply a main dish, but I know you can make sandwiches from it too. Good stuff. Correction, GREAT stuff.
Wow, easy. I'll have to try this.
me Too!!! Thanks for posting.
I'm going to make a dirty confession. Last night I made a chicken casserole using Campbell's cream of mushroom soup. I remember it from my childhood as being creamy and full of goodness. My Aunt Jenny made it all the time. So I went to the Campbell's website, made the dish, and couldn't eat it. Way too salty and I like salt. The chicken legs look pale and unappealing. It lacked color. Did I say it was very salty? Now, the whole time I'm slapping this together my head is saying, "brown the chicken"and "add peas", "maybe some broccoli bits". But I wanted the traditional version. Dinner bombed.
Today, it's batch two of Eve's Original Applesauce. Good stuff.
Could you use 1/4 as much salty soup?
did you try the low sodium version?
No, I used the 99% fat free cream of mushroom soup. So I'm going back to Ina's chicken and biscuit recipe. Ill get my 50's & 60's fix watching "Mad Men". ;-)
Alas, no more Mad Men....so sad. Ina does have a fantastic chicken and biscuit recipe. I'd definitely go for that.
I've found every single recipe of Ina's I've tried to be a keeper. So the other day, looking to find a fried chicken recipe that was good but not an aorta buster, I made her version. Starts with a long buttermilk soak, then flour, then a flash browning in oil but then moved to an oven to bake until done. Wow. Very moist and flavorful. As an aside I found myself trying to figure out how to judge the temperature of the hot oil. She suggests 360 degrees. I don't have a high heat thermometer. But I found a suggestion on the internet that if you put a kernel of popcorn in the oil, it will pop between 350 and 365 degrees. Worked like a charm or at least it appeared to as the chicken immediately seared and very little oil was lost in the cooking process.
Our electric frying pan is thermostatically controller for temperature. We fried potato pancakes at 250 but they did better at 300.
I'd imagine. If your oil isn't hot enough, it's simply going to soak up the oil.
How would hotter oil not get soaked up, by hardening the outer layer? The frying pan has labels for each temperature but there were none for potatoes, just various species and parts of animals, sandwiches, pancakes, and eggs (fried) 300. We put an egg in the pancakes so I picked that, figuring that potatoes needed longer (therefore cooler) cooking than pancakes (where were around 390). I covered the pan to keep the grease in it.
I just read that McDonald's fries its potatoes at 340 deg F. The author of the posted article also claimed that water and oil combined to make soap. (Alkali and fatty acids make soap).
The hotter oil sears the outer surface on contact, thereby sealing the interior from soaking up oil. I learned the overnight soak in buttermilk, dredge in seasoned flour chicken from Alton Brown. It is a staple here at Chez Andre
I used to cook oven baked fried chicken at ASH basically the way mary describes in 449. I always thought it came out very well. And if *I* can do it, anyone can do it.
So we need a recipe!
Here is the recipe I made. One itsy-bitsy change was to use a dozen drumsticks instead of assorted pieces. We're a dark meat kinda family. http://tinyurl.com/9m8m2h
Thanks Mary... Somewhere along the line, I'd like to find a fairly easy oven baked chicken recipe; I need a change from what I'm currently using [where I coat/sometimes marinate my boneless/skinless chicken breasts in zesty italian dressing, then bake]. This recipe works fine but sometimes I'd like something a bit different. In general, I do need to expand on the things I cook up for lunches and dinners; I'm getting bored with the same few things.
re #453 LOL! :)
As Mary and I are both Ina Garten fans, her is the recipe for baked blintzes with blueberry sauce that I made this weekend: http://www.nationalpost.com/rss/story.html?id=1097160 It was fantastic!! Great for a group.
Oh, my, that looks good. Thanks for the link. Let me think, what recipes have I tried recently that worked? Three come to mind, all worked quite well: Curried Couscous with Apples http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001509.html White Bean Dip http://tinyurl.com/apqkbs Broccoli and Cheese Soup http://tinyurl.com/cxn3zx
Three Bean Soup: 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 onions, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced (or more, if you like) 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice 1 (19 ounce) can kidney beans, undrained 1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, undrained 1/2 cup lentils and 1.5 cups water (because canned lentils are icky) 3 tablespoons tomato paste 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon salt Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Cook the onions till soft and translucent. Add the garlic in the last couple of minutes of onion-cooking so it doesn't burn. Add everything else. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes or until the lentils are done. (I prefer to add the salt and black pepper at the table, since sometimes the canned beans are salty enough that no extra salt is needed, and cooking black pepper that long can make it bitter.) Serve with salad or cranberry-almond slaw and good crusty bread.
I saw a recipe in Real Simple for slow-cooker pork tacos that we had for dinner. Mix together 2 cups salsa, 2 TB oregano, and 2TB cocoa together in the bottom of a crockpot. Take a pork shoulder/butt (about 2.5 lbs) and put in crockpot, flipping it so there's sauce on the top. Cook on low for about 7 hours, high 4-5. Heat oven to 350. Stack corn tortillas and wrap in foil. Bake tortillas for about 15 minutes. While they are heating, shred the pork with forks. I served it with shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, queso fresco, sour cream and lime wedges. Dave loved it. And his shirt is covered with juice from the pork.
Get one crate of mixed frozen green beans, scallions, and dark green leaf lettuce. Sort the beans (save only the seeds of the overgrown ones) and chop and freeze. Remove the very old scallion (green onion) leaves, chop, fry briefly. Chop up one lettuce (remove stem), add to pot, stir, cover, turn on low while you answer the phone, chat with a friend who has not called for 10 years, turn off the pot, add cut-in-half frozen cherry tomatoes from the garden, let sit until they thaw, add sesame oil and soy sauce, serve over leftover rice. It looks like stir-fried Chinese cabbage but tastes much milder. The lettuce was quite chewy. Not bad. Put the rest of the lettuce back in the garage and hope it does not get over freezing again for a week. We might chop it smaller next time and make soup, with the bean seeds and some lily flowers and kelp and shiitake.
Well, I don't have a meal or recipe to share here, so I'm about to drift this item, slightly. I ran across a short piece written by a foodie that succinctly demonstrates how food and emotion play so well together. I thought it was a real jewel and well worth the read. Hope the link works. http://www.eatingwell.com/news_views/opinion/winters_fruit.html
Great article!! Thanks for sharing that Mary!
I thought it was a good read too. It almost made me wish the author was breaking up with me!
Wow, if she can come up with something so creative and good when she's mad or breaking up with someone, what are the other things she can come up with when she is in a cooking mood?
That might be her cooking mood. Cooking can be very meditative.
Here's a set of pictures for how I spent my weekend: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25693201@N06/sets/72157613870551336/ Dave's car club works at one of the auctions, and to thank the members, a party gets hosted. Dave and I have hosted the party for the past 4 years, with me doing the cooking for the past three. The first two years I did Italian food (lasagna, sausage and peppers, etc.). But this year, I wanted to stretch a bit. And stretch I did (I actually thought I'd break a few times). The menu was like this: Appetizers: Veggie plate Spinach spread with crackers Seven layer dip with chips Hummus and pita chips Deviled Eggs Little sausages in white trash sauce Dinner: Grilled beef tenderloin with horseradish cream Grilled pork tenderloin with a tamarind sauce Grilled vegetables Sundried tomato/balsamic tortellini salad Red coleslaw with jicama and orange in a citrus dressing Scalloped potatoes Slow roasted tomato caprese salad Dessert: Cream puffs with hot fudge sauce (bought) Apple/raspberry pie (bought at Costco, but I baked) Fresh berries Cookie plate with homemade macaroons and biscottis
Well it looked great!!! Everything go smoothly?
I think someone has a job in catering should she care to go in that direction. Sounds ambitious and delicious. Kudos.
Everything went smoothly enough. It went extremely fast, that's for sure. We had appetizers up and running at 2, had dinner out at three, and dessert was descended upon at 4. And I was replenishing the dinner stuff. Things I learned/was surprised at: How well the grilled veggies went. I mean, SERIOUSLY well. How amazing the roasted tomato and mozarella salad was. I highly recommend that dish during the winter when all you can get is roma tomatoes. How 13 pounds of beef tenderloin becomes about 9/10 pounds after trimming and tying, and how absolutely disgusting and annoying trimming that much tenderloin is. How much a pain in the ass it is to try and find tamarind sauce if you don't know where to look. You can never have too many cream puffs. And that once again, cream puffs are the easiest "fancy" dessert you can have. Ziplocks are a caterers best friend. Prepping everything beforehand as much as possible is really truly the only way to go. I had stuff about 90% cut up, and I was still regretting not having the other 10% done. (I mean this in terms of trimming/cutting up all vegetable.)
Your party food sure looked good. I'll bet it tasted good too :)
Wow, what an amazing spread; I bet you were exhausted when you were done!? I think Mary's right, you could easily find work in the catering business if/when you're so inclined. But then, would doing this kind of thing all the time make it less fun for you to do?
I am tired today, and last night I went to bed at 9:30 and slept until 8:30. Though to be fair, I'd been getting about 5 hours a night for the past few nights and that is just not enough for me. I could do this for a living. I love it. I love making good food. I love feeding people.
That's some good-lookin party food, Brooke! I made this for dinner last night: Ridiculously Easy Veggie Curry 1 medium-to-large onion, diced 3 Tbsp curry paste 1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained 1 can diced tomatoes Whatever chopped veg you have on hand Saut the onion in the curry paste. Add the chick peas and chopped veg and saut a few minutes more. Add the tomatoes, cover, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve over rice. I used diced potatoes and a package of frozen spinach, which made for slightly longer cooking time. It was scrumptious. I also have plenty of leftovers. The curry paste was some hot Madras-style from the grocery store. It's very good but I think I need to learn how to make my own, both Indian and Thai.
I don't know that I could give any real recipes, as most of what I do is pretty off the cuff. One of our favourites lately, though, has been to fry up tempeh in a sesame oil & soy sauce mix with some wasabe, and serve with edamame. Super easy and way yummy! I've also done a few rounds of maple-glazed tofu (based on a Rachel Ray recipe, I'm afraid to admit), which has come out smashingly well. With the Farmer's Market starting to get more goodies in, I should be able to start busting out some killer good veggie stuffs soon!
I've never cooked with tempeh although I like it when served at Seva or Sidetrack. I should give it a whack. Thanks for the suggestion. The last two dinners I've made have both been from new recipes. One, for butter chicken and the other for a shrimp in tomato & feta sauce. Both were quite good and will be made again. Links available on request. ;-)
What's the butter chicken like, Mary?
Butter chicken is a traditional Indian dish with the usual array of spices, ghee and yogurt. This version substitutes grapeseed oil for the butter. It's the first time I've used grapeseed oil and I like it. Nice flavor, higher smoking point than olive oil, and reasonably heart healthy. http://christie-corner.blogspot.com/2009/03/no-butter-butter-chicken.html Hope that doesn't wrap.
I've got lots of recipes and lots of pictures at my cooking blog, http://simplyfrugal2000.blogspot.com/
I've been following Colleen's site for a while now. It's an incredible resource for those on a budget or simply watching their food dollars. Check it out. Thanks, Colleen.
re #482 Wicked cool!
Nice
This is a cool website, Colleen; thanks for sharing it with us.
I made this the other day when I was in a hurry and it turned out much better than I thought it would: 2 10-oz cans Ro*Tel 1 c white rice 1-1/4 c water 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed Put everything except the beans in a pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the beans and cook, covered, about 10 minutes more. Eat.
What is Ro*Tel? A kind of phone?
Ro*Tel is a brand of canned tomatoes with green chilies. I picked up a case at Costco recently. Why would you think I cooked a phone into a batch of beans and rice?
My quick go to along those lines is cooking a can of black beans with salsa, and pouring them over brown rice, serving it with some lettuce and tomato and some queso fresco on top, along with a tortilla. Very quick like a bunny.
Tonight I made this butternut squash & spinach dish - a recipe from Whole Foods. I followed the suggestion to substitute feta for the blue cheese. It took a bit of time and work to bring it together but worth it. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2612
I made something for the very first time and it turned out pretty well BBQ Ribs 1 6 lb package of country style pork ribs lawrys salt 1 qt apple juice bbq sauce of your choice, I used Sweet Baby Ray's cut the ribs in half, or not. Salt liberally. Arrange in a pan. Hot box should be 250. Pour apple juice over the ribs until they almost cover. Place in oven, and walk away for 2 hours. At the 2 hour mark, check on the ribs, turning them over. Add more juice if needed. Close the door and walk away for another 2 hours. Remove from the oven and discard the juice. You can use if for something, but I just tossed it. Apply sauce to the bottom of the pan. Roll the ribs in the sauce, and then apply more sauce. Increase temp on the hot box to 500, or you could at this point broil them, but since I do not have a working broiler, this will have to do. Return the pan to the oven and let cook for 15 mins, flip them over, resauce and 15 mins again. After that, remove, and enjoy. You can pull the pork from the bones and shred it for sandwiches or serve with mashers and gravy. I think it came out pretty well, and it only cost like 6 dollars including the sauce.
That's sounds wonderful, Jim. I love ribs and always figured that they'd make great first date food. You know, weed out the guys who take themselves and their clothing too seriously. ;-) For Sexto de Mayo I made this recipe for vegetable enchiladas. It avoids canned enchilada sauce and carried a good amount of heat but not over the top. I took the option of using feta instead of queso fresca, as it's what I had on hand. The recipe is from the folks at America's Test Kitchen, via this blogger. I suspect the filling would be wonderful in quesadillas too. http://tinyurl.com/3vhgube
thanks. And ironically, I cannot find a woman, not that I'm looking too hard. ;) Quesa fresca is plentiful here, and cheap, about 2.50 for 12 oz. I have found it to be good for snacking on, in addition to various applications.
You have several choices: