momshearth

I needed to Iron Chef it today.  I had a bunch of lettuce that I had prepared earlier in the week for salads.  My new technique preserved the lettuce nicely, but after eight days the lettuce was showing it's age.  I still had one Knorr package of Chicken Stock remaining from our trip to the UK as well as one can of UK evaporated milk. I decidedto try a creamy lettuce soup (lettuce can be chopped and added to any complimentary soup).  I started off by roasting the garlic while working on cleaning things in the kitchen.  David went out to the garden and came back with a handful of Mustard Greens.  Ohhhhhhh....they would really jazz up the soup!  So that was the birth of a really pleasant first course for today's meal.

The soup was full of fiber and was no more costly in calories than a salad with dressing. 

3 cups chicken stock
1.5 quarts chopped lettuce
.5 cup mustard greens
.25 cup dried minced onions
1 head roasted garlic
.5 cup instant potato flakes
pinch of mixed herbs
.5 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup evaporated milk
Chili Threads

Bring stock, lettuce, greens, onions and goo from the roasted garlic cloves in a pot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until the greens are tender and the volume is reduced by one half.  Add potato flakes, herbs and black pepper.  Puree with a stick blender.  Add evaporated milk.  Puree more.  Taste.  Adjust seasonings.  Simmer more if you desire a thicker consistency

Serve into bowls and garnish with chili threads.

Makes three servings.

1/2 cup of pecan halves
1 tsp canola oil
2 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt

4 strips of "streaky"* bacon cut into 1/2 inch squares
1 onion, chopped
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 TBS pomegranate molasses
2 TBS honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

2 quarts of washed and dried fresh spinach leaves

First, candy-coat the pecans:

Put oil and pecans into a skillet set on medium flame and toast the pecans while stirring for about five minutes. Add brown sugar and salt. Continue to stir, the sugar will liquefy. When the sugar has melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir more. As the sugar begins cool it will adhere to the pecans. Pour the mixture on the a baking sheet when the sugar begins to form lumps.  Spread across the pan so the pecans are in a single layer. After the pecans have cooled break into individual pecan pieces.

Next, make the dressing:

Put bacon into a skillet and cook slowly until crispy. Remove bacon pieces from the pan to hold for later use. Add onion to bacon grease and saute about four minutes until slightly softened but not transparent. Add all remaining ingredients except the spinach. Stir and heat to boiling. Shut off heat. Allow to cool to nearly room temperature.

Finally, toss and serve the salad:

Place spinach in a bowl big enough to hold all the spinach and toss. Pour cooled dressing over the spinach and toss together. Plate salads. Sprinkle reserved bacon and pecans over the top of the salad. Serve.

Note: I purchase Pomegranate Molasses at an East Asian store. Much cheaper there than in US local grocery stores where it is considered a "gourmet" ingredient. It lends a fruity tartness to things in addition to sweetness. Light mollasses could be substituted.

* We just got back from the UK.  When the term bacon is used there, it mean back bacon which is a cured pork loin product.  Back back is delightful, smoked or unsmoked.  In the US the bacon we are most familiar with is from the belly.  In the UK belly bacon is called streaky bacon.  If you happen to be fortunate enough to obtain some back bacon, enjoy it in some dish other than this one as it will not be fatty enough to produce the "oil" for the dressing.

Recently I read about growing green onions on the window sill. It was a heel of palm to forehead moment. Why had I not tried this before.

So next trip to the grocery store, I bought three bunches. I cut the green tops from the white rooted ends, leaving about one inch of green with the white ends. I place the ends in a jelly glass with water and placed in a south facing window.

I used the greens in various recipes.

I added water to the onions every couple of days. But the end of week one, I had another bunch of green tops. This process has been repeated over the past four weeks. It's a wonderful way to have fresh scallions in the winter.

The onions need to be watered every couple of days. And, today I did some "cleaning" of the debris in the glass. Some of the original batch had not continued to live. I am also seeing that the whites themselves are getting smaller. So I am not sure how much longer I am going to have growing onions. But I have managed extend the amount of scallions I purchased by about four times so far. Not bad. Makes the cost of winter scallions more acceptable!

I am thinking of trying some other medium, should I find it, into which to place the roots. Some sort of carbon based pebble that would hold them upright as well as well as add a bit of filtration. But water would still be the primary growing medium.

David and I travelled into the big city this morning for the Wichita Model Train Show.  Dad Heinsohn joined us.  I am amazed at the size of the event.  But that is for a different blog.

 

We took a lunch break at N&J Cafe.  Wonderful Lebanese food.  I had the appetizer combination plate so that I did not have to choose:  kibbe, falafel, cabbage rolls, stuffed grape leaves, hummis, babba gahnosh, and tabbuli.  David had a gyro.  His dad had Beef Shwarma. 

 

It was nice to get reacquainted with one of Wichita's long standing establishments.

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We decided late Friday to give our new Ford Fusion Hybrid a break-in cruise
with a trip to the lovely Depot Inn and Suites in La Plata, Mo. The drive
up was lovely. The air was clear and the temperatures moderate. We broke
the trip into three parts. We stopped in Emporia for lunch are RuYi.
Yummy Pan Asian food. Then we stopped at Docs Caboose in Kansas City, Mo.
We reached the in about 6:30 pm.

This place is nearly a museum of railroads. There are two train cars out
back we will get to tomorrow. They are filled with more history items.
The hotel has an observation cabin that overlooks the two track mainline
operated by BNSF. We may be heading that way about 11:30 pm to join the
revelers.

We had dinner at the Red Rooster. Awesome croissants. Wonderful Broasted
Chicken. And an interesting Summer Wheat beer.

Pictures below:

Dessert was simply brownies made from a mix. But since I don't tend to
color within the lines, I used blended two oils to make up the measure
asked for on the back of the box. One half was canola oil and one half was
Blood Orange Olive Oil from Heavenly Oils in Zona Rosa. The brownies have
a delightful citrus undertone. The shiraz was a good accompaniment to the
brownies.

(Alas, no pictures.)

Our local grocer had Rib Eye Roast on sale again this week. I purchased
one of about five pounds. I cut it in half. Tonight's preparation was to
simply coat the outside with a very generous layer of salt, freshly cracked
pepper and granulated garlic. I roasted it in a 500 ° F oven for thirty
five minutes and then shut the oven off. I let the roast rest in the oven
for about 1.5 hours. The roast came out well instead of medium. I should
have cut the initial high temp roast back to maybe twenty five minutes.

I served a Chimichurry Sauce along side the beef. We found the sauce made
a very good baked potato topper. This easy sauce was comprised of 1/4 cup
minced crushed fresh garlic, 1 cup minced fresh cilantro, 1/4 cup olive
oil, and a 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Pungent and flavorful.

The wine was Black Box Shiraz.

The base was a layer of fresh spinach over which was distributed 1/4 cup
diced pepperoni, 1/2 cup diced celery, 1/4 cup diced radish, 1/4 cup diced
cucumber, 1 Tbs of finely grated asiago cheese, and 1 Tbs roasted salted soy
nuts.

The dressing was a Garlic Peppercorn Asiago which I whipped up. I mixed
1/2 cup real mayonnaise, 1/3 cup buttermilk, 1 tsp Freshly ground pepper,
1/4 cup finely grated Asiago cheese, and 1/2 tsp garlic.

We sipped glasses of chardonnay with this course. It was a fine box vintage.

Books on might checkout from the library but not purchase!

http://www.foodista.com/blog/2011/12/29/the-unhealthiest-cookbooks-of-2011?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

I am attempting to catch up with the decade. I have finally setup a system
to post via email. I hope this will facilitate more writing and pictures.

So, I was at the local grocery store in Strong City today performing some Retail Therapy.  They had Country Style Pork Ribs for $2.19 a pound.  The looked very meaty, so I decided they would be dinner.

When I placed them in the pan the looked like a truly different cut than I expected.  I think they were actually created from the end cuts of the loin.  In which case what a bargin!  I placed them in a Calphalon Everyday Pan and sprinkled them with a seasoning named "A Pinch of This and a A Pinch of That" (bottled in Wichita, Kansas and available at the Nifty Nut House (Yes, that is the correct name of the store!  Oh, the do sell nuts!)), added a teaspoon of liquid smoke, put a lid on it all and slid it into the 300 degree oven for three hours.  We both napped while they were cooking and awoke ravenous.

So I did not make any special sauce to go with the pork because I wanted to taste the impact of the seasoning.  Yum. 

David's second helping of the pork was a work of art.  Imagine this:

1.  Homemade Hamburger Bun, sliced, and the two halves "bagel toasted"
2.  Caramel Mustard spread on each cut side of the bun
3.  Sliced Dill Pickles placed on one side of the bun
4.  Pieces of Chili Seasoned Grilled Onions placed on the other side of the bun
5.  Pulled Pork place on top of the onions and the other bun half placed on the pork.


Oh, my!  An Epic Dish.  This would so be on my menu if we had a restaurant!

I asked David to make a whole wheat crust for tonight's pizza adventure.  It was a nice change and an interesting contrast to the White Crust I posted about a couple of weeks ago.  The pizzas were tasty, but different.

Some observations:

1.  David used 50% Whole Wheat Flour and 50% White Whole Wheat Flour in the same quantity as the previous recipe.  Tonight's crust was drier in mouth.  Maybe it was the bran, but I am wondering if cutting the quantity of flour back when doing all whole wheat might improve things just a bit.

2.  The whole wheat crust worked really well with abundant toppings.

3.  The crust did not get as crispy as the White Crust did.

Pictures below:  Left half is Tomato Sauce, Pepperoni, Onion, Poblano Pepper, Three Cheese Mix.  Right half is Tomato Sauce and Three Cheese Mix.

So, we cleaned out the upstairs freezer this week.  I found that I had some interesting things up there.  Hmmm...what to do with two cups of nachos from a Mexican Restaurant?

Well, 

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped poblano pepper
1 TBS olive oil
1 quart of beef broth
2 cups of leftover nachos (chips, cheese, salsa, meat, beans, olives, jalapenos, etc)
5 oz evaporated milk
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 crushed corn chips


Saute the chopped onion and pepper in the olive oil until slightly browned.  Add broth and nachos.  Bring to a boil.  Still to break up nachos.  Add evaporate milk.  Tortilla chips should eventually dissolve.  When nicely heated through, puree with the stick blender.  Heat to serving temperature. 

Serve in a bowl with 2 TBS sour cream atop the soup.  Sprinkle crushed corn chips over all!

Serve with Moose Drool.

Most tasty!

To mark David's retirement from Flight Safety International, we took a short excursion on Amtrak from Kansas City, MO to St. Louis, MO and back.  We were accompanied by Emily Leggett, age 12 and her mother Beth.  They were wonderful company and both are consummate foodies.

Beth and Emily stopped at the Farmer's Market in Platte City, MO to gather some goodies for those helping Friend John with his move as well as to fuel our training excursion the next day.  While they did not find the naughty bits they had hoped to, the did find Molasses cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Oatmeal Cookies.  Which did provide nice refreshment for the nice folks who assisted with the move.  Now we the four of us arrived at the Hotel, but broke out the good stuff  Cheddar Cheese Bread and yellow cherry tomatoes.  Awesome home baked goodness highlighted by the fruity goodness of the tomatoes.  Through out the trip the tomatoes offered low calorie refreshment with a nice spike of flavor and texture.

Saturday evening we had dinner at Kabuki in Crown Plaza.  It was like the only place open that seemed to have something other than fast food.  The staff was pleasant the atmosphere was welcoming.  The food was an incredible value.  The table had tempura, chiriasu, sukiyaki, and sushi.  All were well prepared for quality ingredients.  Additionally, the portion sizes were large.  Tempura Fried Ice Cream was had for dessert.  I would really like to go back again. 

That evening we tucked ourselves into bed so that we could make our early morning departure on the train.  We got the station about 7:15 and were all  (well at least the adults) sad to discover that Harvey house would not be open until 8 AM.  No coffee......Hopefully, Emily did not suffer too much from sharing about two hours with adults going through minor caffiene withdrawal symptoms. 

After boarding the train and getting seated in business class we found that we had to wait until the train had left the station to obtain our complimentary beverages.  Oh, was that coffee welcome!  It was not bad and it was freshly brewed.  Now the microwaved breakfast sandwiches had plenty of protein but the were MICROWAVED. The bread was toughed in that process.  It was however food!  For lunch we also had snack car food.  The Cheesburger was generous as were the Italian Subs.  But again, MICROWAVED.  As there was no other place to acquire food, it could have been worse, but it did not match our experience in the Snack Car of the EuroStar in 1999.

Sunday afternoon about 3 PM we arrived in St. Louis.  We took a taxi to our hotel the Drury Inn Union Station.  They have done a nice job of making use of the old railway workers' YMCA.  Emily was hungry for ice cream.  Her mother let her go to the lobby canteen to acquire some.  It was tasty Ben and Jerry's.  About 6 pm we all went down to the lobby where Happy Hour was being served.  I anticipated appetizers, but instead found it was nearly a full meal.  All of use probably put too much on our plates.  After seeing what a Drury Inn Happy Hour was, our impression of the cost of the room changed somewhat and the room became a much better value.  We could stopped the dining experience there, but no we decided that we would go to the restaurant in the basement of the Hotel.  It is call Lombardos.

Lombardos serves italian cuisine.  Several recipes on the menu indicated that they were made from recipes that had been in the family for at least three generations.  I decided that I just had to try the roasted ravioli and the flash fried spinach.  The ravioli was a bit heavy for my taste, but I can see that if one were hungry it would be a nice meal opener.  The Flash Fried Spinach was a dish I want to recreate in my own kitchen.  They fry fresh spinach leaves until crisp and serve piping hot.  I swear they must have presented me with what had started off as a pound of fresh spinach.  The frying intensified the spinach flavors in a very nice way.  The leaves of spinach were strong enough to survive the trip from the dish to your mouth were they crumbled into heavenly spinach flavor bursts that seemed to just dissolve on your tongue.  Definitely a repeatable experience.  The other three diners at the table had various forms of pasta.  All of which were found to be outstanding.

Sunday morning we had breakfast in the Hotel lobby.  Again, the buffet was generous with eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, bagels, waffles, juice, coffee, milk, etc.  I will definitely keep Drury Inns on my radar scope.

After breakfast we went across the street to visit the old Union Station.  St. Louis has built a lovely mall inside the area where the train boarding platforms once were.  After strolling the mall we went inside the old station building itself.  Lovely artwork on the wall.  It is eye candy!  It looked like the Station Grille located in the Marriott that is housed inside the old Union Station had a reasonable menu, so we decided to lunch there.  That was a wonderful decision.  Beth had a corn chowder that was incredible.  It has a rich corn flavor and a light texture with interesting seasonings.  David had a burger with potato chips.  That doesn't sound like much, but the bun was freshly baked and the potato chips were made just for him.  The chips were to die for.  I had a flat bread pizza with pesto, chicken, goat cheese and pistachio.  Sounded strange but the flavors combined perfectly.  The wait staff was excellent and food oriented.  It was quite a nice place to lunch and I would highly recommend to anyone else.  I believe the seasoning of the food we at the Station Grill was nearly perfect.  It matched the seasoning of the food at Krause Dining in Lawrence, Kansas.

On the train trip back home, we had more cheese bread and tomatoes as well as snack car food. 

It was a fun trip filled with unexpected culinary surprises.

Dough:

16 1/2 ounces (3 cups)bread flour, plus more for the work surface
2 TBS sugar
1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid rise yeast
1 1/3 cups ice water
1 TBS vegetable oil, plus more for work surface
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

Sauce:

1 cup tomato sauce
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Cheese:
1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces shredded whole-milk mozzarella

1. For the dough: Place dry ingredients in Kitchenaid mixing bowl. With paddle attached, dry blend those ingredients until mixed. With machine running add water. Mix until ingredients are just combined. Let rest ten minutes.

2. Add oil and salt to dough and process until dough forms satiny, sticky ball that clings to the side of the bowl. Remove dough from bowl, knead briefly on lightly-oiled counter top until smooth, about one minute. Shape dough into tight ball and place in an oiled zip lock bag. Seal. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours minimum and up to 3 days.

3. For the sauce: Mix all ingredients

4. To bake the pizza: One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to second highest position (4 to 5 inches below the broiler), set pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in half. Shape each half into smooth tight ball. Place on lightly oiled baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap coated with nonstick cooking spray. Let stand 1 hour.

5. Coat 1 ball of dough generously with flour and place on a well-floured counter top. Using fingertips, gently flatten into 8 inch disk. (David got out his carpenter's tape measure for this procedure!) Leave 1 inch of outer edge slightly thicker than the center. Using hands, gently stretch disk into 12-inch round, working along edges and giving disk quarter turns as you stretch. Transfer dough to well-floured peel (use semolina flour if available to you) and stretch into 12-inch round. (David got out the tape measure AGAIN.) Using back of spoon or ladle, spread 1/2 cup tomato sauce into thin layer over surface of dough, leaving 1/4 inch border around edge. (David DID NOT get out the tape measure to check my work at this stage.) Sprinkle 1/4 cup Parmesan evenly over the sauce, followed by1 cup mozzarella. Slide pizza carefully onto stone and bake until crust is well browned and cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pizza halfway through. Remove pizza and place on wire rack for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Repeat step 5 to shape, top, and bake second pizza.

Reheating: We found that a preheated 350 degree oven and oven stone reheated the pizza well. We monitored it's progress, but it took no more than ten minutes to heat to perfect eating temperature. I found the crust actually better on reheat because it was more crunchy!

Wrapping: I made sure I protected the stored pizza from drying out by wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap. We lost no toppings with this method and there was little if any moisture loss.

Cold Pizza: Two days after baking and one day after reheating: We had two pieces remaining that we used as cold appetizers. The pizza was still tasty then.

Toppings: Keep them to a minimum so that the crust will bake through. Author recommends no more than 6 ounces of veggies per pie. They should be thinly sliced and slightly cooked, sauteed or microwaved before using. Leafy greens and herbs are best placed beneath the cheese to protect them during baking. They can be added raw after baking. No more than 4 to 5 ounces of precooked meat should be added. Drain fat from cooked meats.

This is definitely a keeper recipe. One of the best we have tried from Cook's Illustrated.

A recent issue of Cook's Illustrated had a recipe for the ultimate homemade pizza. David decided to make it tonight. I am so glad he did. It was most tasty.




The four slices in the top of the photo are of the BBQ Chicken Pizza we did. And the lower four slices are a Classic Cheese Pizza. Both were very tasty.

The differences in this recipe were:

1. Mix dough 24 hours before baking and store in fridge until two hours before shaping. This hydrates the flour.
2. Stretch dough into shape.
3. Only 1/2 cup of sauce used on the crust.
4. Lighter on the toppings makes for a better crisper crust.
5. Oven at 500.
6. Pizza stone thoroughly saturate with heat.

I will post recipe later...

Wow, I had no idea this was going on. It makes so much sense for Walmart to donate these items. Builds company morale as employees get a sense of helping by culling items for the food bank. It creates a better image for Walmart within the community. It feeds hungry people.

http://www.amazon.com/Imagine-Me-You-Piper-Perabo/dp/B000F7CEBG/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1309541386&sr=1-

I know many in my circle cannot stand Walmart. Many see it as pandering to the masses and selling cheap stuff that ends up being a rip off because it does not last long. Also, the level of service at Walmart is limited and sometimes the employees tend to not seem to care.

I find Target very uncomfortable to shop at. The colors on the walls, a brilliant red, emotionally triggers the sense of power, impulsively, sexuality and increases one's appetite. It can also shout anger, forcefulness, impatience, intimidation, conquest, violence and revenge toward people shopping and working in that environment. I feel agitated within five minutes of being within a Target. I want to grab what I need and get the heck out of the store. I think the agitation is intentional on the part of the marketers at Target. It keeps customers from doing effective comparison shopping and making fast decisions based on impulse. When I become aware of such marketing techniques, I tend to shy away from those environments. Most things that target might sell that I would want, I can get online for cheaper else where.

I have used the same red on one wall of a training room in which I would train about 30 people at a time to take on a very mundane task of handing out coupons and samples. The other end of the room had a soft grey wall. The mood in the room dramatically changed depending one which color my trainees were facing. At that time the company's logo colors were grey and red so I was not really too out of line to use them.

Emporia, Kansas has a pretty well run Walmart. It's clean and orderly. I see the manager out doing inspections of the floor very frequently. I have not encountered discourtesy. Unfortunately, friends of mine did feel like they were in accurately profiled by store employees and subjected to rigors of inspection that others did not receive. That was unfortunate.

Here in Elmdale, Kansas there are not a lot of shopping options. There are two grocery stores located within 17 miles of us, and they do carry all the basics and some specialty items. But they are not open hours I have been avialable to do most of my shopping. Walmart on the other hand is open when I leave the gym in the morning and I can run over for a quick pick up trip and get back home to meet my office hours. To shop locally, I would not be able to meet office opening time. Walmart also presents a more diverse ethnic select for Asian and Central/South American cuisines.

I think they have changed their standards on store brand products. What I am buying now is of much higher quality than it used to be. And I have gotten pickier! Also, they are carrying good quality product lines that are tasty and moderately priced offering very good value.


Great Value Brand Pasta: This brand of pasta for dried store bought pasta is very good. The shapes do not fall apart and the flavor is good. It competes favorably with name brands like Muellers and Barillia. They have even incorporate whole grain pastas into their line.

World Table Cookies and Crackers: Very interesting line of cookies and crackers. The Lemon Thins make excellent parfaits and are perfect with a cup of teat. They are very delicated and buttery fresh. The only problem with the chocolate glased shortbreads is that they need to be purchased on a cool day. The chocolate is pretty soft even at room temperature. But the shortbread is better than Walker's. Now the biggest mouth orgasm is caused by the Lime Cookies which resemble the texture and appearance of a Mexican wedding cookie only they are intensely flavored with lime. Awesome. There are Lemon cookies of the same genre that are good, but to me, not as spectacular. The Cornbread crackers are nice too and go really well with things like chili.

Great Value Dish Washing Detergent: I have been a Dawn Dishwashing Detergent fan for years. But a few weeks ago, I tried the Great Value brand which is probably 30% cheaper than Dawn. I was amazed. Dishes rinse cleaner with the Great Value Brand. My hands are less irritated with the Great Value Brand. The Great Value Brand cuts grease better than Dawn. Perhaps I should brand hop more often.

Just like anywhere else one might shop, one needs to be a wise consumer at Walmart. I am pleased with my local store. YMMV.

This week we have cooked almost all of our main meals over the Hibachi.

The Brats from Strong City Grocery were spectacular, especially with the Jalepeno Honey Mustard from Spice Merchant in Wichita. Strong City Grocery got a new butcher about three years ago. The guy makes these sausages. We haven't grilled them for some time. The heat of the hibachi seemed to be just right for glazing and carmelizing the outside of the brats and the smokiness of the grilling really highlighted the spicing.

Tonight we did pork/beef burger steaks that were gently seasoned with a little worchestershire sauce and a spice mix from Spice Merchant called Atchison Steak House. It appears to have whole dill seed, Sea Salt, Dried Minced Garlic, Cracked Black Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes, Dried Minced Garlic in it. There are probably other tasty things too, but I have not yet identified them. David grilled a thin slice of onion for each burger. And I made a relish at his suggestion of 2 TBS Minced Onion, 2 TBS Minced sweet hot pickles, 1 tsp minced chipotle, 1 tsp Scotch Whiskey Honey, salt, pepper and garlic to taste. Oh, WOW, that was just perfect on the burgers.

It has been so much fun cooking with David this week. We bounce ideas off each other and the meal becomes a joint effort of sensual pleasure. If this is what retirement is all about, Bring It On!

Oh, yeah, five more years....I have to keep David in the style to which he would like to become accustomed! Nah, I don't have too, but we will both better off financially in the long run if I stayed employed for a while.

It is so much fun working on meals with my MAIN MAN!

The Veggie Skewers with marinated mushrooms and small onions were tasty. Next time I will cut the onions so they are no more that 1/2 inches think so they cook to juicy sweetness at the same rate as the mushrooms. Also will marinate the onions in same solution as mushrooms. As they were, they were tasty appetizers. They cooked in about 15 minutes.

The corn on the cob was heavenly. I shucked the corn. Soaked it in plain water for about an hour. Just before grilling, I rubbed with a light film of oil and salted and peppered the corn. It too was on the grill about 15 minutes. Turned about every three or four minutes. If there had been left overs it would have made a mighty fine mache choux.

The filets were nice, but we both agreed that a little hotter fire underneath would have provided more carmelization on the steak.

Dessert was totally not grilled. I did Swedish Pancakes. Yum!

I had Amazon ship us a Habachi in time for Fathers' Day. It arrived on Thursday. On Friday we began experimenting with food we had in the house. Today, I thought we were going into Strong City Grocery for STEAKS! David, who dislikes grocery shopping, went in with me instead of going to the manly Hardware store next door. I found out he had an ulterior motive! We left with two filets, two New York Stips, two boneless Pork Loin Chops, two each of their "homemade sausage" types (brats, german, chorizo). He plans more grilling for our future!

We did burgers and italian sausages the first night as well as some veggie kebobs. Tasty. We learned that the veggies need to go on when the coals are on the hot side. Which makes sense since the are usually roasted in 450 oven.

The next night we did boneless skinless chicken breasts that had marinated in a mix of Fuller's Mustard (a very sweet mustard), lemon juice, and Worchestershire sauce. They were yummy and juicy. We also grilled potatoes wedges. We cut the potatoes in wedges that were about 3/4 of an inch thick at the widest part. Placed them on skewers, brushed them with oil, and sprinkled them with salt, pepper and garlic. Really nice dipped into a sauce made from ketchup with just a bit of spicy BBQ sauce added. Only thing I would change about the potatoes would be to oil the skewer first. They were hard to clean!

Tonight, we are going to have some marinated mushrooms and Corn on the cob with our steaks. Yummm... we light the fire at 5:30 PM.

This could be used in place of sour cream uncooked dishes like dips or as a garnish for items. It could also be used in place of sour cream in cooked dishes were the lack of fat did not drastically alter the texture of a dish. High in protein low in fat!

1 cup Cottage Cheese
1/2 cup Buttermilk
dash of salt
1 TBS lemon juice

Mix together and then blend until smooth! Tasty and quick

Swai is a type of fish filets I found in the frozen section of the local Big Box store. It has proved to be quite tasty. Normal one filet will make a meal for the two of us. Tonight I got a bit adventurous with a baked layere dish.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 8-inch long Swai filets
1/2 cup of small curd cottage cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1/2 shredded fresh basil
1/2 cup coarsely grated parmesan cheese

Spread olive oil in the bottom of a shallow baking dish. Place one filet atop the oil. Spread cottage cheese on fish, sprinkle that with black pepper. Scatter garlic atop that. Evenly distribute the fresh basil over all. Next make an even layer of all but 2 TBS of the cheese. Place the final fish filet on top. Sprinkle with black pepper and the remaining parmesean cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serves three reasonably.

About a month after my Mother-in-law's death, I spent some time with my Father-in-law. One of the things we did was remove things from his freezer that he didn't think he would use. I have been contemplating the 5 pound leg of lamb I obtained during that activity for several months. I love lamb chops. I have had lamb when eating out and really enjoyed it. But my luck at cooking a leg of lamb at home has not been good.

The first time I tried to roast one, I bought the lamb at the commisary in Newport, RI. I followed the directions in some cookbook I had. I knew I was in trouble when our meat-loving-rescue-mongrel-canine would not enter the kitchen. She always wanted to be near the meat that was being prepared, just in case some scrap fell on the floor. Not this time. She did wander into the kitchen as I was preparing the lamb. She was half way across the room when she yelped loudly, reversed her direction in one leap and ran yelping out of the kitchen. As the roasat was cooking she would periodically approach the kitchen, stick her nose through the door way, take a whiff, then yelp and run away. It was so funny. But it was catching. Our daughter was about 8 at the time. She watched her good friend react so strangely to the kitchen. And she knew her pup was a meat eater; so, it was really strange to our daughter that her pup wanted nothing to do with the lamb.

As the roast continued to cook, the distinctive lamb fat order wafted through the house. This, neither the dog nor the daughter appreciated.

I put the lamb on the table, the dog ran upstairs. The daughter knew the drill. She tasted one bite and left the table. She went into the kitchen to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

So much of the world loves lamb. I just had to try again.

It took almost 25 years to do that. But I researched recipes for a couple of days. All pointed to roasting lamb at a very high temperature for a very short time. That meal was a near disaster as well. No dogs to complain this time, but the result was as bouncy as a football.

With this free leg of lamb, I tried again one last time. I slow roasted it at 300 F for 4 hours after I coated it with Chimmichurri sauce. It was moist and tender. The flavor was good. The Chimmichurri sauce did not do much to flavor the lamb. It would have been better serve serve the Chimmichurry sauce along side the roast.

I do find that the lamb's fat had an odor that resembled the fat odor from white tail deer. Not one of my favorite odors. Additionally, the lamb needed more salt than beef to heighten the flavor. Tonight's roast was like a cross of pork and venison. Interesting and tasty.

So I am back on the trail of finding a good way to cook lamb. Next time I think I will lower the temp of the roast to 250 F.

I think this would make a fine gift. I could be used for Canning or Coffee!

http://coffeechemistry.com/index.php/Lab-Equipment/Coffee-pH-meter.html

Note: this is only a hint for my spouse of 40 years!

1/2 cup soften butter
1/2 cup sunflower butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanillia
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350 F


Cream butters and sugars together. Add egg and vanillia. Then beat until fluffy. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Beat until well mixed.

Scoop onto baking sheet use 2 oz food scoop. Flatten with large fork. Bake 15 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet to avoid the cookies crumbling.

Makes 16 LARGE cookies.

A young friend of my is restricted in her consumption of dairy products. She came to visit this weekend. I had previously scored some dairy free treats at the asian market for her. She and I reviewed the bag of goodies when she arrived. That was a hit. Then Saturday, I decided to attempt some kind of dairy free dessert. Here's what materialized.


2 cups of slivered Almonds
12 square soda crackers
1 cup white sugar (bronw could have been used for a more carmelly flavor)
4 eggs
6 oz Cherry Chips


All but the cherry chips got whirled in the food processor until everything was finely ground and fluffy. The concoction was poured into a 9 by 13 sheet pan that was greased and sprinkled with flour. Cherry chips were sprinkled liberally on the top. I baked it at 350 degress for 30 minutes.

They were yummy and a special hit as they were sweet but high in fiber, high in protein and totally dairy free. She beamed when she tasted her first one.

Now, I did only put cherry chips on one third of the bars. I put chocolate chips on the other 2/3s of the pan. She couldn't have the chocolate, but she could have the cherry. Oh, and all the rest of the partakers enjoyed the treats as well.

Definitely need to find out what is in that bottom box in the freezer!

I realized this afternoon that this weekend will cooking for guests I have done an informal freezer inventory. We are well stocked on all flours EXCEPT cake flour! We have a great deal of basil! Probably we have about a two month supply of tomato products. I need to figure out how to use the leg of lamb. And I am looking forward to roast chicken sometime in the future. And the purple yam puree and the pumpkin need cooking solutions as well.

But I need to formally uncover that last freezer box and see what is in it.

Cheddar: Max moisture 39% Minimum milk fat content 50%
Cream Cheese: Max Moisture 55% Minimum milk fat content 33%

Processed Cheese: Mix of one or more cheese and may contain cream and or anhydrous milk fat. Max of 43% moisture content adn minimum of 47% milk fat content. An interesting twist is that the product alternatively can be labeled as pasteurized process American cheese when made from cheddar, colby, cheese curd, granular cheese, or a combination of these; when other varieties of cheese are included, it must be called simply American cheese

Processed Cheese Food: Variation of process cheese that may have dry milk, whey solids, or anhydrous milkfat added, which reduces the amount of cheese in the finished product. It must contain at least 51% of the cheese ingredient by weight, have a moisture content less than 44%, and have at least 23% milkfat.

Pasturized Processed Cheese Spread: Variation on cheese food that may contain a sweetener and a stabilizing agent, such as the polysaccharide xanthan gum or the Irish moss colloid carrageenan, to prevent separation of the ingredients. The cheese must be spreadable at 70F, contain 44 to 60% moisture, and have at least 20% milkfat.

Pasturized Processed Cheese Product: Process cheese that doesn't meet the moisture and/or milkfat standards.

Imitation Cheese: Variation made from vegetable oil; it is less expensive, but also has less flavor and doesn't melt well.

hearing the sounds of the tenor recorder being practiced in the basement.

Wally World had their Avocados for sale last week for 68 cents each. This is a bargin basement price for Avocados in Kansas! We are at the height of the Avocado harvest in California so the price does represent that fact. I picked up several which were still pretty hard. I brought them home, put the plastic bag on the kitchen counter with one unpeeled onion in the bag with the avocados. I sealed the bag loosely. In two days I had nice ripe Avocados. The onion produces ethylene gas that helped to ripen the Avocados. That off gassing that onions do is the reason that you should not store onions and potatoes in the same enclosed space. The ethylene gas will make your potatoes age very fast.

So tonight I wanted to try something a bit different with the Avocados. I made this soup. David took one taste and said, "Ummm warm guacamole!" Sometimes he ate it with a spoon and sometimes he ate it by dipping corn chips into the soup to scoop it.

Avocado Soup
Makes two large servings

1 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced yellow bell pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbs Pedro Lopez Chili Powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs olive oil
2 Hass Avocados, peeled, pitted and chunked
1/2 cup heavy cream

Garnish

1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 tbs minced onion
1 tbs minced yellow bell pepper

Saute onion, pepper, garlic powder, salt and chili powder in olive oil until vegges are soft.

Mash avocados with cream until smooth. Add to onion mixture.

Heat until serving temperature

Mix garnish ingredients.

Serve soup in bowls, topped with garnish.

Serve with corn chips!

I came across this recipe on an email list. Thought it looked simple and tasty. But I didn't have a yellow cake mix. Alas, I HAD to use the chocolate mix that was on the shelf! The result was decadent!

Pecan Cream Cheese Bars

1 (2 layer) yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 c. butter or margarine; softened
2 cups chopped pecans
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
3 2/3 c. powdered sugar
1tsp vanillia

Combine the cake mix, one egg and butter in a bowl. Mix well. Stir in nuts. Press mixture into a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, vanillia, and two eggs. Pour over the prepared crust. Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool and then cut into bars.

I am thinking that other cake mix varieties might lead to tasty results. What about:

• Spice Cake mix with walnuts for the crust.


• Lemon Cake mix with almonds in the crust and almond flavoring in the topping.

Made a delightful cream of pumpkin soup for dinner tonight. It was simply pureed pumpkin, sauteed diced onions, one bay leaf, a pinch of dried minced garlic, and a smidge of salt all pureed in a food processor. Then heated with cream.

The srcumptiousness of the pumpkin was not masked by any of the seasoning. All too often nutmeg is considered the flavor of pumpkin. So much so that those pumpkin spice ales you see around Thanksgiving usually have NO pumpkin in them at all. Rather they are seasoned with the spices that one would put into a pumpkin pie --- nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and Ginger. Actual pumpkin in the wort spoils the brew.

As a cook I think its important to know what your ingredients taste like when they are naked or lightly adorned. With that knowledge you can then fashion a stunning party dress.

Posted via LjBeetle

Fruit Filling
1 1/4 quart peeled sliced apples cooked
8 ounces blackberries
4 ounces raspberries
1/3 cup brown sugar

Topping
1 cup melted butter
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups chopped pecans
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place fruit in 9 by 13 pan. Mix gently to insure even distribution of fruit types. Sprinkle brown sugar over top of fruit.

Mix topping ingredients until butter is evenly distributed. Spoon evenly over the top of the fruit.

Bake in oven for 50 minutes.

Can be served warm or cold.

David and I are doing another tasting. This time it's


Elihah Craig Aged 18 Years Single Barrell Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey


I have not ever liked bourbon whiskey. But I think mayhaps, I have not previously experienced the good stuff. Now I have, this is good, very good.

It's smooth and slightly sweet. It glows as it goes down. There is a slight tingling of the tounge in the aftereffects. The flavors are full and balanced.

For the Scotch drinker, this is a pleasant diversion.

Thanks to Chuck and Janet Heinsohn for finding for us.

David really likes caramel. So periodically I do a sweep of the candy shelves at Wally World to scavenge what chocolate caramel offerings they have available. Holiday seasons are a good time for such a search.

I was reminded of this search today when I saw a Cadburry Carmello. That reminded me to look. But I did not even pick up the Carmello. A previous tasting indicated that that bar is composed of chocolate that is way too waxy and caramel that is not flavorful and too sweet.

(Please note that the absolutely most awesome chocolate caramel treat I have ever experiences is Christopher Elbow's Fluer de Sal. Our friend Kate gifted us with a box of Christopher Elbow chocolates last week. Now, that chocolate has a retail cost of about $2.50 per two bites it is an experience I will not have very often.)

Here are the results of today's selections:

Werther's Caramel Chocolate (individually wrapped candies): Really good milk chocolate. Excellent caramel. Very repeatable.

Hershey's Caramel (bar): This was a real surprise. Very nice flavors in chocolate and caramel. Lost cost item. Very repeatable

Ghrardelli Milk Chocolate and Pumpkin Spice Caramel Square (individually wrapped candies): Nice treat, but amazingly the sweet spiciness was rather cloying by the time the candy was finished. One square would be a dessert for me and I would not crave more. Not as repeatable as the previous two items

Dove Caramel Milk Chocalate (individually wrapped candies): Not worth repeating. Very low flavor in chocolate or in caramel. Disappointing.

We also tried another caramel candy:

Copper Kettle Roasted Coffee Caramels: Very chewy. The quantity of coffee in the caramel overpowered the caramel. Won't repeat purchase.

Pears Poached in Port Wine with Fresh Whipped Cream

Two Ripe Pears, cored, seeded and peeled
Three cups of Port Wine

Whipped Cream seasoned with sugar and vanilla

Place pears in the smallest diameter sauce pan that will hold them. Cover with port wine. Bring wine to a boil and then turn down to a slow simmer. Simmer for about thirty minutes. Turn pears periodially to make sure that they are well exposed to the port wine. The wine should reduce considerably during the cooking. That's okay, just flip the pears occassionally.

After the pears are soft and the wine is reduced by 2/3rds. Remove from heat to cool.

Serve cool in a bowl with plenty of whipped cream.

I have become quite fond of a cauliflower dish for presentation on a Thanksgiving buffet. It consists of a whole cauliflower, blanched, slathered with a mix of mustard and mayonaisse into which grated cheese (large amounts) has been pressed, then baked until nicely browned. It makes a lovely presentation and a whole cauliflower serves about 12.

Today, I was hungry for soup! ( I can hear David and John laughing now in anticipation of my actions.) So I placed the remainder of the Thanksgiving cauliflower in a pan with about 3/4 cup of half and half. I simmered the mixture until the cauliflower was thoroughly soft. I took out my stick blender and pureed the lot.

It needed no additional seasoning and hit the spot restoring some vigor and pushing back a some of the cold symptoms. Probably just additional liquid in the body!

2 cups cooked rice
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Italian herbs
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil

Mix rice, cheese, egg and seasonings thoroughly. Divide into four portions. Pat into 1/2 inch cakes. Fry in medium hot oil until brown on both sides.

Posted via LjBeetle

...needs more practice.

Changes to make:

Bigger kerneled Popcorn
More Caramel
No Bacon Fat
More Whiskey!
Make Popcorn David's way

The meal sounds time consuming but it really wasn't. I did start the Granita during my lunch break but the stirring steps were done along with the rest of the meal preparation. I began the preparation for the rest of the items at 6 PM and we were done eating at 8:05 PM. I was pleased it came together so well.

Shrimp was simply seared in olive oil. Removed from the pan. Then I reduced a 1/2 cup of sherry with 1 tsp of minced dehydrated garlic to about three tbs. I tossed the shrimp in that will the heat was still under the pan. By the time the shimp was reheated, the sauce was nealy totally evaporated. I plated the each serving and sparingly drizzled melted Bittesweet Dark chocolate about the plate and then sprinkled on a few lumps of sea salt.

The soup began with a base of a very mild beef and vegetable soup we had had a while back that I had pureed before freezing. To the one pint of base I add 1/4 cup of peanut butter, 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 tbs Pedro Lopez Chili Powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, and 1 tsp onion juice.

The salad dressing was made be mixing one ounce of melted bitter sweet chocolate into a prepared Raspberry Salad dressing.

The sauce for the venison was 3/4 cup minced onion clarified in the drippings of the Pan Grilled Venison to which 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar was added. Which that had mellowed a couple of minutes I added 1 ounce of bittersweet Chocolate, 1/4 tsp of white pepper, and 1/4 tsp garlic. Then I spooned the sauce over the steak.

The Chocolate Granita was 1/2 cup of hot chocolate mix thoroughly mixed with 2 cups of boiling water. I placed that mixture in a 1 quart Wide Mouth Mason Jar with Lid. I then laid the jar on it's side in the freezer of the refrigerator. About three hours after I put the jar in the freezer, I placed the kind of slushy contents of the jar in the bowl of my food processor long enough to make a smooth frozen slush. When I put back in the jar and froze again. I repeated this process of making slush and freezing two more times. After the last slush making, I placed the mixture into an old cottage cheese container to put back in ther freezer. While the jar seemed to help the slush chill rapidly. It would have been hard to scoop the final product out of!


It was a fun meal to prepare and serve. David seemed to enjoy!

I have used these products for years and not known their story. I like what I read. I will be incorporating them more often.

http://www.jiffymix.com/images/pdf/Shake_Up_at_the_Baking_Mix_Company.pdf