I may have put this recipe on the BLOG earlier, but since 'tis the season for different meats (non-chicken, pork, or ground beef) I am posting it again.
Our favorite duck is l'orange -- that's with an orange crust. And I'll address that as an add-on.
I have to state at the beginning any left over duck, put into a large pot and covered with water and boiled until the meat falls off the bones, makes the BEST, BEST, BEST soup in the world.
Back to roast duck.
Items needed:
1 duck (thawed). You will probably get it from the butcher frozen. Allow two days in the fridge to thaw completely.
salt - sea salt preferred
pepper - coarse ground preferred
garlic powder or garlic salt
Liberally coat the duckling with salt, pepper, and garlic powder/salt. Put on rack in a pan in the oven preheated to 350 degrees. Cook for two hours. Duck tends to be very greasy. I slit the skin before I put it in the oven, and cook it breast down, that way the fat drips into the pan and doesn't soak into the duck.
Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes before cutting up. The pan drippings are mostly fat, but you can skim off the fat and find a nice juice if you wish to make an unthickened gravy.
For duck l'orange, after one hour I liberally spread all sides of the duck with orange marmalade. This also flavors any pan drippings. It's very good. I've also used cranberry sauce (the canned kind) and I've used a cranberry wine reduction to pour over the duck after it's sliced.
Serve with au gratin potatoes and peas with pearl onions. Yummmmmm.
ttfn
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Standing Rib Roast
It's the season (for me) for a good rib roast (beef). I received this wonderful recipe from a friend and it is delicious, always perfect, and oh, yes, so very easy.
My tremendous shopper went to Kroger's for me today and got me a four-rib roast which I plan to cook on the night after Christmas especially for my grandson, Dan, who loves steak and roast beef.
What you need:
Standing rib roast (you choose how many ribs -- I usually get four to six)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic salt
Preheat your over to 450 degrees. Yes, 450 degrees.
Liberally salt, pepper and garlicize your roast. Trim off excess fat. Do not braze.
Put the roast on a rack in a pan and put the pan in the oven. After 15 minutes turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Turn the oven off after 1 hour. Leave the roast in the oven for another 15 minutes (with it turned off).
This will give you a rare rib roast and quite a bit of pan drippings to make au jus.
If you prefer a more well done roast, add 15 minutes at 350 degrees for each degree of doneness you want (med rare 1-15; med 1-30; med well 1-45; well done forget it, it's overcooked and spoiled).
Frankly a rare (not mooing, but rare) roast is the best because there are always parts that can be used for those who don't like rare meat, but in my family most of us enjoy the meat rare. And rare rib roast au jus is the best for Christmas!
My tremendous shopper went to Kroger's for me today and got me a four-rib roast which I plan to cook on the night after Christmas especially for my grandson, Dan, who loves steak and roast beef.
What you need:
Standing rib roast (you choose how many ribs -- I usually get four to six)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic salt
Preheat your over to 450 degrees. Yes, 450 degrees.
Liberally salt, pepper and garlicize your roast. Trim off excess fat. Do not braze.
Put the roast on a rack in a pan and put the pan in the oven. After 15 minutes turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Turn the oven off after 1 hour. Leave the roast in the oven for another 15 minutes (with it turned off).
This will give you a rare rib roast and quite a bit of pan drippings to make au jus.
If you prefer a more well done roast, add 15 minutes at 350 degrees for each degree of doneness you want (med rare 1-15; med 1-30; med well 1-45; well done forget it, it's overcooked and spoiled).
Frankly a rare (not mooing, but rare) roast is the best because there are always parts that can be used for those who don't like rare meat, but in my family most of us enjoy the meat rare. And rare rib roast au jus is the best for Christmas!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
I've hit a rut
I haven't been able to come up with anything new for weeks. Poor Alan (my husband). Tonight we had peanut pork and mac and cheese with a salad. The peanut pork didn't turn out as I had hoped, the mac and cheese wasn't as good as my mother's, and the salad was just a honeymoon salad (lettuce alone -- get it?).
I recently went on a cruise and enjoyed a lot of dishes that I wanted to duplicate. Fortunately, I was able to pick up the ship's cookbook which had a lot of the recipes I enjoyed reproduced therein. After Christmas I shall try something out of that book.
I also received an e-mail from Borden's Sweetened Condensed Milk and they have some wonderful seasonal recipes on their website http://www.eaglebrand.com.
After I've tried a couple of these, I'll let you know how they turned out. Especially of interest to me is their fruit cake and their fruit cake cookies. I used to make those cookies every Christmas, but when we moved, I lost my recipe book. The recipe on the Eagle Brands' website is a little different from my old recipe. I know, because I never used sweetened condensed milk in my recipe.
Just wanted to write something so you all knew I was still alive and cooking.
ttfn
I recently went on a cruise and enjoyed a lot of dishes that I wanted to duplicate. Fortunately, I was able to pick up the ship's cookbook which had a lot of the recipes I enjoyed reproduced therein. After Christmas I shall try something out of that book.
I also received an e-mail from Borden's Sweetened Condensed Milk and they have some wonderful seasonal recipes on their website http://www.eaglebrand.com.
After I've tried a couple of these, I'll let you know how they turned out. Especially of interest to me is their fruit cake and their fruit cake cookies. I used to make those cookies every Christmas, but when we moved, I lost my recipe book. The recipe on the Eagle Brands' website is a little different from my old recipe. I know, because I never used sweetened condensed milk in my recipe.
Just wanted to write something so you all knew I was still alive and cooking.
ttfn
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Comfort foods
When I think of "comfort foods" I think of those early winter, late autumn foods that mom made frequently.
No recipes with this post, just a rambling recall of those dishes my mother made so often.
I would say first on the list was spaghetti and meatballs. My did didn't particularly care for a meat sauce, but he loved meatballs. So mom always made her sauce with meatballs. She would complain from time to time that the meatballs were "tough". Then she learned a trick, or rather Aunt Rita told her how to get a perfect meatball every time. Don't cook it through, just brown it, and let the simmering sauce do the work of cooking the meat. Soft, but not break-apart meatballs every time.
Mom also made a great meatloaf. And she always served it was a brown gravy, never any tomato or ketchup in it. Dad preferred it that way. I loved it that way, and could never stand a meatloaf that had ketchup on top and peppers inside. It's a personal taste thing. I'm not saying that it's wrong to put peppers in a meatloaf, along with all the other things that one puts in meatloaves, I'm just saying we didn't like it that way. When I started cooking for my own children I varied moms recipe by crushing barbeque potato chips and used them in place of bread crumbs, and then added a little bit of barbeque sauce inside, not on top of, the loaf. If anyone wanted more bbq sauce they could have it straight from the bottle.
Comfort food number three would have to be chicken and dumplings. I recently saw a Food Network program where the chef put the entire chicken sans head into a pot of boiling water in order to stew the chicken. Exactly what mom did, including the feet. Mom had an affinity for chicken feet. Yuck! After she stewed the chicken so that it was falling off the bones, she would scrape the meat from the bones, making sure no bones remained in the pot. How she did that -- making sure no bones remained in the pot -- I don't know. I haven't had much luck with that. It seems I always miss one or two bones, and Alan gets them in his dish, even though I scour his chicken before I serve it. Then she'd make dumplings as directed on the Bisquick box. No additives to the dumplings. I usually sprinkled in some parsley flakes and maybe some grated cheddar cheese before I put them into the boiling stew.
Another comfort food was shepherd's pie. Mom made it whenever we had lamb. She would take the left over lamb, get out the meat grinder, attach it to the table, and grind away. Sometimes, she'd let me grind, which was a treat for me. Now we would probably call it child labor, but I loved turning that crank and watching the meat spew from the tiny holes. After she ground up the lamb, she would put it in a casserole dish, mix in the left over gravy, and top it with mashed potatoes. Then all that would be put in the oven for about 30 minutes so that the tips of the mashed potatoes would turn a golden brown, like merangue.
I think in our household -- that is my husband's and mine -- our favorite is tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches with chips and pickles on the side. So easy to do, and so good to eat.
I would say that favorite is followed by chili. In Cincinnati chili has a unique flavor, and it is always mixed with spaghetti, topped with onions, beans, and cheese. I make a good chili, and I put the beans into the "gravy" with the meat. I don't just put the beans on top of the chili. I remember having chili when I was a child, and it was always served with Italian bread, crisp and fresh bread, never with spaghetti. Different locales, different styles.
Now, it's time to go get Alan's lunch ready. His favorite? Grilled ham and cheese. But today he's getting plain ham and cheese with Guilden's mustard on the bread. Me? I'll be having a salad -- honeymoon salad -- lettuce alone!
ttfn
No recipes with this post, just a rambling recall of those dishes my mother made so often.
I would say first on the list was spaghetti and meatballs. My did didn't particularly care for a meat sauce, but he loved meatballs. So mom always made her sauce with meatballs. She would complain from time to time that the meatballs were "tough". Then she learned a trick, or rather Aunt Rita told her how to get a perfect meatball every time. Don't cook it through, just brown it, and let the simmering sauce do the work of cooking the meat. Soft, but not break-apart meatballs every time.
Mom also made a great meatloaf. And she always served it was a brown gravy, never any tomato or ketchup in it. Dad preferred it that way. I loved it that way, and could never stand a meatloaf that had ketchup on top and peppers inside. It's a personal taste thing. I'm not saying that it's wrong to put peppers in a meatloaf, along with all the other things that one puts in meatloaves, I'm just saying we didn't like it that way. When I started cooking for my own children I varied moms recipe by crushing barbeque potato chips and used them in place of bread crumbs, and then added a little bit of barbeque sauce inside, not on top of, the loaf. If anyone wanted more bbq sauce they could have it straight from the bottle.
Comfort food number three would have to be chicken and dumplings. I recently saw a Food Network program where the chef put the entire chicken sans head into a pot of boiling water in order to stew the chicken. Exactly what mom did, including the feet. Mom had an affinity for chicken feet. Yuck! After she stewed the chicken so that it was falling off the bones, she would scrape the meat from the bones, making sure no bones remained in the pot. How she did that -- making sure no bones remained in the pot -- I don't know. I haven't had much luck with that. It seems I always miss one or two bones, and Alan gets them in his dish, even though I scour his chicken before I serve it. Then she'd make dumplings as directed on the Bisquick box. No additives to the dumplings. I usually sprinkled in some parsley flakes and maybe some grated cheddar cheese before I put them into the boiling stew.
Another comfort food was shepherd's pie. Mom made it whenever we had lamb. She would take the left over lamb, get out the meat grinder, attach it to the table, and grind away. Sometimes, she'd let me grind, which was a treat for me. Now we would probably call it child labor, but I loved turning that crank and watching the meat spew from the tiny holes. After she ground up the lamb, she would put it in a casserole dish, mix in the left over gravy, and top it with mashed potatoes. Then all that would be put in the oven for about 30 minutes so that the tips of the mashed potatoes would turn a golden brown, like merangue.
I think in our household -- that is my husband's and mine -- our favorite is tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches with chips and pickles on the side. So easy to do, and so good to eat.
I would say that favorite is followed by chili. In Cincinnati chili has a unique flavor, and it is always mixed with spaghetti, topped with onions, beans, and cheese. I make a good chili, and I put the beans into the "gravy" with the meat. I don't just put the beans on top of the chili. I remember having chili when I was a child, and it was always served with Italian bread, crisp and fresh bread, never with spaghetti. Different locales, different styles.
Now, it's time to go get Alan's lunch ready. His favorite? Grilled ham and cheese. But today he's getting plain ham and cheese with Guilden's mustard on the bread. Me? I'll be having a salad -- honeymoon salad -- lettuce alone!
ttfn
Thursday, October 29, 2009
What I did with left over roast chicken
I have to say that the original roasted chicken was absolutely delicious. Moist as could be. And the gravy I made was also excellent, if I say so myself. I have found that even on cruises, most things I ask for, I prefer the way I fix better. I realize I'm not making a dish for 2,000 people so I can take my time and care more about it. No assembly-line food in my house, unless I want it (go out to eat or go on a cruise, or something like that).
Tonight I made something with the left-over chix from yesterday, and it was really, really good. A surprise.
First I made the rice (1 cup water, 1/2 cup rice). I boiled the water, put the rice in, and then simmer it until the water was all used up and the rice was cooked. I did add salt to the water.
While the rice was cooking, I mixed one can of low-sodium/fat cream of chicken soup to 3/4 of a can of Half and half. I stirred that all together to get it ready for the rice.
And while the rice was still cooking, I took 6 slices of American cheese -- which I had in the fridge for Alan's sandwiches -- and cubed it, or cut it into small pieces and set that aside. I put 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese (grated) into the soup mixture.
And while the rice was cooking, I took the left over chicken which I had ripped off the carcus last night and made the pieces a bit smaller.
When the rice was finished cooking, I put it into the soup and stirred it real good, then I added the cheese and the chicken, stirring them into the soup/rice. On top of the whole thing I sprinkled Stove Top Stuffing Mix -- just enough to cover it.
I put it in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1/2 hour -- it was really bubbling away when I opened the oven, and the stuffing mix was really crispy.
I dished it up onto a plate, sprinkled some black pepper over it, and dug in. I have to say, it was really yummy and the rice was cooked.
I think I finally learned how to make a rice casserole and the rice gets cooks through. No hard kernels this time!
ttfn
Tonight I made something with the left-over chix from yesterday, and it was really, really good. A surprise.
First I made the rice (1 cup water, 1/2 cup rice). I boiled the water, put the rice in, and then simmer it until the water was all used up and the rice was cooked. I did add salt to the water.
While the rice was cooking, I mixed one can of low-sodium/fat cream of chicken soup to 3/4 of a can of Half and half. I stirred that all together to get it ready for the rice.
And while the rice was still cooking, I took 6 slices of American cheese -- which I had in the fridge for Alan's sandwiches -- and cubed it, or cut it into small pieces and set that aside. I put 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese (grated) into the soup mixture.
And while the rice was cooking, I took the left over chicken which I had ripped off the carcus last night and made the pieces a bit smaller.
When the rice was finished cooking, I put it into the soup and stirred it real good, then I added the cheese and the chicken, stirring them into the soup/rice. On top of the whole thing I sprinkled Stove Top Stuffing Mix -- just enough to cover it.
I put it in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1/2 hour -- it was really bubbling away when I opened the oven, and the stuffing mix was really crispy.
I dished it up onto a plate, sprinkled some black pepper over it, and dug in. I have to say, it was really yummy and the rice was cooked.
I think I finally learned how to make a rice casserole and the rice gets cooks through. No hard kernels this time!
ttfn
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Onion soup
My mom made onion soup. She opened a package of Lipton's dried onion soup mix, and added the prescribed amount of water, and we had onion soup. I'm not talking about that kind of onion soup. I'm talking about the hearty onion soup that sticks to your innards, the kind they make at Panera's. I told my husband that I was going to go over there today and get us some, but I changed my mind.
I have a really good recipe for onion soup from scratch which isn't too difficult to make. This particular recipe serves 8 if you use onion soup ramekins, or 4-6 if you use the soup bowls that come with your dish sets. Since we like the onion soup, I use the soup bowls, not the ramekins.
Ingredients:
4 large onions, peeled, and sliced into rings
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 C flour
4 bullion cubes
1 tablespoon Worstershire Sauce
6 cups water
Your favorite topping cheese (provolone, swiss, mozzerella, parmasan)
Italian or French bread slices
In a large, deep pan, melt the butter, add the onions and let them cook until they are transluscent. At this point sprinkle the flour over the onion/butter mixture and stir. Slowly add the water, stirring as you're pouring. After the onions, flour, and butter stuff is stirred into the water, add the Worstershire sauce and the 4 bullion (beef) cubes. Stir until the bullion is dissolved. Turn down the heat to low and let simmer for about one hour with the lid on the pot.
Taste it before you serve it. It might need some salt, but I haven't found that to be the case.
I've also made it using beef broth -- 6 cups. Four large onions seems like a lot of onions, but they boil down.
Serve the soup in a bowl with a piece of Italian or French bread in the bottom. Put some kind of cheese on the top of the bowl -- we like parmasan, but mozzerella, sliced very thin, and provolone work well.
ttfn
I have a really good recipe for onion soup from scratch which isn't too difficult to make. This particular recipe serves 8 if you use onion soup ramekins, or 4-6 if you use the soup bowls that come with your dish sets. Since we like the onion soup, I use the soup bowls, not the ramekins.
Ingredients:
4 large onions, peeled, and sliced into rings
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 C flour
4 bullion cubes
1 tablespoon Worstershire Sauce
6 cups water
Your favorite topping cheese (provolone, swiss, mozzerella, parmasan)
Italian or French bread slices
In a large, deep pan, melt the butter, add the onions and let them cook until they are transluscent. At this point sprinkle the flour over the onion/butter mixture and stir. Slowly add the water, stirring as you're pouring. After the onions, flour, and butter stuff is stirred into the water, add the Worstershire sauce and the 4 bullion (beef) cubes. Stir until the bullion is dissolved. Turn down the heat to low and let simmer for about one hour with the lid on the pot.
Taste it before you serve it. It might need some salt, but I haven't found that to be the case.
I've also made it using beef broth -- 6 cups. Four large onions seems like a lot of onions, but they boil down.
Serve the soup in a bowl with a piece of Italian or French bread in the bottom. Put some kind of cheese on the top of the bowl -- we like parmasan, but mozzerella, sliced very thin, and provolone work well.
ttfn
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
New cutting board
I sent my personal shopper on an expedition today to find the biggest cutting board she could find. And find one, she did. It's big, and I love it. My dear mother had only a very small board on which to chop veggies, olives (for cream cheese and olive sandwiches), etc., and I was given a very nice cutting board when I was married. Then, several years later, we were told that wood was not a good thing to make a cutting board from and they came out with those mottled plastic numbers that ruin knives. I have one of those, but I rarely use it. Anyway, I got rid of the wonderful board I had for many years, and from which we never died of salmonella or any other harmful bacteria.
So now, I have a new board and I can't wait to use it. I shall put away the mottled plastic board forever, I think, although it is light weight, and might be good to keep around for a while. And I shall get rid of my small wood board which is almost broken in half, but which I wash every day and bleach often, thus causing it, I'm sure, to have had such a short life span.
Tonight for dinner, I think I'll make -- oh, no, that's right, I have to go to Bible study/prayer group tonight, so we're having Digiorno pepperoni pizza. I'll get to use the board when I cut the pizza! Then it will be christened and I can use it for as long as I am able to use a cutting board.
ttfn
So now, I have a new board and I can't wait to use it. I shall put away the mottled plastic board forever, I think, although it is light weight, and might be good to keep around for a while. And I shall get rid of my small wood board which is almost broken in half, but which I wash every day and bleach often, thus causing it, I'm sure, to have had such a short life span.
Tonight for dinner, I think I'll make -- oh, no, that's right, I have to go to Bible study/prayer group tonight, so we're having Digiorno pepperoni pizza. I'll get to use the board when I cut the pizza! Then it will be christened and I can use it for as long as I am able to use a cutting board.
ttfn
Saturday, September 19, 2009
I can smell it now
I can smell the smells of our house in Runnemede now. It's Saturday afternoon. That means mom has put on the roast for our dinner tonight. We almost always had roast something (lamb, beef, pork, veal) on Saturday night. Leftovers, usually ground up meat made into shepherd's pie, on Sunday. The Sunday meal, was made after dinner on Saturday night.
Yes, mom's roast was something to taste. She had a large, hammered aluminum pan which she used solely for making roasts. She would put an onion, cut up into chunks, into the pot, after she had browned all four sides of the roast. She simply salted and peppered the meat before she browned it. Then she added the onions, and turned down the heat. About half-way through the cooking process, she added two cups of water. This became the gravy.
My dear mother was so strong. She had to have been. She did so much on Saturday night. And as I think of the things she did, I wonder where the energy came from after contending with four children all day. But she did a lot after dinner each Saturday, and one was to get the meal ready for Sunday.
She would get out the grinder, and it came with a "C" clamp, and clamped onto the edge of the kitchen table. She would stuff the left over meat, little bits at a time into the meat grinder while I or my sister held a bowl under the place where the meat came out, and she would add that meat to the left-over gravy from the roast the family had dine on shortly before. Then she would have already cooked extra potatoes at dinner time, and took out enough for mashed potatoes to put on top of the ground up meat/gravy mixture. The mashed potatoes were spread over the ground meat, and she would then wrap the bowl -- an oven proof bowl -- in plastic wrap, and it was ready for Sunday dinner. All she had to do was pop it in the over at 400 degrees for 1/2 hour, and we were set to go.
About 1/2 hour was all my father could wait for dinner. He came home after church every week, hungry, hungry, hungry. But we all were hungry, and were so glad when the "pie" was finished, the peas (we always had peas with shepherd's pie) were cooked, and the salad was fixed. If we were on schedule, dinner was served at 1 PM. It usually took dad about 1/2 hour after he finished preaching to get away from people and get home. Mom got home only about five minutes ahead of him, so the food would be in the oven and he knew it was cooking and would be ready in about 1/2 hour.
Back to Saturday -- I talked about my mom's strength. Well, she also always made a breakfast cake, baking it on Saturday night, so it would be available on Sunday morning. I'm afraid, the Sunday morning thing wasn't such a good idea, as it was usually dried out some, and not very good, but my father liked it, and that's what was important. I never did like those coffee cakes she made.
And then came the scrubbing and cleaning. Everything was moved out of the kitchen (the table mostly) and mom scrubbed the floor, down on her hands and knees, and then wiped it with a clean wet cloth. No one could walk on it until it dried.
Then, and only then, did she head to the bathroom and give my brothers their baths, and make sure my sister and I had taken our baths. After which she scrubbed the bathroom floor.
Finally, after we were in bed, she studied her Sunday School lesson -- the one she had to teach on the morrow.
Now, if you've read this BLOG you will find that there is a recipe embedded in this story. If you find it, and use it, you will enjoy it.
Yes, mom's roast was something to taste. She had a large, hammered aluminum pan which she used solely for making roasts. She would put an onion, cut up into chunks, into the pot, after she had browned all four sides of the roast. She simply salted and peppered the meat before she browned it. Then she added the onions, and turned down the heat. About half-way through the cooking process, she added two cups of water. This became the gravy.
My dear mother was so strong. She had to have been. She did so much on Saturday night. And as I think of the things she did, I wonder where the energy came from after contending with four children all day. But she did a lot after dinner each Saturday, and one was to get the meal ready for Sunday.
She would get out the grinder, and it came with a "C" clamp, and clamped onto the edge of the kitchen table. She would stuff the left over meat, little bits at a time into the meat grinder while I or my sister held a bowl under the place where the meat came out, and she would add that meat to the left-over gravy from the roast the family had dine on shortly before. Then she would have already cooked extra potatoes at dinner time, and took out enough for mashed potatoes to put on top of the ground up meat/gravy mixture. The mashed potatoes were spread over the ground meat, and she would then wrap the bowl -- an oven proof bowl -- in plastic wrap, and it was ready for Sunday dinner. All she had to do was pop it in the over at 400 degrees for 1/2 hour, and we were set to go.
About 1/2 hour was all my father could wait for dinner. He came home after church every week, hungry, hungry, hungry. But we all were hungry, and were so glad when the "pie" was finished, the peas (we always had peas with shepherd's pie) were cooked, and the salad was fixed. If we were on schedule, dinner was served at 1 PM. It usually took dad about 1/2 hour after he finished preaching to get away from people and get home. Mom got home only about five minutes ahead of him, so the food would be in the oven and he knew it was cooking and would be ready in about 1/2 hour.
Back to Saturday -- I talked about my mom's strength. Well, she also always made a breakfast cake, baking it on Saturday night, so it would be available on Sunday morning. I'm afraid, the Sunday morning thing wasn't such a good idea, as it was usually dried out some, and not very good, but my father liked it, and that's what was important. I never did like those coffee cakes she made.
And then came the scrubbing and cleaning. Everything was moved out of the kitchen (the table mostly) and mom scrubbed the floor, down on her hands and knees, and then wiped it with a clean wet cloth. No one could walk on it until it dried.
Then, and only then, did she head to the bathroom and give my brothers their baths, and make sure my sister and I had taken our baths. After which she scrubbed the bathroom floor.
Finally, after we were in bed, she studied her Sunday School lesson -- the one she had to teach on the morrow.
Now, if you've read this BLOG you will find that there is a recipe embedded in this story. If you find it, and use it, you will enjoy it.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Another yummy broccoli dish
This is a made-up -- or from scratch -- type dish.
All you need is a casserole dish and the following ingredients:
broccoli (I'm using 1/3 of a large bag of frozen broccoli, barely cooked and drained)
two chicken breasts, cooked and cut into chunks
two cans of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup rice
Swiss cheese
Put all ingredients into a casserole dish, stir to mix, and top with the cheese to cover the dish. Put in 350-degree oven for 1-1/2 hours. Test to see if the rice has cooked (I sometimes have trouble getting the rice to be soft rather than crunchy (yuck). If the rice is cooked, then the dish is ready to eat.
As for me: after I take it out of the oven, I grate some fresh parmesan cheese over the top of the already cheese-topped dish. It just adds a little spice to the dish.
ttfn
All you need is a casserole dish and the following ingredients:
broccoli (I'm using 1/3 of a large bag of frozen broccoli, barely cooked and drained)
two chicken breasts, cooked and cut into chunks
two cans of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup rice
Swiss cheese
Put all ingredients into a casserole dish, stir to mix, and top with the cheese to cover the dish. Put in 350-degree oven for 1-1/2 hours. Test to see if the rice has cooked (I sometimes have trouble getting the rice to be soft rather than crunchy (yuck). If the rice is cooked, then the dish is ready to eat.
As for me: after I take it out of the oven, I grate some fresh parmesan cheese over the top of the already cheese-topped dish. It just adds a little spice to the dish.
ttfn
Monday, September 7, 2009
Potato salad
Today is a holiday. Every warm-weather holiday we had potato salad. I think my mom made the best potato salad ever, and I have faithfully preserved her recipe. No muss, no fuss, just plain potato salad.
I use:
10 medium size potatoes
5 eggs
several stalks of celery
mayonnaise
mustard
vinegar
My mom's potato salad had no sugar, and rarely would she add pickles. If she added pickles, they were of the dill variety. I prefer potato salad straight, no additives.
So I boil the potatoes and eggs in the same pot. I do not peel the potatoes before cooking them. And if they are thin-skinned potatoes such as the red potatoes or Yukon golds, I don't skin them after I cook them either. I leave the skins on and just smash the potatoes with a potato smasher, or I cut the potatoes into small pieces, depending on how pretty I want to make the salad, and how much time I have. The potatoes have been salted when they are cooked. I put a tablespoon of salt in the water.
Then I put into this two cups of chopped celery. And I chop up the eggs (after I peel them).
I add enough mayonnaise to moisten the potatoes, a tablespoon of mustard, and a teaspoon of vinegar.
That's it. Tastes delicious if you like a non-sweet potato salad.
One variation I've tried is to use bottled ranch dressing with the mayonnaise and omit the mustard and vinegar. That tastes good as well.
ttfn
I use:
10 medium size potatoes
5 eggs
several stalks of celery
mayonnaise
mustard
vinegar
My mom's potato salad had no sugar, and rarely would she add pickles. If she added pickles, they were of the dill variety. I prefer potato salad straight, no additives.
So I boil the potatoes and eggs in the same pot. I do not peel the potatoes before cooking them. And if they are thin-skinned potatoes such as the red potatoes or Yukon golds, I don't skin them after I cook them either. I leave the skins on and just smash the potatoes with a potato smasher, or I cut the potatoes into small pieces, depending on how pretty I want to make the salad, and how much time I have. The potatoes have been salted when they are cooked. I put a tablespoon of salt in the water.
Then I put into this two cups of chopped celery. And I chop up the eggs (after I peel them).
I add enough mayonnaise to moisten the potatoes, a tablespoon of mustard, and a teaspoon of vinegar.
That's it. Tastes delicious if you like a non-sweet potato salad.
One variation I've tried is to use bottled ranch dressing with the mayonnaise and omit the mustard and vinegar. That tastes good as well.
ttfn
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Sour kraut
Did I spell that correctly? I don't know. You get the idea.
Sour kraut wasn't popular at our home when I was growing up. It stunk (or is it stank?) up the house. I didn't think it tasted all that good, either. But, my father loved it. So every once in a while my mom would open a can -- yes we had canned SK back then -- and put it in a pot with a small pork roast -- had to stretch that meat to feed a family of six.
Now I know it's not SK season. It's still summer. Oh, really? Well, out here where I live now, it's been like fall, and that is SK season. And I also live in a high-German-content area, so SK is something we eat year round.
I have two favorite SK dishes. One is a Reuben sandwich. Easy to make: rye bread, corned beef sliced super thin and piled high on the bread (the key is the corned beef must be sliced thin), SK, and most people like Russian dressing on the sandwich. I prefer it "dry."
My second favorite is pork and SK.
Last week I gave you all a recipe for pork loin roast. Usually I have some left over, from which I either make soup or pork and SK. You see, I'm all for easy, and left-over pork roast with SK (never canned, always packaged from the butcher) is very easy to make. All I do is put the left-over pork and remaining gravy in a pan, and then pour one quart of SK over that. Simmer it for a few hours, long enough to make the house stink, and you have a great supper.
ttfn
Sour kraut wasn't popular at our home when I was growing up. It stunk (or is it stank?) up the house. I didn't think it tasted all that good, either. But, my father loved it. So every once in a while my mom would open a can -- yes we had canned SK back then -- and put it in a pot with a small pork roast -- had to stretch that meat to feed a family of six.
Now I know it's not SK season. It's still summer. Oh, really? Well, out here where I live now, it's been like fall, and that is SK season. And I also live in a high-German-content area, so SK is something we eat year round.
I have two favorite SK dishes. One is a Reuben sandwich. Easy to make: rye bread, corned beef sliced super thin and piled high on the bread (the key is the corned beef must be sliced thin), SK, and most people like Russian dressing on the sandwich. I prefer it "dry."
My second favorite is pork and SK.
Last week I gave you all a recipe for pork loin roast. Usually I have some left over, from which I either make soup or pork and SK. You see, I'm all for easy, and left-over pork roast with SK (never canned, always packaged from the butcher) is very easy to make. All I do is put the left-over pork and remaining gravy in a pan, and then pour one quart of SK over that. Simmer it for a few hours, long enough to make the house stink, and you have a great supper.
ttfn
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Potatoes au gratin
Or scalloped potatoes, I don't which is which. But let's just say this dish is made with potatoes, onions, heavy cream, butter, and Parmesan cheese. It's easy and so very, very good.
I have a mandolin (a gadget that slices the potatoes very thin). I use five potatoes for a 9x12 casserole/baking dish.
Oven is set at 350 degrees, and I cook this for 1-1/2 hours.
INGREDIENTS:
5 medium sized potatoes (Yukon golds are the best, but use your own favorite)
1 large onion, sliced into thin slices
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup heavy cream (you can use skim milk if you prefer, or half and half or regular milk, but heavy cream works best)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
1 stick of butter
Slice up five potatoes (I leave the skins on) into very thin slices.
Put 1/3 of the potatoes on the bottom of the dish, 1/3 of the sliced onions, add 1/4 cup heavy cream, and 1/4 stick of butter, salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese.
Repeat this two more times. You will have extra butter and extra cheese and extra cream on the last repeat. You can use them or not. I used the extra cheese on the top layer and it makes a nice cheesy crust.
This dish is so easy and it is so delicious. Rave reviews from the eaters, and no left overs.
I have a mandolin (a gadget that slices the potatoes very thin). I use five potatoes for a 9x12 casserole/baking dish.
Oven is set at 350 degrees, and I cook this for 1-1/2 hours.
INGREDIENTS:
5 medium sized potatoes (Yukon golds are the best, but use your own favorite)
1 large onion, sliced into thin slices
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup heavy cream (you can use skim milk if you prefer, or half and half or regular milk, but heavy cream works best)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
1 stick of butter
Slice up five potatoes (I leave the skins on) into very thin slices.
Put 1/3 of the potatoes on the bottom of the dish, 1/3 of the sliced onions, add 1/4 cup heavy cream, and 1/4 stick of butter, salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese.
Repeat this two more times. You will have extra butter and extra cheese and extra cream on the last repeat. You can use them or not. I used the extra cheese on the top layer and it makes a nice cheesy crust.
This dish is so easy and it is so delicious. Rave reviews from the eaters, and no left overs.
Roast pork with cranberry wine reduction sauce
I'm not about to get into the "sauce"/"gravy" wars rhetoric here, but the "sauce" for this roast (some would call it gravy) is to die for, or so I've been told many times.
Yesterday, Alan's brother David, and his wife, Libby, came for an overnight stay and I thought I'd make something that I do well, and from which we really enjoy any leftovers -- pork loin roast. I had my shopper get one at the Kroger Butcher shop. It was four pound roast. Pretty big.
I marinated for about 4 hours in a concoction of seasoned salt (1 tablespoon), garlic salt (1 tablespoon), 1/2 cup huckleberry vinegar (you can use raspberry vinegar instead), and 1/4 cup olive oil.
When I thought it was time to put it in the oven (I allowed 2 hours for the roast at 350 degrees) I first braised it on all sides. I set that pan aside for the cranberry wine reduction.
I put the roast in a pan over one bulb of garlic halved. I didn't do anything else but just cut the bulb in half cross-wise, not between the cloves. And I placed the roast on top of this. This was to make the "gravy" more tasty.
After 1-1/2 hours I poured 1 cup of water over the roast to add to the pan drippings. Then after two hours I removed the roast from the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes before cutting into it.
NOW FOR THE SAUCE: I used the pan drippings from when I braised the roast and poured a whole bottle of cranberry wine in this pan and added one pat of butter, then I simmered it for the two hours while the roast cook. It was reduced by about one-half, and it was delicious instead of "gravy."
However, I also made gravy from the pan drippings that the roast in the oven made. Remember I had poured one cup of water over the roast? Well I added another cup of water to that, and brought that to a boil. I used a whisk to get any roast remnants from the pan. Then I added cornstarch to thicken it.
When I use cornstarch to thicken I used equal parts cornstarch and water which is stirred to mix and no lumps, whisk the mixture in, slowly, and when it starts to thicken, I stop pouring the cornstarch and water. I usually use 1/2 cup water, but rarely use the whole 1/2 cup of the mixture. I guess I waste a bit of cornstarch, but hey, it's cheap, and I'd rather than too much thickener than not enough.
That's how you make my favorite pork roast.
We had no leftovers, but if we had, I would have make pork roast soup, which is the same as my vegetable soup, but I use pork instead of beef. Good stuff.
Yesterday, Alan's brother David, and his wife, Libby, came for an overnight stay and I thought I'd make something that I do well, and from which we really enjoy any leftovers -- pork loin roast. I had my shopper get one at the Kroger Butcher shop. It was four pound roast. Pretty big.
I marinated for about 4 hours in a concoction of seasoned salt (1 tablespoon), garlic salt (1 tablespoon), 1/2 cup huckleberry vinegar (you can use raspberry vinegar instead), and 1/4 cup olive oil.
When I thought it was time to put it in the oven (I allowed 2 hours for the roast at 350 degrees) I first braised it on all sides. I set that pan aside for the cranberry wine reduction.
I put the roast in a pan over one bulb of garlic halved. I didn't do anything else but just cut the bulb in half cross-wise, not between the cloves. And I placed the roast on top of this. This was to make the "gravy" more tasty.
After 1-1/2 hours I poured 1 cup of water over the roast to add to the pan drippings. Then after two hours I removed the roast from the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes before cutting into it.
NOW FOR THE SAUCE: I used the pan drippings from when I braised the roast and poured a whole bottle of cranberry wine in this pan and added one pat of butter, then I simmered it for the two hours while the roast cook. It was reduced by about one-half, and it was delicious instead of "gravy."
However, I also made gravy from the pan drippings that the roast in the oven made. Remember I had poured one cup of water over the roast? Well I added another cup of water to that, and brought that to a boil. I used a whisk to get any roast remnants from the pan. Then I added cornstarch to thicken it.
When I use cornstarch to thicken I used equal parts cornstarch and water which is stirred to mix and no lumps, whisk the mixture in, slowly, and when it starts to thicken, I stop pouring the cornstarch and water. I usually use 1/2 cup water, but rarely use the whole 1/2 cup of the mixture. I guess I waste a bit of cornstarch, but hey, it's cheap, and I'd rather than too much thickener than not enough.
That's how you make my favorite pork roast.
We had no leftovers, but if we had, I would have make pork roast soup, which is the same as my vegetable soup, but I use pork instead of beef. Good stuff.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Corn on the cob
Several weeks ago I got out my "corn" pot. And I was using it regularly. The clean up was a hassle though. It's so big it barely fits in my sink and I have to use the spray attachment to get the inside rinsed out properly.
Then I got to thinking. Duh! Why do I have that pot out -- it was sitting on my stove for weeks because I didn't want to put it away and have to dig it out every time I wanted fresh corn on the cob.
This is how I started making c-o-t-c several years ago and it's so simple, but being old and forgetful, I well, I forgot this easier way for making corn.
I cut off a nice strip of aluminum foil and put up to three ears on it. Then I slather the corn with butter, salt, and pepper, and sprinkle some rosemary. I then wrap the foil around the ears so that the melted butter doesn leak out all over my oven. I cook it in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour, while other things are cooking. It's very, very good, and the clean up is, well, you'll see when you try it this way.
ttfn
Then I got to thinking. Duh! Why do I have that pot out -- it was sitting on my stove for weeks because I didn't want to put it away and have to dig it out every time I wanted fresh corn on the cob.
This is how I started making c-o-t-c several years ago and it's so simple, but being old and forgetful, I well, I forgot this easier way for making corn.
I cut off a nice strip of aluminum foil and put up to three ears on it. Then I slather the corn with butter, salt, and pepper, and sprinkle some rosemary. I then wrap the foil around the ears so that the melted butter doesn leak out all over my oven. I cook it in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour, while other things are cooking. It's very, very good, and the clean up is, well, you'll see when you try it this way.
ttfn
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Just plain hamburgers
My mom made just plain hamburgers (beef burgers). She didn't do anything fancy to the ground beef, she just made the ground round into patties and slapped them into her iron pan and cooked them. We seemed to enjoy them, at least that's what I remember.
Dad liked to make burgers, too. Only he juiced them up a bit. And I have to admit that I really didn't like his burgers until .... until MacDonald's copied it.
His burger was topped with mustard, ketchup, a dill pickle. He left off the onions, but I always put them on.
My favorite burger was made by a teen hangout called Haines. It was down on the Del-Sea Drive on the way to Glassboro. It was a favorite place to stop on the way home from school (college) for lunch, or supper, depending on the time of day we commuters finally decided it was time to head home.
You could get a most delicious burger there for only 35 cents -- that was a cheese burger. If you wanted fried onions, hot peppers, tomato, pickle, etc., that was free. And fries were a dime. So for 50 cents you could get a nice supper, including tip. I know 5 cents isn't much of a tip, but it was better than nothing, and because we were just to lazy to wait around for our change, that was what the waitress usually got. Rarely, one or the other of us commuters would put an extra quarter on the table, making the entire table tip, 50 cents.
So, I made burgers tonight. Just plain burgers -- the way Alan and I like them.
ttfn
Dad liked to make burgers, too. Only he juiced them up a bit. And I have to admit that I really didn't like his burgers until .... until MacDonald's copied it.
His burger was topped with mustard, ketchup, a dill pickle. He left off the onions, but I always put them on.
My favorite burger was made by a teen hangout called Haines. It was down on the Del-Sea Drive on the way to Glassboro. It was a favorite place to stop on the way home from school (college) for lunch, or supper, depending on the time of day we commuters finally decided it was time to head home.
You could get a most delicious burger there for only 35 cents -- that was a cheese burger. If you wanted fried onions, hot peppers, tomato, pickle, etc., that was free. And fries were a dime. So for 50 cents you could get a nice supper, including tip. I know 5 cents isn't much of a tip, but it was better than nothing, and because we were just to lazy to wait around for our change, that was what the waitress usually got. Rarely, one or the other of us commuters would put an extra quarter on the table, making the entire table tip, 50 cents.
So, I made burgers tonight. Just plain burgers -- the way Alan and I like them.
ttfn
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Gazpacho
Today I was watching the Food Channel and one of the cooks was making gazpacho -- not the way I learned to make it -- but it looked good if you like a very, very, thick soup. To me it was more like a loosely blended salad. Gazpacho is really a cold soup and it should be a little moist and, well, soupy.
My mom didn't teach me to make gazpacho, but one time when she was visiting me and Alan when we were living in the married student housing at Rutgers I made this dish. Both she and Alan (and I) loved it.
I have tasted a lot of gazpacho in the last 43 years, and I still like the version I make the best. And it's definitely a summer dish -- unless your on a cruise. I've never been on a cruise where gazpacho isn't offered as a soup course.
What you need:
6 nice-sized FRESH PICKED tomatoes. The choice of farm fresh tomatoes is important for a well-flavored gazpacho.
1 cucumber -- seeds removed, then finely chopped
1 yellow pepper -- finely chopped
1 stalk celery -- finely chopped
1 clove garlic -- finely chopped
2 scallions -- finely chopped
6 finely chopped black olives
All the finely chopped veggies shouldn't be mushy, just nicely chopped into small pieces.
Cut the tomatoes into large sized chunks, getting rid of the stem piece. Then put these cut up pieces into either a blender or food processor. Blend until the tomatoes are liquid. Strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl. Then add the veggies. Add as much of each veggie that you think you will like. Just remember this is a soup and should be soupy. Remember to season (add salt and pepper) to taste. I would do this to the tomato soup portion before adding the vegetables.
If you wish you can put the strained tomato juice back into the blender and add the chopped vegetables and pulse or blend for about five seconds. This will chop the vegetables further and blend the flavors more.
Put this into an air-tight container and put in refrigerator to "marinate" overnight. It will be really good the next day, and good and cold, which is how it should be eaten. I serve it with toasted garlic bread.
It makes a nice lunch.
ttfn
My mom didn't teach me to make gazpacho, but one time when she was visiting me and Alan when we were living in the married student housing at Rutgers I made this dish. Both she and Alan (and I) loved it.
I have tasted a lot of gazpacho in the last 43 years, and I still like the version I make the best. And it's definitely a summer dish -- unless your on a cruise. I've never been on a cruise where gazpacho isn't offered as a soup course.
What you need:
6 nice-sized FRESH PICKED tomatoes. The choice of farm fresh tomatoes is important for a well-flavored gazpacho.
1 cucumber -- seeds removed, then finely chopped
1 yellow pepper -- finely chopped
1 stalk celery -- finely chopped
1 clove garlic -- finely chopped
2 scallions -- finely chopped
6 finely chopped black olives
All the finely chopped veggies shouldn't be mushy, just nicely chopped into small pieces.
Cut the tomatoes into large sized chunks, getting rid of the stem piece. Then put these cut up pieces into either a blender or food processor. Blend until the tomatoes are liquid. Strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl. Then add the veggies. Add as much of each veggie that you think you will like. Just remember this is a soup and should be soupy. Remember to season (add salt and pepper) to taste. I would do this to the tomato soup portion before adding the vegetables.
If you wish you can put the strained tomato juice back into the blender and add the chopped vegetables and pulse or blend for about five seconds. This will chop the vegetables further and blend the flavors more.
Put this into an air-tight container and put in refrigerator to "marinate" overnight. It will be really good the next day, and good and cold, which is how it should be eaten. I serve it with toasted garlic bread.
It makes a nice lunch.
ttfn
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Pork chops and fried noodles
Pork chops and fried noodles? Yeah, what else would you eat with pork chops? Oh, I know, mashed potatoes and gravy. Well, I hate scraping the peels off potatoes in order to make mashed potatoes, and I'm not real fond of mashed potatoes with the skins left on; so, while I really enjoy mashed potatoes if someone else does the work, I have come up with something else to go with pork chops -- fried noodles. My mom made fried noodles a lot, and usually with pork and sauerkraut. She had to do something. None of the siblings like sauerkraut. I loved it then, still love it, but my sibs didn't, so she came up with something that even dad would eat and wouldn't mind having instead of mashed potatoes (with his pork chops).
Pork chops are so easy the way I make them. First, I use boneless, thick-sliced pork shops. I put some EVOO in a non-stick pan, just a little bit, then I sprinkle a bit of garlic salt and some seasoned salt over the bottom of the pan and when the pan is hot (use the hand over the pan feel method) I put the chops in the pan. I cook that side of the chop on high heat for about 3 minutes, then I turn the chop over and turn off the heat and cover the pan. The residual heat in the pan will cook the chop. Magically, gravy (unthickened yet) appears. I thicken the gravy using cornstarch and water. Then I put the gravy into a cup or something. This leaves a residue in the bottom of the frying pan.
While all this is going on I'm boiling wide, curly noodles in water (make enough for your own family, or maybe a little extra, because they'll love them). When the noodles are ready and drained, I put them back into the pan where the chops and gravy were made. There is enough "juice" in the bottom of the pan to fry the noodles. You'll hear them sizzle. I turn them over every two minutes until they have a nice brown crunch to them. But I only do that three or four times. Mom used to get her noodles more brown than I do. They're crunchy like chips, but they taste like noodles. If you need more "grease" in your pan, put a pat of butter in the pan, this will fry the noodles faster, I think.
I hope you like this dish. I learned this from my mama.
ttfn
Pork chops are so easy the way I make them. First, I use boneless, thick-sliced pork shops. I put some EVOO in a non-stick pan, just a little bit, then I sprinkle a bit of garlic salt and some seasoned salt over the bottom of the pan and when the pan is hot (use the hand over the pan feel method) I put the chops in the pan. I cook that side of the chop on high heat for about 3 minutes, then I turn the chop over and turn off the heat and cover the pan. The residual heat in the pan will cook the chop. Magically, gravy (unthickened yet) appears. I thicken the gravy using cornstarch and water. Then I put the gravy into a cup or something. This leaves a residue in the bottom of the frying pan.
While all this is going on I'm boiling wide, curly noodles in water (make enough for your own family, or maybe a little extra, because they'll love them). When the noodles are ready and drained, I put them back into the pan where the chops and gravy were made. There is enough "juice" in the bottom of the pan to fry the noodles. You'll hear them sizzle. I turn them over every two minutes until they have a nice brown crunch to them. But I only do that three or four times. Mom used to get her noodles more brown than I do. They're crunchy like chips, but they taste like noodles. If you need more "grease" in your pan, put a pat of butter in the pan, this will fry the noodles faster, I think.
I hope you like this dish. I learned this from my mama.
ttfn
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Creamed chipped beef
Don't turn this page off just yet. At least read the lead-in as to why I'm posting a recipe for creamed chipped beef, okay?
My cousin who lives in Oregon put me onto another cooking BLOG entitled Get Stuffed and as I was looking through the recipes I missed while I was away, he wrote about sawmill gravy and for some reason it reminded me of something I loved to eat whenever my mom made it.
She would send me to the butcher for a half a pound of dried beef. Dried beef is not real good eaten in a sandwich, but mom seemed to love them because she ate a lot of them. But this half pound was for something else. It was for her cream dried beef, which we either ate over toast (most of the time) or over biscuits (rarely). I preferred it over toast anyway.
The army has another name for this delicacy (*&*^ on a shingle, I believe it's called) and it can be an unappetizing mess if not served as my mom served it. She made us think we were having a dish fit for a queen when she dished it up, and her "cream" was never too thick or lumpy.
I have modified it a bit because I thicken things so much differently than my mom did, but the result is the same.
Since I don't think you can get dried beef at a butcher's shop any more, at least not out here in the Midwest, perhaps in NJ you still can, I have had to get it in a jar in the tuna section. Hormell is the brand I use because I can't find any other brand.
You will need: (serves six plus)
1 jar of dried beef -- take the slices of beef and cut them into small pieces
2 cups of milk
1/4 stick of butter (I use real butter as did my mom)
2 tbspn flour
Melt the butter in a skillet. When the butter is melted, sprinkle the flour around over the melted butter and whisk it together until you have a smooth paste (a roux). Slowly add the milk, stirring until all the milk is incorporated into the roux. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Bring the milk to a simmer and then add the chipped, or dried, beef. Stir so the beef gets warmed.
Now you're ready to make the dish for a queen or king. My dear mother would make toast points. What are toast points? Well, as she explained to us, this was the only way kings and queens ate toast before they added something to bring flavor to the toast.
Toast your bread as you would normally -- for toast points she always used thin-sliced white bread -- and cut each piece of toast into four triangles. Wa-la (not exactly the French spelling), you have toast points. Not wishing to waste one morsel of food my mom left the crusts on, but if you want to be true to the toast points of kings and queens, the crusts should be removed.
Now place four toast points on a plate and slowly drizzle the chipped beef mixture over the toast. Eat it before the toast absorbs the cream sauce and ask for another helping. I could get fat (joke there) on this stuff. I just loved it when I was growing up, and for a family of six who had little money for food, this was a cheap meal. Mom usually made this for dinner, not lunch, and served it with a side of peas, and always a salad.
ttfn
My cousin who lives in Oregon put me onto another cooking BLOG entitled Get Stuffed and as I was looking through the recipes I missed while I was away, he wrote about sawmill gravy and for some reason it reminded me of something I loved to eat whenever my mom made it.
She would send me to the butcher for a half a pound of dried beef. Dried beef is not real good eaten in a sandwich, but mom seemed to love them because she ate a lot of them. But this half pound was for something else. It was for her cream dried beef, which we either ate over toast (most of the time) or over biscuits (rarely). I preferred it over toast anyway.
The army has another name for this delicacy (*&*^ on a shingle, I believe it's called) and it can be an unappetizing mess if not served as my mom served it. She made us think we were having a dish fit for a queen when she dished it up, and her "cream" was never too thick or lumpy.
I have modified it a bit because I thicken things so much differently than my mom did, but the result is the same.
Since I don't think you can get dried beef at a butcher's shop any more, at least not out here in the Midwest, perhaps in NJ you still can, I have had to get it in a jar in the tuna section. Hormell is the brand I use because I can't find any other brand.
You will need: (serves six plus)
1 jar of dried beef -- take the slices of beef and cut them into small pieces
2 cups of milk
1/4 stick of butter (I use real butter as did my mom)
2 tbspn flour
Melt the butter in a skillet. When the butter is melted, sprinkle the flour around over the melted butter and whisk it together until you have a smooth paste (a roux). Slowly add the milk, stirring until all the milk is incorporated into the roux. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Bring the milk to a simmer and then add the chipped, or dried, beef. Stir so the beef gets warmed.
Now you're ready to make the dish for a queen or king. My dear mother would make toast points. What are toast points? Well, as she explained to us, this was the only way kings and queens ate toast before they added something to bring flavor to the toast.
Toast your bread as you would normally -- for toast points she always used thin-sliced white bread -- and cut each piece of toast into four triangles. Wa-la (not exactly the French spelling), you have toast points. Not wishing to waste one morsel of food my mom left the crusts on, but if you want to be true to the toast points of kings and queens, the crusts should be removed.
Now place four toast points on a plate and slowly drizzle the chipped beef mixture over the toast. Eat it before the toast absorbs the cream sauce and ask for another helping. I could get fat (joke there) on this stuff. I just loved it when I was growing up, and for a family of six who had little money for food, this was a cheap meal. Mom usually made this for dinner, not lunch, and served it with a side of peas, and always a salad.
ttfn
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Philadelphia treats
You can order Philadelphia Treats online -- treats like tasty kakes, irish potatoes, large pretzels, etc., from http://www.pageneralstore.com/. They deliver quite fast, and their irish potatoes are delish.
I just ordered one of the Philly Packs that has Tasty Kakes in it, and I can't wait for it to arrive. Mostly I got it for Alan because it has peanuty things in it and cookies. No cinnamon buns, though. And, that's a bummer!
I don't think the items are overpriced for out-of-state delivery service. Try this, you might like the things they offer.
ttfn
I just ordered one of the Philly Packs that has Tasty Kakes in it, and I can't wait for it to arrive. Mostly I got it for Alan because it has peanuty things in it and cookies. No cinnamon buns, though. And, that's a bummer!
I don't think the items are overpriced for out-of-state delivery service. Try this, you might like the things they offer.
ttfn
Monday, July 6, 2009
Cream cheese and olives sandwiches
When I was in Florida in the Spring, I was reminded of a favorite of our family. I know I wrote about this on the Runnemede Remembered, but as I was fixing lunch today I was reminded about something my cousin Robert told me when we were visiting. Robert is a little over a year old than I, and we were playmates when we were little kids. After his sister was born, I didn't have time for him any more and spent all my time with her instead. But for several years we were best buds.
He told me that every time he came to visit us he couldn't wait for lunchtime because Aunt Rose (my mom) would make him a cream cheese and olive sandwich.
I have varied the sandwich filling only in the preparation, which I've dumbed down for arthritic hands. This recipe can also be used for "tea" sandwiches, to go with cucumber sandwiches -- another one of my mom's best sandwich fixings. Just cut the crust off the bread and cut the squared into triangle quarters.
What you need:
bread -- your favorite kind -- my mother always used fresh baked Italian bread. I always use Wonder bread, soft and squishy, and not very nutricious.
olives, green with pimentos
cream cheese -- Philly brand -- easy spread
Just spread the cream cheese on a slice of bread, really slather it on.
Chop the olives and put a handful on top of the cream cheese -- make sure the whole piece of bread has some part of the olive on it.
Cover with another piece of bread, making it a sandwich, closed rather than open faced.
Eat. My mom used to mix the chopped olives into an 8-oz package of Philly Creamed Cheese. Too much work, especially when the cheese is just out of the fridge. Then she'd spread the mixture onto a slice of Italian bread. I prefered to eat it without another piece of bread on top, ONLY if it was on Italian bread.
That's all there is to it. I hope you enjoy these sandwiches.
ttfn
He told me that every time he came to visit us he couldn't wait for lunchtime because Aunt Rose (my mom) would make him a cream cheese and olive sandwich.
I have varied the sandwich filling only in the preparation, which I've dumbed down for arthritic hands. This recipe can also be used for "tea" sandwiches, to go with cucumber sandwiches -- another one of my mom's best sandwich fixings. Just cut the crust off the bread and cut the squared into triangle quarters.
What you need:
bread -- your favorite kind -- my mother always used fresh baked Italian bread. I always use Wonder bread, soft and squishy, and not very nutricious.
olives, green with pimentos
cream cheese -- Philly brand -- easy spread
Just spread the cream cheese on a slice of bread, really slather it on.
Chop the olives and put a handful on top of the cream cheese -- make sure the whole piece of bread has some part of the olive on it.
Cover with another piece of bread, making it a sandwich, closed rather than open faced.
Eat. My mom used to mix the chopped olives into an 8-oz package of Philly Creamed Cheese. Too much work, especially when the cheese is just out of the fridge. Then she'd spread the mixture onto a slice of Italian bread. I prefered to eat it without another piece of bread on top, ONLY if it was on Italian bread.
That's all there is to it. I hope you enjoy these sandwiches.
ttfn
Broccoli dish No. 2
This is a main dish, that I learned to make from the same friend that taught me how to make Dish No. 1.
We (the family) were visiting her and her husband for a few days and their garden was growing lots of broccoli and it was ready to eat. So, naturally, we ate lots of broccoli that week. She is a really good cook, and every dish she made was super delicious. Even the one broccoli disliker in our family ate the dishes. Notice I said disliker not hater because Alan dislikes broccoli, but he doesn't hate it, and he will eat it.
What you need.
1 chicken whole or cut up
1 package rice-a-roni -- chicken flavored
1 small package frozen broccoli
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
Boil the chicken to cook it. After it's cooked pull the meat from the bones and put in a bowl.
Cook the Rice-a-roni according to package directions. Set aside.
Cook the broccoli according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Remember to salt it.
After all the components are cooked you are ready to assemble.
Put together chicken pieces, rice, broccoli, sour cream and cheddar cheese. Stir to mix. Put this mixture into an oven dish -- I use a 9x12 baking dish. Sprinkle a little bit of cheddar on top of the casserole. Put in oven for 30 minutes at 350 degreees.
When it is bubbling, it's ready.
And it's really, really good. For all your broccoli haters out there, this dish disguises the broccoli so you can eat it and get all the good nutrients that broccoli provides.
ttfn
We (the family) were visiting her and her husband for a few days and their garden was growing lots of broccoli and it was ready to eat. So, naturally, we ate lots of broccoli that week. She is a really good cook, and every dish she made was super delicious. Even the one broccoli disliker in our family ate the dishes. Notice I said disliker not hater because Alan dislikes broccoli, but he doesn't hate it, and he will eat it.
What you need.
1 chicken whole or cut up
1 package rice-a-roni -- chicken flavored
1 small package frozen broccoli
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
Boil the chicken to cook it. After it's cooked pull the meat from the bones and put in a bowl.
Cook the Rice-a-roni according to package directions. Set aside.
Cook the broccoli according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Remember to salt it.
After all the components are cooked you are ready to assemble.
Put together chicken pieces, rice, broccoli, sour cream and cheddar cheese. Stir to mix. Put this mixture into an oven dish -- I use a 9x12 baking dish. Sprinkle a little bit of cheddar on top of the casserole. Put in oven for 30 minutes at 350 degreees.
When it is bubbling, it's ready.
And it's really, really good. For all your broccoli haters out there, this dish disguises the broccoli so you can eat it and get all the good nutrients that broccoli provides.
ttfn
Broccoli lovers recipe No. 1
This is just a way to make broccoli more fancy that I learned from a friend of mine back when I was in my late 20s. I've been serving it to my husband, and my children, and even guests, every since. And, it's so simple. And, it tastes really good.
What you need:
I package of frozen broccoli -- whatever kind you want cut-up or whole pieces (Size of package depends on how many people you are serving, of course)
1/4 cup mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise (Hellmann's)
Cook the broccoli according to package directions. I usually nuke the package as is -- slitted so that it doesn't explode -- for 7 minutes
Put the cooked broccoli in a bowl, remember to add salt to taste. Then add the mustard and mayo and stir until all is mixed.
I tell you, this is really good. You can, of course, increase the amount of mayo if you want. Try it, you'll like it. I think even broccoli haters would like this one.
ttfn
What you need:
I package of frozen broccoli -- whatever kind you want cut-up or whole pieces (Size of package depends on how many people you are serving, of course)
1/4 cup mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise (Hellmann's)
Cook the broccoli according to package directions. I usually nuke the package as is -- slitted so that it doesn't explode -- for 7 minutes
Put the cooked broccoli in a bowl, remember to add salt to taste. Then add the mustard and mayo and stir until all is mixed.
I tell you, this is really good. You can, of course, increase the amount of mayo if you want. Try it, you'll like it. I think even broccoli haters would like this one.
ttfn
Friday, June 26, 2009
Summer's here, oh yeah!
I know that summer has arrived because I am now able to get great, wonderful, delicious tomatoes. You know, the kind that are grown in dirt, get dirt spattered on them when it rains, and ripen on the vine, causing the vines to droop, which makes the tomatoes suck up more dirt.
I am convinced that it's the dirt that makes summer tomatoes so delicious.
Today I was purchased 10 pounds of delicious tomatoes. Now, they weren't Jerseys, but Big Boys are almost as good. For those of you in the Midwest who have never heard of Jersey tomatoes, they were developed by Rutgers University's School of Agriculture way back on the 1950s and were the staple of homes back east in the summer. My mom preferred Jerseys to Big Boys, but she always had at least two or three Big Boy plants, along with her dozen or so plants of Jersey tomatoes.
Back to the tomatoes I purchased. These tomatoes were so good. So sweet. So non-mealy. So firm. So delicious! I made the usual tomato salad that I grew up with -- that is: cut up tomatoes -- for Alan and me I use three large ones; add to that a cut up onion in rings -- pull the rings apart; five or six leaves of basil, fresh; salt and pepper to taste. That all gets mixed together, and then a couple of sprinkles of EVOO is incorporated into that mess, and there you have it-- tomato salad the way my mom made it. The only thing missing is Italian bread to dip into the juice that accumulates in the bottom of the bowl -- the best part as far as I'm concerned.
If only I had thought to go over to Panera's to get a loaf of bread, but I didn't, so I just drank the juice. Hey! It's tomato juice, just not as thick as what is in the can, but just as tasty.
What else did we have with the tomatoes? (I could have made a meal of just them.) Well, we had corn on the cob with butter, a small steak (1/2 each of a New York steak); and rice made with lemon pepper and butter. That was it. What a tasty meal. And the juice dribbles over to the steak which makes the steak taste even better!
Wish you all could have been here. And, I'm really looking forward to BLTs during the summer. That's really the only time we like them. And, stuffed tomatoes --stuffed with tuna salad or chicken salad. And fresh marinara sauce. And on and on and on.
ttfn
I am convinced that it's the dirt that makes summer tomatoes so delicious.
Today I was purchased 10 pounds of delicious tomatoes. Now, they weren't Jerseys, but Big Boys are almost as good. For those of you in the Midwest who have never heard of Jersey tomatoes, they were developed by Rutgers University's School of Agriculture way back on the 1950s and were the staple of homes back east in the summer. My mom preferred Jerseys to Big Boys, but she always had at least two or three Big Boy plants, along with her dozen or so plants of Jersey tomatoes.
Back to the tomatoes I purchased. These tomatoes were so good. So sweet. So non-mealy. So firm. So delicious! I made the usual tomato salad that I grew up with -- that is: cut up tomatoes -- for Alan and me I use three large ones; add to that a cut up onion in rings -- pull the rings apart; five or six leaves of basil, fresh; salt and pepper to taste. That all gets mixed together, and then a couple of sprinkles of EVOO is incorporated into that mess, and there you have it-- tomato salad the way my mom made it. The only thing missing is Italian bread to dip into the juice that accumulates in the bottom of the bowl -- the best part as far as I'm concerned.
If only I had thought to go over to Panera's to get a loaf of bread, but I didn't, so I just drank the juice. Hey! It's tomato juice, just not as thick as what is in the can, but just as tasty.
What else did we have with the tomatoes? (I could have made a meal of just them.) Well, we had corn on the cob with butter, a small steak (1/2 each of a New York steak); and rice made with lemon pepper and butter. That was it. What a tasty meal. And the juice dribbles over to the steak which makes the steak taste even better!
Wish you all could have been here. And, I'm really looking forward to BLTs during the summer. That's really the only time we like them. And, stuffed tomatoes --stuffed with tuna salad or chicken salad. And fresh marinara sauce. And on and on and on.
ttfn
Friday, June 19, 2009
Chicken again
Well, I've come around to chicken again to feed us tonight. I'm at a loss as to how to fix it. Actually, I would love to make some chicken salad and put it into a nice, juicy home-grown tomato, and call it a meal. However, I don't have any tomatoes. Maybe I'll make the chicken salad anyway.
Then, I'm thinking I should make chicken marsala. Now there's a recipe I know I've never posted. And, I'm not sure I make it correctly, but we like it, and I've served it to visiting friends, and they liked it as well. And...you can substitute veal for the chicken (or vice versa) as well.
The big plus is that it's very easy to make.
What you need:
1/2 boned chicken breast per person (I usually throw a couple more in the pot if I have guests)
EVOO
4 garlic cloves chopped
salt - 1 tspn
pepper - 1 tspn
flour - 1/2 cup
Marsala wine - 1/2 cup (more if you like)
Heavy cream - 1 cup (you can use half & half)
Mushrooms are optional, about 1/2 cup freshly sliced. Alan doesn't like them so I leave them out unless we're having guests.
Mix together in a plastic baggie the flour, salt, and pepper. Put the chicken breasts into the bag and shake to coat the chicken. Set aside.
Preheat the pan. You know it's hot when a drop of water sizzles when you drop it in the pan. Drizzle over the pan bottom to lightly coat it with some EVOO. Put into the EVOO the chopped garlic. Stir until it is just brown. Be sure not to burn it. I know I give this instruction a lot, but not burning the garlic is important.
Lower the heat to medium. Take the chicken and put it into the pan. Shake the excess flour mixture off each piece of chicken before putting it in the pan. and brown the chicken, each side cooking for about 5 minutes. After the chicken is browned, cover the pan and cook for 15 more minutes. This should give you a good starter for the marsala gravy.
After the chicken is finished cooking, remove it from the pot. Now is the time to add the mushrooms if you're going to use them, the heavy cream and the marsala wine. Mix them together to blend them (use a wisk) and put the chicken back into the pot. Lower the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. If you think you need more gravy, add more cream, not more wine.
Serve.
Now, I am really hungry, but I'm sticking to chicken salad because it's so warm and it's a good "salad" night.
ttfn
Then, I'm thinking I should make chicken marsala. Now there's a recipe I know I've never posted. And, I'm not sure I make it correctly, but we like it, and I've served it to visiting friends, and they liked it as well. And...you can substitute veal for the chicken (or vice versa) as well.
The big plus is that it's very easy to make.
What you need:
1/2 boned chicken breast per person (I usually throw a couple more in the pot if I have guests)
EVOO
4 garlic cloves chopped
salt - 1 tspn
pepper - 1 tspn
flour - 1/2 cup
Marsala wine - 1/2 cup (more if you like)
Heavy cream - 1 cup (you can use half & half)
Mushrooms are optional, about 1/2 cup freshly sliced. Alan doesn't like them so I leave them out unless we're having guests.
Mix together in a plastic baggie the flour, salt, and pepper. Put the chicken breasts into the bag and shake to coat the chicken. Set aside.
Preheat the pan. You know it's hot when a drop of water sizzles when you drop it in the pan. Drizzle over the pan bottom to lightly coat it with some EVOO. Put into the EVOO the chopped garlic. Stir until it is just brown. Be sure not to burn it. I know I give this instruction a lot, but not burning the garlic is important.
Lower the heat to medium. Take the chicken and put it into the pan. Shake the excess flour mixture off each piece of chicken before putting it in the pan. and brown the chicken, each side cooking for about 5 minutes. After the chicken is browned, cover the pan and cook for 15 more minutes. This should give you a good starter for the marsala gravy.
After the chicken is finished cooking, remove it from the pot. Now is the time to add the mushrooms if you're going to use them, the heavy cream and the marsala wine. Mix them together to blend them (use a wisk) and put the chicken back into the pot. Lower the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. If you think you need more gravy, add more cream, not more wine.
Serve.
Now, I am really hungry, but I'm sticking to chicken salad because it's so warm and it's a good "salad" night.
ttfn
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Grilled chicken
I love grilled chicken. It just tastes so different from either fried or roasted chicken.
I marinate the chicken for a couple of hours in my own special dressing, and then I have a grill pan (with the ridges) and that's what I used to "grill" my chicken.
My special dressing is something that has evolved (a proper use for that word, having nothing to do with any changes in my body which has devolved over the past 66 years) over several years. I have gone from wine vinegar to raspberry vinegar and now I'm using balsamic vinegar for the base.
Here goes:
In a bowl mix:
1/2 cup olive oil (EVOO)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed, NOT the stuff that comes from a bottle)
1 Tablespoon garlic salt
1 Tablespoon Lowry's seasoned salt
1 teaspoon Emeril's Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salad seasoning
This will be thick. I take two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (halves) and put this dressing and the chicken into a plastic bag and put it in the fridge for about two hours.
You don't need to use any oil in the pan because there is enough oil covering the chicken from the marinade so that the chicken won't stick.
Turn the heat on high under the pan. When the pan is hot (put a drop of water in it and it sizzles) pull the breasts from the bag, do not wipe off any of the marinade that sticks to the breast, and place in the grill pan (a regular pan will work, but you won't get the same "effect" as you get with a grill pan) and cook the first side for 3 minutes, turn down the heat to low, and cook the other side for 5 minutes. If you have a gas range, do not turn down the heat. The electric stove retains enough heat for this to work well -- the turning down of the heat for side two.
I do wish I had a gas stove. I used to have a gas stove. I had one for 30 years and then had to learn to cook all over again, almost. But I have to say that a flat top stove is wonderful for keeping clean and shiny. I always hated taking apart the gas stove to clean it above and underneath. And I'd no sooner get the stove all clean and shiny and then something would boil over, just waiting for the next cleaning date.
To my niece who hates broccoli -- it's a good side with this cooking of the chicken, and I learned today that broccoli is great for burning off fat from your body. I'm not sure that's true, but maybe I'm not eating enough broccoli for it to work as a fat burner for my body type -- which is fat!
ttfn
I marinate the chicken for a couple of hours in my own special dressing, and then I have a grill pan (with the ridges) and that's what I used to "grill" my chicken.
My special dressing is something that has evolved (a proper use for that word, having nothing to do with any changes in my body which has devolved over the past 66 years) over several years. I have gone from wine vinegar to raspberry vinegar and now I'm using balsamic vinegar for the base.
Here goes:
In a bowl mix:
1/2 cup olive oil (EVOO)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed, NOT the stuff that comes from a bottle)
1 Tablespoon garlic salt
1 Tablespoon Lowry's seasoned salt
1 teaspoon Emeril's Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salad seasoning
This will be thick. I take two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (halves) and put this dressing and the chicken into a plastic bag and put it in the fridge for about two hours.
You don't need to use any oil in the pan because there is enough oil covering the chicken from the marinade so that the chicken won't stick.
Turn the heat on high under the pan. When the pan is hot (put a drop of water in it and it sizzles) pull the breasts from the bag, do not wipe off any of the marinade that sticks to the breast, and place in the grill pan (a regular pan will work, but you won't get the same "effect" as you get with a grill pan) and cook the first side for 3 minutes, turn down the heat to low, and cook the other side for 5 minutes. If you have a gas range, do not turn down the heat. The electric stove retains enough heat for this to work well -- the turning down of the heat for side two.
I do wish I had a gas stove. I used to have a gas stove. I had one for 30 years and then had to learn to cook all over again, almost. But I have to say that a flat top stove is wonderful for keeping clean and shiny. I always hated taking apart the gas stove to clean it above and underneath. And I'd no sooner get the stove all clean and shiny and then something would boil over, just waiting for the next cleaning date.
To my niece who hates broccoli -- it's a good side with this cooking of the chicken, and I learned today that broccoli is great for burning off fat from your body. I'm not sure that's true, but maybe I'm not eating enough broccoli for it to work as a fat burner for my body type -- which is fat!
ttfn
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Ewww!
Well, because of my back problems, Alan's been doing the "cooking" for four days now. Actually, he's been eating, I haven't. Tonight, I decided to open a jar of marinara sauce, the brand of which tasted really good last time I used it. After a two-year break from this particular brand (which is local) the taste was completely different and really awful, or I just got a jar from a bad batch.
So, tonight we had spaghetti with jarred spaghetti sauce topped with parmsan cheese and a salad. I should just not have eaten again. it was really, really bad. Poor Alan.
Lesson learned -- make your own sauce and freeze it.
My sauce:
1 large can tomato puree (I used an Italian brand)
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 small onion - diced
1/2 carrot - diced
six large leaves basil, chopped
1/4 cup chopped italian parsley.
In large pan saute in olive (EVOO) the garlic, onion, and carrot. When the garlic is lightly browned, add the tomato puree, stir. Add the basil and the parsley, cover and cook for two or more hours.
This is my favorite meatless sauce. And it freezes well.
ttfn
So, tonight we had spaghetti with jarred spaghetti sauce topped with parmsan cheese and a salad. I should just not have eaten again. it was really, really bad. Poor Alan.
Lesson learned -- make your own sauce and freeze it.
My sauce:
1 large can tomato puree (I used an Italian brand)
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 small onion - diced
1/2 carrot - diced
six large leaves basil, chopped
1/4 cup chopped italian parsley.
In large pan saute in olive (EVOO) the garlic, onion, and carrot. When the garlic is lightly browned, add the tomato puree, stir. Add the basil and the parsley, cover and cook for two or more hours.
This is my favorite meatless sauce. And it freezes well.
ttfn
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Catsup/Ketchup
I hate the stuff. I think it tastes awful. I used to "can" ketchup each summer and that mixture I loved. The thickened tomato soup that comes in a jar now doesn't taste anything like the recipe which was in the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, 1966 edition.
The reason for this talk about catsup/ketchup (CK from now on) is that I'm currently out of CK in my pantry and refrigerator. That's because I made one of Alan's favorite dishes the other night. It was a staple of his mom's when they lived in Kenya because she could get the main ingredient easily. The main ingredient is SPAM. Yes, that's right, SPAM, that stuff that comes in a blue can.
Anyway, last night I was going to just make hamburgers for dinner, but then I realized I was out of CK and Alan would never eat a hamburger without CK, whereas, I would never eat a hamburger with CK (unless it's made by McD's).
So, I had to have pork chops instead, which meant making a full dinner with the trusted three sides -- a starch (lima beans), a green veggie (green beans) and a salad (always a salad), a lot more work than I wanted to do.
Back to CK. I posted this recipe for SPAM which has to be served with rice. I can't stand the taste of it, but Alan loves it, so three or four times a year I make it for him. I eat the rice and maybe a spoonful of the SPAM dish. And, I'm probably repeating the entire previous post. But I have an excuse. I'm getting old and forgetful. I do remember my name today, though. A good sign.
Apparently children love the taste of this dish. I don't know why, but they do. And if you go back and read the recipe I posted a few weeks ago, you know why I'm out of CK. It takes quite a bit of that nasty tomato condiment to finish off the SPAM dish properly.
I'll be out of CK for the next couple of weeks. My shopper went to the store for me yesterday and she doesn't go again for a couple of weeks. Am I sad to be missing CK in my fridge or pantry? Not at all, but now I will have to wrack my brain to think of some other way to make a hamburger so that Alan will eat it. Maybe I will douse it with bar-b-q sauce. That might work.
PS: I don't particularly like BBQ sauce either. I guess I'm hard to please.
The reason for this talk about catsup/ketchup (CK from now on) is that I'm currently out of CK in my pantry and refrigerator. That's because I made one of Alan's favorite dishes the other night. It was a staple of his mom's when they lived in Kenya because she could get the main ingredient easily. The main ingredient is SPAM. Yes, that's right, SPAM, that stuff that comes in a blue can.
Anyway, last night I was going to just make hamburgers for dinner, but then I realized I was out of CK and Alan would never eat a hamburger without CK, whereas, I would never eat a hamburger with CK (unless it's made by McD's).
So, I had to have pork chops instead, which meant making a full dinner with the trusted three sides -- a starch (lima beans), a green veggie (green beans) and a salad (always a salad), a lot more work than I wanted to do.
Back to CK. I posted this recipe for SPAM which has to be served with rice. I can't stand the taste of it, but Alan loves it, so three or four times a year I make it for him. I eat the rice and maybe a spoonful of the SPAM dish. And, I'm probably repeating the entire previous post. But I have an excuse. I'm getting old and forgetful. I do remember my name today, though. A good sign.
Apparently children love the taste of this dish. I don't know why, but they do. And if you go back and read the recipe I posted a few weeks ago, you know why I'm out of CK. It takes quite a bit of that nasty tomato condiment to finish off the SPAM dish properly.
I'll be out of CK for the next couple of weeks. My shopper went to the store for me yesterday and she doesn't go again for a couple of weeks. Am I sad to be missing CK in my fridge or pantry? Not at all, but now I will have to wrack my brain to think of some other way to make a hamburger so that Alan will eat it. Maybe I will douse it with bar-b-q sauce. That might work.
PS: I don't particularly like BBQ sauce either. I guess I'm hard to please.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
EVOO
My niece Lori told me today that she had never used EVOO in recipes before I wrote this BLOG. So I decided to write a little bit about EVOO and explain why I use it instead of some other "oil" in cooking.
EVOO is extra virgin olive oil.
First, EVOO, is the best oil you can use because it is actually good for the heart. It doesn't clog the arteries as other "oils" do. Cooking oil is the worst of all in that respect. I only use cooking oil when I bake because frankly, the taste of EVOO is strong and it changes the taste of pies and cakes. BUT, I do use it when I bake pizzas because EVOO does go with that type of baking. Can you tell the difference? If it has sugar, don't use EVOO, if it doesn't have sugar, use the EVOO.
I did a little more research some months ago on EVOO, and found that it is good for those who suffer arthritis. Frankly, I've been using EVOO for years, and if it is supposed to help with arthritis I hate to think how much worse the arthritis I have would be. I have a cousin, though, who swears by it and he doses himself up with a couple of tablespoons every day. I just can't do that, sorry. I love EVOO with bread and in cooking, but to just spoon it into my mouth? I don't think so.
EVOO is a laxative. When I was pregnant with my second child I was having a difficult time -- I was very, very constipated. Back then you just didn't take any medicines to help with problems you might have because you were pregnant. So, I called my mom, and she told me to take a couple of tablespoons of EVOO and that would solve the problem. It did. And ever since then, that's been the family remedy for constipation. I guess that's more info than you all wanted, but there it is.
So, cook with EVOO. Fried foods CAN be good for you! And use it for its medicinal purposes. Just hold your nose and swallow it. Holding your nose when you're swallowing something eliminates tasting what you're putting into your mouth.
Now that I've explained about EVOO, maybe I should give you a recipe (or two).
Flavored olive oil is easy to make, and a lot less expensive if you do it yourself rather than buying it at the store.
Garlic flavored oil is really easy to make. Just peel five or six cloves (sections of a whole garlic) and smash it slightly. Put those cloves in a small bottle of EVOO, wait a few days, and you will have a great dip for bread.
You can also use any of your favorite herbs in the same way. If you want thyme flavored oil put a coule of stalks of thyme into a bottle and wait a few days. Yum! It's especially good to use this flavored oil for frying chicken. It gives it a different flavor. Also, use it as a rub on lamb. You will really enjoy the flavor.
Enough for now. But writing about EVOO gives me an impetus for updating this particular BLOG more often.
ttfn
EVOO is extra virgin olive oil.
First, EVOO, is the best oil you can use because it is actually good for the heart. It doesn't clog the arteries as other "oils" do. Cooking oil is the worst of all in that respect. I only use cooking oil when I bake because frankly, the taste of EVOO is strong and it changes the taste of pies and cakes. BUT, I do use it when I bake pizzas because EVOO does go with that type of baking. Can you tell the difference? If it has sugar, don't use EVOO, if it doesn't have sugar, use the EVOO.
I did a little more research some months ago on EVOO, and found that it is good for those who suffer arthritis. Frankly, I've been using EVOO for years, and if it is supposed to help with arthritis I hate to think how much worse the arthritis I have would be. I have a cousin, though, who swears by it and he doses himself up with a couple of tablespoons every day. I just can't do that, sorry. I love EVOO with bread and in cooking, but to just spoon it into my mouth? I don't think so.
EVOO is a laxative. When I was pregnant with my second child I was having a difficult time -- I was very, very constipated. Back then you just didn't take any medicines to help with problems you might have because you were pregnant. So, I called my mom, and she told me to take a couple of tablespoons of EVOO and that would solve the problem. It did. And ever since then, that's been the family remedy for constipation. I guess that's more info than you all wanted, but there it is.
So, cook with EVOO. Fried foods CAN be good for you! And use it for its medicinal purposes. Just hold your nose and swallow it. Holding your nose when you're swallowing something eliminates tasting what you're putting into your mouth.
Now that I've explained about EVOO, maybe I should give you a recipe (or two).
Flavored olive oil is easy to make, and a lot less expensive if you do it yourself rather than buying it at the store.
Garlic flavored oil is really easy to make. Just peel five or six cloves (sections of a whole garlic) and smash it slightly. Put those cloves in a small bottle of EVOO, wait a few days, and you will have a great dip for bread.
You can also use any of your favorite herbs in the same way. If you want thyme flavored oil put a coule of stalks of thyme into a bottle and wait a few days. Yum! It's especially good to use this flavored oil for frying chicken. It gives it a different flavor. Also, use it as a rub on lamb. You will really enjoy the flavor.
Enough for now. But writing about EVOO gives me an impetus for updating this particular BLOG more often.
ttfn
Friday, May 29, 2009
I haven't forgotten
I haven't forgotten to post new recipes to this BLOG. I haven't forgotten how to cook, either. I just have had only one opportunity to cook this past week. And, because this recipe wasn't something my mom would have cooked, I had no remembrances of recipes past -- therefore, I guess I have forgotten, something!
The only meal I actually cooked this week included a rare sirloin roast which wasn't too tough to cut, and which when reheated, still stayed rare in the center. A trick I learned about cooking beef rare was actually learned on The Food Channel several years ago.
I think it was Bobby Flay who was making a standing rib roast at Christmas time -- something I used to do every year when the children were growing up, were living at home, and we spent Christmas Day all together, so it was worth cooking something. Anyway, he made this roast and it looked yummy, so I tried his method to get the perfect crusty roast with a rare center.
He suggested pre-heating the oven to 450 degrees, putting the roast in the oven at that temperature for 15 minutes, then cutting the temperature back to 350 degrees for an hour, which was enough time to cook a four-rib roast.
Well, roasts without bones do not have to be cooked as long, and timing is all important if you want a crusty, rare roast of sirloin. So, while I can't promise that your roast will be crusty and rare if you follow my recipe, I know that mine USUALLY is just right, and the amount of juice from the roast makes just enough gravy for a small to medium roast.
I usually get a 2-3 pound roast. I set it in the 450 degree oven for 15 minutes, then cut it back, and cook it for 45 minutes. I remove it from the oven after the 45-minute period and let it rest for 15 minutes. There will be "reddish" juice coming from the roast, which I pour back into the pan where the drippings are. I add one cup of water to the pan drippings, then thicken the drips with cornstarch (equal parts water and cornstarch), using a whisk to get all the drippings well mixed.
NOTE: If the juice from the roast isn't reddish, then it isn't rare in the middle, as you will find out when you slice into it.
I usually serve the roast with baked potatoes and a salad. That's it. Tonight, the potatoes didn't cook in time, so we just had roast and salad which was fine. The other night, when I first cooked the roast we had it with corn on the cob, instead of baked potatoes, and the requisite salad.
I say "requisite salad" because I am, after all, of Italian descent, and there was never a meal when we didn't have a green, leafy salad with our dinner.
ttfn
The only meal I actually cooked this week included a rare sirloin roast which wasn't too tough to cut, and which when reheated, still stayed rare in the center. A trick I learned about cooking beef rare was actually learned on The Food Channel several years ago.
I think it was Bobby Flay who was making a standing rib roast at Christmas time -- something I used to do every year when the children were growing up, were living at home, and we spent Christmas Day all together, so it was worth cooking something. Anyway, he made this roast and it looked yummy, so I tried his method to get the perfect crusty roast with a rare center.
He suggested pre-heating the oven to 450 degrees, putting the roast in the oven at that temperature for 15 minutes, then cutting the temperature back to 350 degrees for an hour, which was enough time to cook a four-rib roast.
Well, roasts without bones do not have to be cooked as long, and timing is all important if you want a crusty, rare roast of sirloin. So, while I can't promise that your roast will be crusty and rare if you follow my recipe, I know that mine USUALLY is just right, and the amount of juice from the roast makes just enough gravy for a small to medium roast.
I usually get a 2-3 pound roast. I set it in the 450 degree oven for 15 minutes, then cut it back, and cook it for 45 minutes. I remove it from the oven after the 45-minute period and let it rest for 15 minutes. There will be "reddish" juice coming from the roast, which I pour back into the pan where the drippings are. I add one cup of water to the pan drippings, then thicken the drips with cornstarch (equal parts water and cornstarch), using a whisk to get all the drippings well mixed.
NOTE: If the juice from the roast isn't reddish, then it isn't rare in the middle, as you will find out when you slice into it.
I usually serve the roast with baked potatoes and a salad. That's it. Tonight, the potatoes didn't cook in time, so we just had roast and salad which was fine. The other night, when I first cooked the roast we had it with corn on the cob, instead of baked potatoes, and the requisite salad.
I say "requisite salad" because I am, after all, of Italian descent, and there was never a meal when we didn't have a green, leafy salad with our dinner.
ttfn
Monday, May 18, 2009
Holiday weekend
Well, the first holiday weekend of the summer is almost on us. This weekend will be a busy one for me and mine. Saturday our pool opens and I must bring a breakfast (brunch) dish, and then bring a dish for our dinner bar-b-q for our community events. Sunday we're celebrating with our own family -- all 21 of us -- at one of the local parks. And on Monday we'll be at the pool, I suppose and in the morning there is a service at our flagpole honoring our soldiers and sailors, past and present, then another breakfast! I do love this weekend even though it is a tiring one.
I recall that Memorial Day was a day when we ALWAYS went to Aunt Annie's for an outdoor picnic. I don't recall one single rain-out. The women made the food, and it must have been organized by Aunt Annie as to who would bring what, because there was a table load of food, but no duplicates. Aunt Rita, my mom, sometimes Aunt Fran, if she was up from Tennessee, and the cousins, Grace, Hannah, Mickie, David's wife, Virginia, all contributed to the feast.
My mom always took potato salad and a jello dessert of some kind. There was a wonderful layout of lunch meats and real, good, fresh, Italian bread, so that we could make sandwiches. There was no grill. We didn't need grilled meats.
Mom's potato salad was always a hit. I think she made the best potato salad there ever could be.
Her recipe for a crowd follows:
5 pounds of potatoes, cooked, peeled, and sliced
1 large onion, diced
1/2 dozen eggs -- hard boiled and slices
1 red or green pepper, diced
1/2 cup sliced dill pickles
2 T dill pickle juice (sometimes she would use white vinegar or lemon juice)
1 to 2 cups of Hellman's mayonnaise (enough to make it moist after it is stirred)
1/4 cup mustard
a shake of garlic salt
1 T salt
Mix all together making sure all the potatoes are coated with mayonnaise, but not too much mayo. Test this for your own taste. You can use low-fat mayo. It works just as well.
ttfn
ttfn
I recall that Memorial Day was a day when we ALWAYS went to Aunt Annie's for an outdoor picnic. I don't recall one single rain-out. The women made the food, and it must have been organized by Aunt Annie as to who would bring what, because there was a table load of food, but no duplicates. Aunt Rita, my mom, sometimes Aunt Fran, if she was up from Tennessee, and the cousins, Grace, Hannah, Mickie, David's wife, Virginia, all contributed to the feast.
My mom always took potato salad and a jello dessert of some kind. There was a wonderful layout of lunch meats and real, good, fresh, Italian bread, so that we could make sandwiches. There was no grill. We didn't need grilled meats.
Mom's potato salad was always a hit. I think she made the best potato salad there ever could be.
Her recipe for a crowd follows:
5 pounds of potatoes, cooked, peeled, and sliced
1 large onion, diced
1/2 dozen eggs -- hard boiled and slices
1 red or green pepper, diced
1/2 cup sliced dill pickles
2 T dill pickle juice (sometimes she would use white vinegar or lemon juice)
1 to 2 cups of Hellman's mayonnaise (enough to make it moist after it is stirred)
1/4 cup mustard
a shake of garlic salt
1 T salt
Mix all together making sure all the potatoes are coated with mayonnaise, but not too much mayo. Test this for your own taste. You can use low-fat mayo. It works just as well.
ttfn
ttfn
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Our favorite desserts
The Drexler clan had few favorite desserts. However, one my father was especially fond of was Junket. It was a custard-type dessert -- sort of like creme brulle without the brulle (crisped sugar), and it was made with a tablet stirred into a mixture of milk and eggs and sugar to thicken it. It was not baked in an oven as custard is today, but cooked on top of the stove. Mom made that at least once a week.
We children all like jello -- any kind, we didn't care. One small package of jello stretch just right for all six of us. Mom almost always included a can of fruit which expanded the dessert just a little bit.
We also loved pudding. The stir kind, not the instant kind. However, I have to admit that after instant pudding became very popular, mom switched over. She like to mix the chocolate and vanilla together, making it chocola pudding. Not too bad, but I would have preferred plain chocolate. There were times when she'd make instant lemon pudding and try to pass it off as lemon meringue pie without the meringue. Didn't work! We might have been little, but we weren't stupid. It was sweet, however, and thus we dug in and finished a little dish off in three swallows.
My sister tells me that she really loved the crumb cake mom made every Saturday night (for Sunday morning, but it could have been a dessert). If mom dressed it up -- i.e., she added apples to the mix -- it became a dessert. I could tolerate it then (with apples) because it wasn't as dry as it was just plain.
Mom also made a yellow cake and usually made a simple butter icing for it. She would often let us children put a few drops of food coloring in the icing just for a change.
So, the deserts were simple, but they satisfied our hankering for something sweet.
Oh, yeah, let's not forget ice cream!
ttfn
We children all like jello -- any kind, we didn't care. One small package of jello stretch just right for all six of us. Mom almost always included a can of fruit which expanded the dessert just a little bit.
We also loved pudding. The stir kind, not the instant kind. However, I have to admit that after instant pudding became very popular, mom switched over. She like to mix the chocolate and vanilla together, making it chocola pudding. Not too bad, but I would have preferred plain chocolate. There were times when she'd make instant lemon pudding and try to pass it off as lemon meringue pie without the meringue. Didn't work! We might have been little, but we weren't stupid. It was sweet, however, and thus we dug in and finished a little dish off in three swallows.
My sister tells me that she really loved the crumb cake mom made every Saturday night (for Sunday morning, but it could have been a dessert). If mom dressed it up -- i.e., she added apples to the mix -- it became a dessert. I could tolerate it then (with apples) because it wasn't as dry as it was just plain.
Mom also made a yellow cake and usually made a simple butter icing for it. She would often let us children put a few drops of food coloring in the icing just for a change.
So, the deserts were simple, but they satisfied our hankering for something sweet.
Oh, yeah, let's not forget ice cream!
ttfn
Monday, May 11, 2009
Rum-Tum Tiddy
This is a really friendly kid dish. And even an adult dish, and it is one of those Sunday-night-I-don't-want-to-cook dishes. It was passed down to my by my mother-in-law, Ruth Hahn.
Who doesn't like tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches? Well this dish combines both of those treats into one dish, and it's so easy to make -- you can even do it in the microwave if you want, and which I usually do.
For a family of 6 you'll need 2 cans of tomato juice (made with your choice of either water or milk). Into this you'll need to add 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. You can do the math if you cut the recipe in half. Cook the soup as you would normally, either on the stove or in the microwave, until the cheese is melted enough to be stirred into the soup and the soups is good and warm.
While the soup is cooking, start making toast. Most people will want two slices of toast, some may want more, but start with two each.
After the soup is done and you have a pile of toast, cut in half so you have triangles, you're ready to put the dish together.
On a dinner-size plate place the toast triangles on the plate, then spoon the soup over top of the toast.
There you have it -- a variety of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, and a lot less mess than slopping those grilled cheese sandwiches into the bowl or cup of soup. It tastes the same.
I hope you and your children come to love this dish the way my children and my husband's siblings did. I know there was always a fight as to who was going to get the last piece of toast to get the remaining bit of Rum Tum Tiddy out of the pan, and the father of the clan usually won!
ttfn
Who doesn't like tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches? Well this dish combines both of those treats into one dish, and it's so easy to make -- you can even do it in the microwave if you want, and which I usually do.
For a family of 6 you'll need 2 cans of tomato juice (made with your choice of either water or milk). Into this you'll need to add 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. You can do the math if you cut the recipe in half. Cook the soup as you would normally, either on the stove or in the microwave, until the cheese is melted enough to be stirred into the soup and the soups is good and warm.
While the soup is cooking, start making toast. Most people will want two slices of toast, some may want more, but start with two each.
After the soup is done and you have a pile of toast, cut in half so you have triangles, you're ready to put the dish together.
On a dinner-size plate place the toast triangles on the plate, then spoon the soup over top of the toast.
There you have it -- a variety of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, and a lot less mess than slopping those grilled cheese sandwiches into the bowl or cup of soup. It tastes the same.
I hope you and your children come to love this dish the way my children and my husband's siblings did. I know there was always a fight as to who was going to get the last piece of toast to get the remaining bit of Rum Tum Tiddy out of the pan, and the father of the clan usually won!
ttfn
Friday, May 8, 2009
Children love this pasta
It's not a Runnemede Recipe -- in other words it's not from my mom. But it is, sort of. I recall she'd use different kinds of pasta on Sunday night, usually, and all she'd add was garlic powder and butter, and it was delish,. At least my 8-year-old pallete enjoyed it.
My take on that mom's Sunday-night offering is just a wee bit different
This is a bow-tie pasta recipe. I have friends who aren't fond of bowtie pasta, but Alan and I like it, so I use it a lot. It absorbs the sauce/gravy really well.
You'll need (for a family of 6)
one pound of bow-tie pasta, cooked according to the box directions. I like it a little softer than the box recipe, but it's a matter of your taste. Most people prefer el dente.
any veggies you like raw (shredded carrots, broccoli, peas, peppers, onions, zucchini, etc.) as many as you and your family will eat. I use about one cup of each one.
The sauce is basically butter and cream (or you can use milk, but it doesn't thicken as well).
In a sauce pan put three pats of butter and one cup of cream (I prefer heavy, or half and half, but you can use milk). Bring to a simmer and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup shredded cheese (your favorite). I use parmigiana or Romano cheese which I grate fresh. This will cause the mix to thicken. Simmer another minute until the cheese melts. Stirring while you wait.
When the sauce/gravy is ready, pour it all over the drained pasta which you have put in a dish and using a large spoon stir or mix the sauce/gravy into the pasta. Wait about three minutes and add the raw veggies. Stir again. I know raw peas (frozen) doesn't sound that great, but they cook in the hot pasta and by the time you get the dish to the table most of the veggies are blanched, and not so raw.
One note: I prefer to use cooked broccoli. I'm not a raw broccoli lover, and I like broccoli cooked until it is pretty soft, but not mushy.
Herbs you might want to add: basil (fresh); thyme (fresh); rosemary (fresh) -- not all three at once. One at a time. I also top it with fresh cut parsley.
Enjoy this one. It will become a summer favorite.
ttfn
My take on that mom's Sunday-night offering is just a wee bit different
This is a bow-tie pasta recipe. I have friends who aren't fond of bowtie pasta, but Alan and I like it, so I use it a lot. It absorbs the sauce/gravy really well.
You'll need (for a family of 6)
one pound of bow-tie pasta, cooked according to the box directions. I like it a little softer than the box recipe, but it's a matter of your taste. Most people prefer el dente.
any veggies you like raw (shredded carrots, broccoli, peas, peppers, onions, zucchini, etc.) as many as you and your family will eat. I use about one cup of each one.
The sauce is basically butter and cream (or you can use milk, but it doesn't thicken as well).
In a sauce pan put three pats of butter and one cup of cream (I prefer heavy, or half and half, but you can use milk). Bring to a simmer and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup shredded cheese (your favorite). I use parmigiana or Romano cheese which I grate fresh. This will cause the mix to thicken. Simmer another minute until the cheese melts. Stirring while you wait.
When the sauce/gravy is ready, pour it all over the drained pasta which you have put in a dish and using a large spoon stir or mix the sauce/gravy into the pasta. Wait about three minutes and add the raw veggies. Stir again. I know raw peas (frozen) doesn't sound that great, but they cook in the hot pasta and by the time you get the dish to the table most of the veggies are blanched, and not so raw.
One note: I prefer to use cooked broccoli. I'm not a raw broccoli lover, and I like broccoli cooked until it is pretty soft, but not mushy.
Herbs you might want to add: basil (fresh); thyme (fresh); rosemary (fresh) -- not all three at once. One at a time. I also top it with fresh cut parsley.
Enjoy this one. It will become a summer favorite.
ttfn
Monday, May 4, 2009
Baked Alaska
My own recipes will return in a few days, but I had to post one of our most favorite desserts. Alan and I love baked Alaska. The first time we ate it was on a very special date we had at a very expensive restaurant in Philadelphia in August 1965 -- it was to celebrate our engagement.
For dessert Alan order us baked Alaska. I had never had it. He had, and it was one of those dishes they flamed at the table.
Well, on our recent cruise they served baked Alaska, but because of fire concerns they didn't flame it at the table. They either broiled it or singed it with one of those torches chefs are using these days.
Baked Alaska is a thin lay of yellow cake topped with Neapolitan ice cream (they use a one gallon block). Then all that is coated with a very stiff meringue. The meringue, in a real baked Alaska (thus the name) is baked at a very high temperature for five minutes, just enough to brown the meringue. The ice cream is frozen very cold, so it doesn't melt while the meringue is being browned.
The result is a wonderful dessert, and I'm slobbering just thinking about it. No dessert for me tonight. I'm off to bed. I will be back in full force, I hope, later in the week. I need to get over my vacation. !!!!!
ttnf
For dessert Alan order us baked Alaska. I had never had it. He had, and it was one of those dishes they flamed at the table.
Well, on our recent cruise they served baked Alaska, but because of fire concerns they didn't flame it at the table. They either broiled it or singed it with one of those torches chefs are using these days.
Baked Alaska is a thin lay of yellow cake topped with Neapolitan ice cream (they use a one gallon block). Then all that is coated with a very stiff meringue. The meringue, in a real baked Alaska (thus the name) is baked at a very high temperature for five minutes, just enough to brown the meringue. The ice cream is frozen very cold, so it doesn't melt while the meringue is being browned.
The result is a wonderful dessert, and I'm slobbering just thinking about it. No dessert for me tonight. I'm off to bed. I will be back in full force, I hope, later in the week. I need to get over my vacation. !!!!!
ttnf
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Peppers and Eggs
Well, we got to Cousin Micki's earlier this week and she was so pleased. She had made peppers and eggs for our lunch sandwiches. Sorry to say that is one of my least favorite "family" foods there is. And poor Mick, she really thought she was giving us something wonderful.
The first time I ate peppers and eggs (P&E) was at Aunt Annie's. Aunt Annie loved the stuff, as did my mom. But I couldn't gag it down no matter how hard I tried. Given the ingredients separately, I'd have had no problem, but together, and on bread as a sandwich? Not so much.
If any of you want to try this very common Abruzzi mock-off, here's the recipe:
Needed
4 or five eggs
1 pepper (green or red)
1 onion
salt and ground pepper
EVOO or butter
Finely chop the pepper and onion. In large pan (heated) melt two pats of butter (or heat one tablespoon of EVOO), cook the peppers and onions until the they are slightly browned, but not soft. Add the eggs. Just dump them in and stir them in with the peppers and onions as if you were making scrambled eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste. That's all there is to it.
This mess was served at lunch and was mostly eaten when we went to the shore. The adults loved it on bread. I guess it was a cheap lunch, since the pepper and onion came from the garden, and the eggs came from our neighbor. Unfortunately, we children, as far as I know never grew to enjoy the dish.
ttfn
The first time I ate peppers and eggs (P&E) was at Aunt Annie's. Aunt Annie loved the stuff, as did my mom. But I couldn't gag it down no matter how hard I tried. Given the ingredients separately, I'd have had no problem, but together, and on bread as a sandwich? Not so much.
If any of you want to try this very common Abruzzi mock-off, here's the recipe:
Needed
4 or five eggs
1 pepper (green or red)
1 onion
salt and ground pepper
EVOO or butter
Finely chop the pepper and onion. In large pan (heated) melt two pats of butter (or heat one tablespoon of EVOO), cook the peppers and onions until the they are slightly browned, but not soft. Add the eggs. Just dump them in and stir them in with the peppers and onions as if you were making scrambled eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste. That's all there is to it.
This mess was served at lunch and was mostly eaten when we went to the shore. The adults loved it on bread. I guess it was a cheap lunch, since the pepper and onion came from the garden, and the eggs came from our neighbor. Unfortunately, we children, as far as I know never grew to enjoy the dish.
ttfn
Monday, April 13, 2009
Cracker Barrel
Cracker Barrel has some new dishes -- one-pot dishes called Fireside Country Skillets -- and I had the opportunity to get one today. This is not my recipe, and I don't even have the recipe for this dish, but boy was it yummy. It's their new Chicken/Broccoli/cheese dish. The bottom layer is their cheese potatoes, you know those delicious potatoes they serve in lieu of hash browns? Then it's topped with lots of chicken, not so much broccoli (I wish they had put more of the green stuff in the dish) and then the whole thing is topped with this gooey, cheddar cheese concoction that was really, really good.
And, oh yes, it has a gazillion calories. I didn't care. After driving for 9 hours I was ready for anything food.
ttfn
And, oh yes, it has a gazillion calories. I didn't care. After driving for 9 hours I was ready for anything food.
ttfn
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Spam and Rice
This is not a recipe I learned from my Mom, but I did learn it while I was living in Runnemede, and I started making it before I was married. It's a recipe handed down to me by my mother-in-law, Ruth Hahn. I have to say she made this A LOT. It was cheap, easy, and if you kept Spam in your pantry you could whip it up in about 15 minutes, especially if you used Minute Rice.
My husband loves this stuff. I can't stand it. So, as you might guess, I don't make it often. Only by special request from him.
I get to thinking sometimes, it must be rough to be fed whatever the cook wants you (or herself) to eat, and you get to share that. It's not like having a personal chef where you can dictate what you want to eat for dinner or lunch, etc., you just have to eat what's put in front of you. Children and husbands are in this category. Personally, I don't think I'd like to be in that category, but I've never been in a situation where I would be, except when I had my three children and had to eat what the hospital provided, and we all know about hospital food, right?
Back to SPAM AND RICE.
Ingredients:
1 can of Spam (feeds up to 4). I used to use two cans when the children were at home. Doubled everything in this recipe because it was enjoyed by them in their early years.
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tspn vinegar (white preferred)
1/4 cup brown sugar packed
1 small onion cut up into small pieces
1/2 green or red pepper, cut into small pieces (Alan prefers this dish without the peppers)
1 Cup of Rice (uncooked)
First, unless you are using Minute Rice, start your rice. 1 cup of rice, two cups of water. Put rice into boiling water and cover. Add salt. Reduce to low, cover the pan and cook until water is absorbed by the rice, about 20 minutes.
For the S&R: To a skillet add a little bit of EVOO or a pat of butter and then brown the onions and pepper, but don't burn them. While these are browning, cut up the Spam into small pieces. When the onions and peppers are just brown and not burnt, add the Spam, ketchup, vinegar, and brown sugar. Stir until the ingredients are well mixed. Simmer on low for about 10 minutes, so that the Spam and ketchup can heat up. If it is too thick, add a little water. You may want to experiment to get it to the consistency you like to put over the cooked rice.
That's all there is to this dish. Basically kids love it because it's so ketchupy. And it's a good way to disguise Spam. Personally? I prefer Spam right from the can.
ttfn
My husband loves this stuff. I can't stand it. So, as you might guess, I don't make it often. Only by special request from him.
I get to thinking sometimes, it must be rough to be fed whatever the cook wants you (or herself) to eat, and you get to share that. It's not like having a personal chef where you can dictate what you want to eat for dinner or lunch, etc., you just have to eat what's put in front of you. Children and husbands are in this category. Personally, I don't think I'd like to be in that category, but I've never been in a situation where I would be, except when I had my three children and had to eat what the hospital provided, and we all know about hospital food, right?
Back to SPAM AND RICE.
Ingredients:
1 can of Spam (feeds up to 4). I used to use two cans when the children were at home. Doubled everything in this recipe because it was enjoyed by them in their early years.
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tspn vinegar (white preferred)
1/4 cup brown sugar packed
1 small onion cut up into small pieces
1/2 green or red pepper, cut into small pieces (Alan prefers this dish without the peppers)
1 Cup of Rice (uncooked)
First, unless you are using Minute Rice, start your rice. 1 cup of rice, two cups of water. Put rice into boiling water and cover. Add salt. Reduce to low, cover the pan and cook until water is absorbed by the rice, about 20 minutes.
For the S&R: To a skillet add a little bit of EVOO or a pat of butter and then brown the onions and pepper, but don't burn them. While these are browning, cut up the Spam into small pieces. When the onions and peppers are just brown and not burnt, add the Spam, ketchup, vinegar, and brown sugar. Stir until the ingredients are well mixed. Simmer on low for about 10 minutes, so that the Spam and ketchup can heat up. If it is too thick, add a little water. You may want to experiment to get it to the consistency you like to put over the cooked rice.
That's all there is to this dish. Basically kids love it because it's so ketchupy. And it's a good way to disguise Spam. Personally? I prefer Spam right from the can.
ttfn
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Chicken salad
My mom's chicken salad was very, very simple. Cut up chicken, celery, and mayonnaise. The recipe I use now is updated for Alan's and my taste. I loved my mom's chicken salad, and still do. I don't know where she got her recipe, but it tasted a lot like the chicken salad that was served at Wanamaker's tearoom.
I don't think I've ever written about the first time my father took me to the Tea Room. What a treat that was! Of course I had to go through the requisite blindness at 12th and Market Streets in downtown Philly before we arrived at Wanamaker's. He didn't tell me in advance that we were going there. We went to visit Dr. Feldman first, and I can't recall whether it was because he thought I need to get some sort of treatment (chiropractic) or whether the treatment was for him. But we went to the Tea Room and got there around 1:30 p.m., a little late for lunch, but we hadn't eaten yet, so that's where we went.
I ordered, at my father's suggestion, a chicken salad sandwich plate. Wow! The sandwich was delish! And that chicken salad was just like mom's, or vice versa. Anyway, there was no pickle relish in it, nothing to make it "sweet", just plain chicken, celery, and mayo.
But enough reminiscing, here's my updated recipe.
Items needed:
chicken breasts either bone in or no bone
salt
pepper
mayonnaise -- I use Hellmann's. If you use the other stuff, it will not be the same.
celery
grapes
walnuts
Cook the breasts in water -- do not completely cover the breasts unless you want to save the stock that results from boiling the meat. Cook in covered pan for 1/2 hour. Make sure the water in the pot has been boiling with the meat for at least 20 minutes. Add salt to the water.
After the breasts cool, cut them into small pieces.
Cut up the celery into small pieces (1 cup)
smash the walnuts into small pieces (1/2 cup)
cut the grapes (I use seedless purple grapes) into four pieces (tedious work, but it makes the salad less lumpy). (1 cup)
Combine all the above with enough mayonnaise to coat the ingredients. This will vary depending on how big the breasts are.
Chill for about one hour and eat. It tastes good left over as well. I often add a spritz of lemon into the salad, but then I put a spritz of lemon in almost everything.
ttfn
I don't think I've ever written about the first time my father took me to the Tea Room. What a treat that was! Of course I had to go through the requisite blindness at 12th and Market Streets in downtown Philly before we arrived at Wanamaker's. He didn't tell me in advance that we were going there. We went to visit Dr. Feldman first, and I can't recall whether it was because he thought I need to get some sort of treatment (chiropractic) or whether the treatment was for him. But we went to the Tea Room and got there around 1:30 p.m., a little late for lunch, but we hadn't eaten yet, so that's where we went.
I ordered, at my father's suggestion, a chicken salad sandwich plate. Wow! The sandwich was delish! And that chicken salad was just like mom's, or vice versa. Anyway, there was no pickle relish in it, nothing to make it "sweet", just plain chicken, celery, and mayo.
But enough reminiscing, here's my updated recipe.
Items needed:
chicken breasts either bone in or no bone
salt
pepper
mayonnaise -- I use Hellmann's. If you use the other stuff, it will not be the same.
celery
grapes
walnuts
Cook the breasts in water -- do not completely cover the breasts unless you want to save the stock that results from boiling the meat. Cook in covered pan for 1/2 hour. Make sure the water in the pot has been boiling with the meat for at least 20 minutes. Add salt to the water.
After the breasts cool, cut them into small pieces.
Cut up the celery into small pieces (1 cup)
smash the walnuts into small pieces (1/2 cup)
cut the grapes (I use seedless purple grapes) into four pieces (tedious work, but it makes the salad less lumpy). (1 cup)
Combine all the above with enough mayonnaise to coat the ingredients. This will vary depending on how big the breasts are.
Chill for about one hour and eat. It tastes good left over as well. I often add a spritz of lemon into the salad, but then I put a spritz of lemon in almost everything.
ttfn
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Easy Beef Stroganoff
I can't believe I haven't updated this BLOG for five days. You all must be starving if you're depending on me for recipes for dinner.
My mom never made beef stroganoff. It was a dish I learned to make early in my marriage and one time my mom came to New Brunswick (well, Piscataway) to visit Alan and me and I made beef stroganoff. She loved it. It's really very, very easy to make.
I found out after I made it the right way, with wine, mushrooms, etc., that the ingredients in Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup are the same as what I was putting in the stroganoff, sans beef and sour cream.
What you need:
round steak, about two pounds (feeds 6-8)
2 cans golden mushroom soup (don't try a store brand, it's not the same)
1/2 package Lipton's onion soup mix
1 cup (or more if you like) sour cream (you can use lite or no fat sour cream, but it may separate)
salt and pepper
garlic salt
Cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle with salt, pepper and about 10 shakes of garlic salt. In skillet put two pats of butter. Turn on to high heat. When the butter melts, put in the pieces of meat. Brown them, but not too much, leave a little pink. At this time, while the meat is browning, add the onion soup mix. After the meat is browned, add the cans of soup and only one can of water, and the sour cream. The sour cream will make the sauce more liquidy, but as it cools a little it will thicken. Lower heat and let simmer about 10 minutes. This will cook the pink meat and the meat will be more tender.
Serve over noodles or rice, your choice. I like it both ways, but prefer the noodles.
ttfn
My mom never made beef stroganoff. It was a dish I learned to make early in my marriage and one time my mom came to New Brunswick (well, Piscataway) to visit Alan and me and I made beef stroganoff. She loved it. It's really very, very easy to make.
I found out after I made it the right way, with wine, mushrooms, etc., that the ingredients in Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup are the same as what I was putting in the stroganoff, sans beef and sour cream.
What you need:
round steak, about two pounds (feeds 6-8)
2 cans golden mushroom soup (don't try a store brand, it's not the same)
1/2 package Lipton's onion soup mix
1 cup (or more if you like) sour cream (you can use lite or no fat sour cream, but it may separate)
salt and pepper
garlic salt
Cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle with salt, pepper and about 10 shakes of garlic salt. In skillet put two pats of butter. Turn on to high heat. When the butter melts, put in the pieces of meat. Brown them, but not too much, leave a little pink. At this time, while the meat is browning, add the onion soup mix. After the meat is browned, add the cans of soup and only one can of water, and the sour cream. The sour cream will make the sauce more liquidy, but as it cools a little it will thicken. Lower heat and let simmer about 10 minutes. This will cook the pink meat and the meat will be more tender.
Serve over noodles or rice, your choice. I like it both ways, but prefer the noodles.
ttfn
Friday, March 27, 2009
Lenten dish
My mother was raised Roman Catholic (she was Italian after all) and then converted to Baptist. But, when you grow up and you get used to doing something all your life, I suppose it's difficult to quit it when you get married. So, every Friday was fish day. I personally loved it because I love any kind of fish or seafood, even calamari.
Well, we have a friend coming to visit us this weekend who is Russian Orthodox and because of lent he is on a no meat/no dairy fast -- I guess that's what it's called. So, I had to get my brain moving to decide what I was going to feed him. Alan hates fish, but what else could I do. I didn't really want to go to any stores, but I didn't have any fish except a can of tuna around, so out I went.
I went to the fish market -- I love that store -- and got a whole trout (a small one) and I had them remove the head. I love fish, but don't particularly care to face the fishes eyes.
My mom cooked fish so simply, yet it was so good, or maybe I just liked it because almost anything my mom cooked I loved.
I'm going to salt and pepper the inside of the trout, then stuff the inside with lemon slices. The outside will be sprinkles with EVOO and garlic salt and some fresh chopped parsley -- JUST LIKE MOM DID IT. That's it. I'll bake it at 350 for 1/2 hour, then test it for doneness. But it's a small fish and I think that will be long enough for it to bake.
I guess I'd better remove the bones before I cook it. I know how to do that, I think. I've watched enough de-boning episodes on the cooking channel, and I have a very sharp fish knife!
Watch out when I have that thing in my hand.
BTW, it was suggested, after I purchased the fish, that I make spaghetti salad. That would have been a perfect substitute for a meatless, dairy less meal. But too late. I may make it as a side course. Alan at least will eat that.
So, I'm off for the weekend. It's a busy one.
ttfn
Well, we have a friend coming to visit us this weekend who is Russian Orthodox and because of lent he is on a no meat/no dairy fast -- I guess that's what it's called. So, I had to get my brain moving to decide what I was going to feed him. Alan hates fish, but what else could I do. I didn't really want to go to any stores, but I didn't have any fish except a can of tuna around, so out I went.
I went to the fish market -- I love that store -- and got a whole trout (a small one) and I had them remove the head. I love fish, but don't particularly care to face the fishes eyes.
My mom cooked fish so simply, yet it was so good, or maybe I just liked it because almost anything my mom cooked I loved.
I'm going to salt and pepper the inside of the trout, then stuff the inside with lemon slices. The outside will be sprinkles with EVOO and garlic salt and some fresh chopped parsley -- JUST LIKE MOM DID IT. That's it. I'll bake it at 350 for 1/2 hour, then test it for doneness. But it's a small fish and I think that will be long enough for it to bake.
I guess I'd better remove the bones before I cook it. I know how to do that, I think. I've watched enough de-boning episodes on the cooking channel, and I have a very sharp fish knife!
Watch out when I have that thing in my hand.
BTW, it was suggested, after I purchased the fish, that I make spaghetti salad. That would have been a perfect substitute for a meatless, dairy less meal. But too late. I may make it as a side course. Alan at least will eat that.
So, I'm off for the weekend. It's a busy one.
ttfn
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Lemony Chicken
When I was growing up we had chicken a lot. At least once a week, if not more. That was because our neighbor raised chickens and rather than put money he didn't have in the box at the back of the church (the church where I grew up did not take an offering) he would give the preacher a chicken and eggs once or twice a week, and mom was always cooking chicken in some different way. I guess you could say he tithed on what God had given him, which was chickens and eggs.
Well, one day mom read a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and that started a whole new way (a worn out way, I might add) of cooking chicken for the family. Now, instead of stewed, roasted, or fried, we got baked chicken. Somehow, it always turns out dry and I think that's because mom overcooked it.
Now I know what you're going to say -- you have to really, really cook chicken good or you could die. Well, that may be so, but so far I haven't died from undercooked chicken, and it's not that I undercook my baked chicken, it's just that I don't cook it to oblivion.
Here's how I do it, and the recipe is just a little different from my mom's because she never had "lemon pepper" in her store of spices. And, she used a whole chicken cut up, whereas, I use chicken breast, halved -- one half for me, one half for Alan. However, I have to admit we neither of us can eat the whole half most of the time.
I put the chicken halves (bone in, skin on) in an oven proof pan (I have a Calphelon pan I love for this purpose), skin up. I sprinkle on the chicken: salt, lemon pepper (generously), garlic salt, and the zest of one lemon. This I put in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour .
After one hour, I check for red pan drippings after I poke one with a fork. If no drippings of the red kind, I remove the chicken from oven and let set for 15 minutes uncovered. I'm told that's called resting. For me it was always just a matter of getting everything else ready for the table and the chicken sat 'til everything else was ready.
That about does it. It is good. Often in the middle of the bake I top with a couple of dabs of butter, just a little bit, not a Paula Dean size portion. That makes the crust crisper, and who doesn't just love a crispy crust?
PS: We had this for dinner tonight and Alan did like it. But we each only ate 1/2 a breast each. I put it with a large fresh greens salad with lemon/oil dressing; and asparagus, baked in the oven for 15 minutes sprinkles with salt/lemon pepper/olive oil/ and lemon. Even Alan ate it. I love asparagus fixed this way. Certainly better than that canned stuff my mom tried to feed to me!
ttfn
Well, one day mom read a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and that started a whole new way (a worn out way, I might add) of cooking chicken for the family. Now, instead of stewed, roasted, or fried, we got baked chicken. Somehow, it always turns out dry and I think that's because mom overcooked it.
Now I know what you're going to say -- you have to really, really cook chicken good or you could die. Well, that may be so, but so far I haven't died from undercooked chicken, and it's not that I undercook my baked chicken, it's just that I don't cook it to oblivion.
Here's how I do it, and the recipe is just a little different from my mom's because she never had "lemon pepper" in her store of spices. And, she used a whole chicken cut up, whereas, I use chicken breast, halved -- one half for me, one half for Alan. However, I have to admit we neither of us can eat the whole half most of the time.
I put the chicken halves (bone in, skin on) in an oven proof pan (I have a Calphelon pan I love for this purpose), skin up. I sprinkle on the chicken: salt, lemon pepper (generously), garlic salt, and the zest of one lemon. This I put in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour .
After one hour, I check for red pan drippings after I poke one with a fork. If no drippings of the red kind, I remove the chicken from oven and let set for 15 minutes uncovered. I'm told that's called resting. For me it was always just a matter of getting everything else ready for the table and the chicken sat 'til everything else was ready.
That about does it. It is good. Often in the middle of the bake I top with a couple of dabs of butter, just a little bit, not a Paula Dean size portion. That makes the crust crisper, and who doesn't just love a crispy crust?
PS: We had this for dinner tonight and Alan did like it. But we each only ate 1/2 a breast each. I put it with a large fresh greens salad with lemon/oil dressing; and asparagus, baked in the oven for 15 minutes sprinkles with salt/lemon pepper/olive oil/ and lemon. Even Alan ate it. I love asparagus fixed this way. Certainly better than that canned stuff my mom tried to feed to me!
ttfn
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Bowtie pasta with cheese and tomatoes
This is not a Runnemede recipe, but I think because of the things my mom taught me about cooking, I was able to make this up on the fly one day when I was out of a lot of items that I needed to make something more elaborate. I made this for one of our community pot-luck suppers. I came home with an empty bowl.
This recipe is for two people, if you're making it for a crowd, use one pound of the pasta.
Ingredients:
Bow Tie pasta -- about two cups raw. Put in boiling, salted water and cook until done according to your taste (soft or hard).
1 package of grape tomatoes, or cherry tomatoes. Cut these into halves or quarters.
1 small onion chopped (or 1 shallot)
1 package (4 oz) of Gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil (if you use it from the jar, use one TBLSPN)
1/4 cup pine nuts (this can be eliminated if you don't keep these in your fridge)
1/2 cup chopped Greek olives
2 Tblspns olive oil (EVOO)
Drain pasta and run cold water over it, so that it cools slightly.
Then mix all the other ingredients with the pasta and enjoy.
Sometimes I add one clove of garlic finely chopped, but not always.
I hope you like this. We have this as a dinner dish from time to time and Alan loves it.
ttfn
This recipe is for two people, if you're making it for a crowd, use one pound of the pasta.
Ingredients:
Bow Tie pasta -- about two cups raw. Put in boiling, salted water and cook until done according to your taste (soft or hard).
1 package of grape tomatoes, or cherry tomatoes. Cut these into halves or quarters.
1 small onion chopped (or 1 shallot)
1 package (4 oz) of Gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil (if you use it from the jar, use one TBLSPN)
1/4 cup pine nuts (this can be eliminated if you don't keep these in your fridge)
1/2 cup chopped Greek olives
2 Tblspns olive oil (EVOO)
Drain pasta and run cold water over it, so that it cools slightly.
Then mix all the other ingredients with the pasta and enjoy.
Sometimes I add one clove of garlic finely chopped, but not always.
I hope you like this. We have this as a dinner dish from time to time and Alan loves it.
ttfn
Monday, March 23, 2009
Stew
I recently got a crock pot. That is something my mom never had. In fact, I never had one either.
I love stew. I wasn't feeling real well a few days ago and I wanted to do something that would be easy, so I thought stew. My mom made such good stew, and as I recalled her dish, I started salivating.
I didn't have all the ingredients I needed to make my mom's recipe, but I had enough to make a stew of sorts. And, as I found out, throwing everything into the crock certainly made it so easy.
So, this recipe is for a crock pot, not a heavy cast iron pot. It seems to me, though, that basically it's the same principle for cooking such a meal
Ingredients: (My mother's)
Fennel, 1 bulb, cut up
1 Large onion, cut up
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut up into small pieces
1-1/2 pound chuck steak or stew meat (which is very tough, so I don't buy it)
3 carrots, peeled and cut up into small pieces
Into the crock put the veggies, add salt and pepper to taste. Cover with water, add the meat -- which is cut into 1 inch cubes (or smaller). To this my mom often added 1/2 package of onion soup mix. The onion soup mix came out when I was about 6 or 7 and it certainly made the stew have a better taste.
I cooked this for 3 hours on high, then cut it back for 1 hour. If I had remembered early in the a.m. to get it started, I would have cooked it on low for 8 hours.
Anyway, I thickened the "juice" in the pot by taking 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of corn starch, mixed into a liquid, and then poured that into the stew and stirred.
Alan ate it, even asked for more, and had it again two days later and loved it then, too.
ttfn
I love stew. I wasn't feeling real well a few days ago and I wanted to do something that would be easy, so I thought stew. My mom made such good stew, and as I recalled her dish, I started salivating.
I didn't have all the ingredients I needed to make my mom's recipe, but I had enough to make a stew of sorts. And, as I found out, throwing everything into the crock certainly made it so easy.
So, this recipe is for a crock pot, not a heavy cast iron pot. It seems to me, though, that basically it's the same principle for cooking such a meal
Ingredients: (My mother's)
Fennel, 1 bulb, cut up
1 Large onion, cut up
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut up into small pieces
1-1/2 pound chuck steak or stew meat (which is very tough, so I don't buy it)
3 carrots, peeled and cut up into small pieces
Into the crock put the veggies, add salt and pepper to taste. Cover with water, add the meat -- which is cut into 1 inch cubes (or smaller). To this my mom often added 1/2 package of onion soup mix. The onion soup mix came out when I was about 6 or 7 and it certainly made the stew have a better taste.
I cooked this for 3 hours on high, then cut it back for 1 hour. If I had remembered early in the a.m. to get it started, I would have cooked it on low for 8 hours.
Anyway, I thickened the "juice" in the pot by taking 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of corn starch, mixed into a liquid, and then poured that into the stew and stirred.
Alan ate it, even asked for more, and had it again two days later and loved it then, too.
ttfn
Thursday, March 19, 2009
No new recipes today.
What with the new baby (Jack) and trying to get all my groceries (a month's worth) put away, and going over to give Cyndi's (new baby's mom) children something new to do -- boredom seems to be a real problem -- I'm in a rush. Today, though, I'm using my crock pot -- a new purchase, and the first crock pot I have ever had -- to make spaghetti sauce. You already have the recipe. Sorry, folks, but I'll be back in a couple of days.
ttfn
ttfn
Monday, March 16, 2009
Hamburgers
This is truly a Runnemede recipe, not an Italian recipe.
My father rarely cooked. Oh, he'd make himself a poached egg once in a while, but that was about it. Well, one day he took to making hamburgers -- not on a grill, we never had one of those -- but in a pan on top of the stove.
Apparently he didn't like my mom's hamburgers. Who did? They were always overcooked and dried out and even I, who ate everything put before me except liver, didn't like them.
So, he decided he was going to make a better burger. I guess he thought he did. And, this was in the days way before McDonald's came to Haddon Heights -- a 2-mile walk up the pike. Up the pike was toward Philly, down the pike was toward the shore.
So he got the ground beef and formed a patty, a nice large patty. He browned it one one side and then flipped it. After flipping the burger, he salted it, and added to the top of it a dab of mustard and a dab of ketchup. When it was still a little pink in the middle, he took it out of the pan. Then he'd put it on a bun and include a pickle, a slice of cheese (American). That was it. Some of us preferred to add some onions, but dad didn't even like the smell of onions so we only got to do that at the Sunday School picnic when we were outside and he couldn't really smell the onions.
That was the Drexler burger. I liked it for a time or two, but burgers were never my favorite meal. Even if I were given the option of what I wanted, I would invariably pick pizza or cheese steak (my mom did them really well) over the burger.
So there you have it, hamburger, Daddy style.
ttfn
My father rarely cooked. Oh, he'd make himself a poached egg once in a while, but that was about it. Well, one day he took to making hamburgers -- not on a grill, we never had one of those -- but in a pan on top of the stove.
Apparently he didn't like my mom's hamburgers. Who did? They were always overcooked and dried out and even I, who ate everything put before me except liver, didn't like them.
So, he decided he was going to make a better burger. I guess he thought he did. And, this was in the days way before McDonald's came to Haddon Heights -- a 2-mile walk up the pike. Up the pike was toward Philly, down the pike was toward the shore.
So he got the ground beef and formed a patty, a nice large patty. He browned it one one side and then flipped it. After flipping the burger, he salted it, and added to the top of it a dab of mustard and a dab of ketchup. When it was still a little pink in the middle, he took it out of the pan. Then he'd put it on a bun and include a pickle, a slice of cheese (American). That was it. Some of us preferred to add some onions, but dad didn't even like the smell of onions so we only got to do that at the Sunday School picnic when we were outside and he couldn't really smell the onions.
That was the Drexler burger. I liked it for a time or two, but burgers were never my favorite meal. Even if I were given the option of what I wanted, I would invariably pick pizza or cheese steak (my mom did them really well) over the burger.
So there you have it, hamburger, Daddy style.
ttfn
Saturday, March 14, 2009
A family favorite which was not Italian
In our house we always had lots of cream cheese around. My family had some really different tastes, I'll tell you.
One of the favorites of all time was Cream Cheese and Olive sandwiches. Now this was a specialty for my cousins even. When they came to visit, mom usually made CC&O for them as well. It was made on either still warm Italian bread, or really mushy Wonder bread. I preferred the Wonder bread when I was growing up, but now I prefer the Italian bread, and I like it even if it is a tad stale.
The quick method is to slather your favorite amount of cream cheese on a piece of bread. Take about 10 olives and cut them into small pieces and sprinkle them over the cream cheese, cover with another slice of bread.
My mom's method was to chop a small jar of olives, you know the ones that have about 12 olives in the whole jar? She'd chop those olives really, really small. I like to have larger chunks, or maybe I'm lazy. Then she would mix them with the cream cheese in a small bowl until the mixture was well-mixed and spreadable. Then she'd THINLY spread the CC&O on a slice of bread, and put another one on top of it. That was her version of CC&O.
The other cream cheese sandwich-- which I couldn't stomach, but which my mom and I think my brothers liked -- was cream cheese and jelly. Ugh! Alan loves the stuff. Ugh! I prefer cream cheese plain to CC&J any day.
The only thing I didn't like about taking a CC&O sandwich to school was that by the time I got to my lunch the outer edges of the cheese had started to turn brown from the air hitting the cheese (even though mom wrapped it in a wax paper baggie). I had to close my eyes until I had bitten all around the edges of the sandwich, then the CC&O was just fine.
TTFN
One of the favorites of all time was Cream Cheese and Olive sandwiches. Now this was a specialty for my cousins even. When they came to visit, mom usually made CC&O for them as well. It was made on either still warm Italian bread, or really mushy Wonder bread. I preferred the Wonder bread when I was growing up, but now I prefer the Italian bread, and I like it even if it is a tad stale.
The quick method is to slather your favorite amount of cream cheese on a piece of bread. Take about 10 olives and cut them into small pieces and sprinkle them over the cream cheese, cover with another slice of bread.
My mom's method was to chop a small jar of olives, you know the ones that have about 12 olives in the whole jar? She'd chop those olives really, really small. I like to have larger chunks, or maybe I'm lazy. Then she would mix them with the cream cheese in a small bowl until the mixture was well-mixed and spreadable. Then she'd THINLY spread the CC&O on a slice of bread, and put another one on top of it. That was her version of CC&O.
The other cream cheese sandwich-- which I couldn't stomach, but which my mom and I think my brothers liked -- was cream cheese and jelly. Ugh! Alan loves the stuff. Ugh! I prefer cream cheese plain to CC&J any day.
The only thing I didn't like about taking a CC&O sandwich to school was that by the time I got to my lunch the outer edges of the cheese had started to turn brown from the air hitting the cheese (even though mom wrapped it in a wax paper baggie). I had to close my eyes until I had bitten all around the edges of the sandwich, then the CC&O was just fine.
TTFN
Thursday, March 12, 2009
They arrived
I ordered my Irish Potatoes from Pennsylvania General Store and they came today. Of course, I had to open them up right away to make sure they didn't have to be refrigerated. There is nothing on the package to indicate that they do. Then I looked at the ingredients. They make their potatoes different from the recipe I posted earlier. And, they have stuff in theirs that I never heard of.
Doesn't matter. If the ingredients listed arsenic I'd still have popped one into my mouth. I did -- popped one into my mouth. Oh boy was it good! I also looked at the calories for one little potato -- 65 each! Yikes, and they aren't as big as I remember them. Of course when you're little everything seems bigger, right? As I looked as these tiny potatoes I wondered how my father could cut it into four pieces. But, he did!
I now have to decide whether I want to take my daily heart medicine (one small dark chocolate bon-bon) or have a potato. Doesn't "potato" sound healthier than chocolate? I think so. I guess the decision has been made.
Anyway, I got my potatoes -- and I'll hoard them just like my daddy did!
ttfn
Doesn't matter. If the ingredients listed arsenic I'd still have popped one into my mouth. I did -- popped one into my mouth. Oh boy was it good! I also looked at the calories for one little potato -- 65 each! Yikes, and they aren't as big as I remember them. Of course when you're little everything seems bigger, right? As I looked as these tiny potatoes I wondered how my father could cut it into four pieces. But, he did!
I now have to decide whether I want to take my daily heart medicine (one small dark chocolate bon-bon) or have a potato. Doesn't "potato" sound healthier than chocolate? I think so. I guess the decision has been made.
Anyway, I got my potatoes -- and I'll hoard them just like my daddy did!
ttfn
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