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
Friday, March 27, 2009
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
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