My mother was the master of feeding six people with enough meat for three. Yes, we were meat eaters, sort of. And every meal was served with a garden salad. It's an Italian tradition, I suppose.
To go along with our love for meat, my father liked just about anything "creamed." Creamed chicken. Cha-ching. Creamed dried beef. Cha-ching. Creamed sausage. Cha-ching. Creamed peas with pearl onions. Cha-ching. Creamed spinach. Cha-ching
My mother's basic "cream" recipe was so easy to make. And when I was first married, we had very little money, but I had my mother's "cream" recipe. Back then a gallon of milk was 99 cents, a loaf of bread was a quarter, and chicken was 39 cents a pound.
Alan and I thrived on pancakes and spaghetti, and "creamed anything."
So, I'm putting my mom's "cream" recipe on this BLOG and you can add to it what you want.
4 tblspns butter (or margarine)
1/4 cup white flour
2 cups whole milk
Melt the butter, whisk the flour into the melted butter. Turn back the heat as you're doing this. When the heat is on low to low-med, slowly add the milk, whisking the entire time. This should give you a not-too-thick/not-too-thin cream sauce.
You can add whatever you want: left over chicken (or as my mother did, boil a small chicken in water and then pick the bones, store half the chicken meat in the freezer and add the rest of the chicken meat to the cream sauce). Or, you can add chipped dried beef (it comes in jars now days). When I was a child, mom would send me down to the grocer at the corner of Clements Bridge and the Pike because they had the best fresh dried beef. I'd get 1/4 pound for 25 cents and mom would make the cream sauce. Dinner that night would be cream dried beef over RICE -- yes rice. My dad liked it that way.
In the mid-50s Pepperidge Farms came out with a frozen puff pastry and mom would bake six of those pastry cups and fill them with creamed whatever-was-handy. Yummy. Dad loved it that way. If there was any left over creamed whatever-was-handy, mom would toast a few slices of Italian bread and dad would slurp up the remainder of the creamed stuff.
Cheap, easy, and very comforting.
ttfn
Friday, February 5, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Am I in my right mind?
I mean, who in their right mind makes fried chicken and potato salad on a cold (15 degrees), dreary, day in January? Well, I am making that for dinner tonight.
Actually, I'm making SMASHED potato salad because I'm too lazy to peel the potatoes and cut them into itty-bitty pieces. I also smashed the eggs with the potatoes. So, they're cooling off in the fridge, and I've got the celery, green pepper, and onion chopped ready to be added to the smashed mixture.
The chicken is "marinating" and is ready to be thrown, or rather, placed gently, into the hot oil, whenever I turn on the pan containing the oil. Dinner is ready to be cooked. A real summer treat, in the middle of winter. How weird is that?
ttfn
Actually, I'm making SMASHED potato salad because I'm too lazy to peel the potatoes and cut them into itty-bitty pieces. I also smashed the eggs with the potatoes. So, they're cooling off in the fridge, and I've got the celery, green pepper, and onion chopped ready to be added to the smashed mixture.
The chicken is "marinating" and is ready to be thrown, or rather, placed gently, into the hot oil, whenever I turn on the pan containing the oil. Dinner is ready to be cooked. A real summer treat, in the middle of winter. How weird is that?
ttfn
Monday, January 25, 2010
Update
I know I haven't written on this BLOG for ages and ages. Well, I've either not been cooking or I've been doing remakes.
Tonight, for instance, I did the old standby -- fettuccine Alfredo, with chicken. I decided since I wasn't really up for a meal at all, I'd just add "shaved" chicken. What is shaved chicken? Well, first of all, it's the easiest way to make a chicken dish go from two people two six or eight people, just by cooking more noodles.
If you get chicken fillets out of the freezer about an hour before you are going to cook the dinner, they will still be quite frozen. Being frozen it is much easier to cut the chicken into thinner pieces (shaved, if you will) and when you mix those pieces with the noodles, you really can't tell where the noodles leave off the the chicken begins. I mentioned that you should make this dish expand by shaving the chicken. I used one-half of one fillet for this meal tonight, and it was more than enough for two people. So you see how it expands the meal?
This works well for stir fry as well, in fact, especially well for stir fry. I use one fillet for the two of us.
So, you all know what I made for dinner tonight. It seems when I don't feel like eating I cook better, or is it just that I've come off a weekend of the cooking channel and am motivated to cook?
Did I mention that I baked a cherry pie today as well? The crust was wonderful. Crisp all the way through, just the way we like it.
ttfn
Tonight, for instance, I did the old standby -- fettuccine Alfredo, with chicken. I decided since I wasn't really up for a meal at all, I'd just add "shaved" chicken. What is shaved chicken? Well, first of all, it's the easiest way to make a chicken dish go from two people two six or eight people, just by cooking more noodles.
If you get chicken fillets out of the freezer about an hour before you are going to cook the dinner, they will still be quite frozen. Being frozen it is much easier to cut the chicken into thinner pieces (shaved, if you will) and when you mix those pieces with the noodles, you really can't tell where the noodles leave off the the chicken begins. I mentioned that you should make this dish expand by shaving the chicken. I used one-half of one fillet for this meal tonight, and it was more than enough for two people. So you see how it expands the meal?
This works well for stir fry as well, in fact, especially well for stir fry. I use one fillet for the two of us.
So, you all know what I made for dinner tonight. It seems when I don't feel like eating I cook better, or is it just that I've come off a weekend of the cooking channel and am motivated to cook?
Did I mention that I baked a cherry pie today as well? The crust was wonderful. Crisp all the way through, just the way we like it.
ttfn
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Roast duckling
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
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
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
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