Thursday, October 20, 2011

Ham and cheese on French toast

French toast was always a favorite of mine.  My mom made great French toast.  She didn't make it very often, but it was a treat when she did.  She would add cinnamon sugar to the egg/milk wash, and she would t whip the egg/milk/sugar/and cinnamon mixture up until it was frothy.

When she made the sandwich, however, she did not use the cinnamon or the sugar.

To make this great supper to serve with soup of any kind, you need:

Eggs (2 for four sandwiches)
Milk about 1 cup (for four sandwiches)
bread
ham
cheese

Preheat your pan or pancake griddle so that butter melts but does not turn brown

Put together the sandwiches: on  a slice of bread (your choice of white, wheat, whole grain, etc) put one piece of thinly sliced boiled or baked ham and one slice of American or Swiss cheese, then cover that with another slice of bread.  Using tongs (mom used baby-bottle tongs--the things she stuck in boiling water to get the bottles out of the water after being sterilized) grab the sandwich further over than the middle (so that the sandwich doesn't flop open) and quickly dip the sandwich in the egg wash.  Note:  you can get a nice pair of tongs at Krogers.

Put on prepared grill/pan.  After the first side sizzles (about one minute) turn it over and grill the other side until browned (about one minute).

Eat with a couple of pickles on the side, and a cup of soup.

DELISH!

ttfn

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Not so hungry

I'm not at all hungry and I really don't like cooking when I have no desire to eat anything I cook, but I have to do it.

My mom probably felt that way most of the time when I was growing up because while she ate with the family, she hardly ate anything, and when I was old enough she left cooking up to me.

Tonight I'm making pork chops -- nothing exceptional, just fried chops, no coating, just a little EVOO in the pan and some spices added to the EVOO, then I put in the seasoned pork chops and brown them on each side, cover them, and lower the heat and cook for 15 more windows.

I'll add some peas, a salad, and some mashed potatoes (Bob Evans, not my own).

This dinner will have me recalling a steamy kitchen in the summer and the closeness of all six of us sitting and eating dinner at that table in that tiny kitchen.

ttfn

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Chicken Curry

I haven't made chicken curry (or any curry for that matter) for years. But, I had a coupon for coconut milk, a product I don't normally buy, so I'm trying to think of ways to use it up. It was a two-for, so I have to use up a gallon of the stuff by the middle of July. I guess I need to go to my favorite recipe Website and find some recipes.

However, chicken curry is very easy to make.

Buy a couple of tablespoons of your favorite curry powder (if you go to a spice shop), or buy a small container of it in the spice section of your grocery store. You will need 2 tablespoons for this recipe, and it isn't very spicy-hot.

First, the chicken needs to be simmered until it is cooked through. I prefer chicken breasts with the bone in for this because the bones seem to give more flavor to the chicken. I suggest one whole breast for two people.

After the chicken is cooked and cooled (you can flash cool it in a bowl of ice water, or just wait until it's cool enough to touch) you need to cut it into bite-size pieces.

Take the juice that is left from the simmer of the chicken and add 1 cup of coconut milk and 2 Tblspns of curry. Salt and pepper to taste. Return the chicken pieces to this concoction and simmer again until the liquid has reduced by 1/2. This will thicken the sauce. Serve over rice.

We like condiments with our curry such as peanuts or cashews, scallions or chives, fresh chopped basil, tomato pieces (like for a guacamole, small sized bits), chopped avacado, raisins or dried cranberries. You just put any of these on top of the rice/curry and enjoy.

NOTE: If you like hot curry, add some hot sauce to taste. This will change the flavor of the curry/coconut mixture. But some people prefer it this way.

ttfn

Monday, February 28, 2011

Sauerkraut

I used to hate this stuff, but since my taste buds have matured, I am now really loving sauerkraut.

My mom used to make it much too often for me, but my dad loved it, so we had to have it occasionally. Mom's recipe was quite simple. No, she didn't make her own kraut. Wait! I think she tried to make her own one summer, but we all couldn't stand the smell and at that time our family/TV room was in the basement, and that's where she was brewing the kraut.

Anyway, I can smell it now. I'm making it for dinner tonight because my husband loves it as well.

Before I give you my recipe, let me tell you when I really started to enjoy eating sauerkraut. It was the first time I went to Izzy's (a sandwich shop in Cincinnati). In Philadelphia if you ordered a corned beef on rye you got a side of cole slaw to put on the sandwich. Yummmm.

But in Cincinnati, each table had a large tub of sauerkraut and a large tub of sliced Jewish pickles. So when you ordered a corned beef on rye you got sauerkraut to go with it, or you could just eat the sauerkraut as a side. It was so much better on the sandwich than the cole slaw.

Tonight I'm making sauerkraut. Whether it's the way my mom made it exactly, I'm not certain, but it will taste really, really good.

First, I brazed three medium sized pork chops (I usually use left-over pork roast) and let them cook for 15 minutes so there was a lot of pan drippings. I added 3/4 cup of water to the pot and let it simmer for 15 minutes, then I thickened the drippings (plus the water) with some cornstarch. I added 1 tablespoon of Kitchen Bouquet. Then I spread the sauerkraut over the top of the chops and gravy. I used Bavarian style canned kraut. It's a little sweet, but Alan prefers it to the regular canned stuff. After it simmers for about two hours, it will be ready and the meat will fall off the bones of the chops and I can pull the meat apart.

Anyway, that's it. Hope you can convince your family that the awful smelling stuff really does taste good.

ttfn

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Meatloaf

I do not particularly like meatloaf. At least none that I've tasted other than my mom's. I haven't had good meatloaf in any restaurant, diner, drive-in, or dive, mainly because I'm not particularly fond a tomato/ketchup topping or infusion in the loaf. Alan often orders meatloaf and I at least try a bite or two of what he received, so I have tasted many meatloaves.

My mom made one kind of meatloaf and when I had children I made another kind, one that they all loved, and so did my husband. I tolerated it.

My mom's meatloaf was just plain. Ground beef, seasoned bread crumbs, chopped onion, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and that was it. All that got mixed together with one egg for moisture, I suppose. And then it was shaped into a loaf.

She did not bake the loaf, but rather browned both sides on top of the stove using a small bit of olive oil so the loaf wouldn't stick to the pan. Then she'd cover the pan for about 1 hour, turn the heat on low and wait. It made quite a bit of au jus which was made into gravy. A nice dark brown gravy.

That's my preferred method for making meatloaf and Alan wolfs it down, but smothers it with ketchup. I smother it with gravy.

The kind of meatloaf I made by children when they were growing up was made with Lays Bar-B-Que potato chips, smashed into small pieces, onion, Bar-B-Que sauce for moisture, salt and pepper. That was it. Mixed all that together, and shaped it into a loaf. That meatloaf WAS baked in an oven for about 1 hour at 325. It always turned out really nice. Slicing it was a breeze -- no crumbling. And the children and Alan liked it especially if they could add more BBQ sauce. I tolerated it, but filled up on the sides, which were usually mashed potatoes, peas, and some sort of salad.

If you're wondering what made me think of Meatloaf today. There's a new freebie on Kindle -- 25 Ways to Make Meatloaf. I don't think I'm going to get that book.

ttfn

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Hello, I'm back

It's been a while since I've posted anything on this BLOG. I'm still eating and still cooking, although my main meals have been mostly salads such as the one described in the post immediately preceding this one.

I haven't invented any new dishes and I haven't absconded with any new dishes from Paula Deene either. I guess my repertoire of recipes is just about used up.

I have, however, decided that I like the way I prepare raw mushrooms for a garnish for dinners. Alan, of course, won't even think of eating a mushroom, if he knows it's a mushrooms. I can hide mushrooms in cooked meals, but haven't found a way to disguise it in my mushroom salad.

This is not a recipe from Runnemede per se, but I don't know where it came from, so maybe it is.

1 package of sliced mushrooms (button/white mushrooms)
1 lemon, squeezed
1 T olive oil
1 T salad seasoning (McCormick makes this, so does Kroger, but you have to really hunt for it)
1 stalk celery finely chopped
a couple of shakes of garlic salt
a couple of shakes of ground pepper (I use the coarsely ground pepper)
salt to taste (may not be necessary depending on which brand of salad seasoning you get.

NOTE: Salad seasoning is what you are looking for. It is a mixture of seasoned salt, sesame seeds, celery seed, salt, pepper, and a little bit of chili powder. But it is called "Salad Seasoning."
And I use this on many things, including as a meat rub.

That's it. Mix it all together. Let it set overnight. Shake it up occasionally so that all the mushrooms get into the marinade. I like it and I hope you do, too.

ttfn