Something Old, Something New, Something Fun

Right after DH and I got married, over 25 years ago, I started collecting recipes. I wrote them by hand in a yellow notebook that I got at a German store. It had room for hundreds of recipes, and this is one of the first ones I ever wrote in it. I don’t recall where I got it from, since I didn’t write down a source, but I’m sure it was a magazine of some kind. I’ve changed it just a little by substituting a little whole wheat flour for all-purpose, adding some ground flax, and using oil instead of the original melted shortening. These are not crispy like regular waffles, and the batter would probably make some great cupcakes. We ate them with regular pancake syrup (DH) and lite syrup (me), and we both found that we didn’t need a whole lot of syrup since these were already sweet. The uneaten waffles freeze well in zip plastic bags and can be reheated in the toaster.

Gingerbread Waffles



Makes 14 (4-inch) waffles.
1 c unbleached white flour
1/2 c white whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur)
2 T ground flaxseed
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 c sugar or Splenda
1 t ground ginger
3 eggs, beaten
1 c buttermilk
1/4 c molasses
1/3 c vegetable or canola oil

Combine first 7 ingredients; set aside. Combine eggs, buttermilk, molasses, and melted shortening, stirring well; add to flour mixture, stirring until blended. Bake in preheated, oiled waffle iron. Serve with butter and syrup. Makes 16 (4-inch) waffles.

I spent a large part of the afternoon making another recipe from ‘way, ‘way back, and will be sharing it tomorrow. But it produced the foundation for six quick and/or easy meals, some of which I’ll make after work once school starts again. After that was all cooked and packaged, it was time to marinate the meat for dinner.

When we were camping in Colorado, we met a couple from Evergreen - Dean and Margaret. One evening we were all sitting under the rain tarp with them, their daughter Natalie, and some other friends of theirs, and the conversation inevitably turned to food. Dean and Margaret shared a recipe for a pork marinade that sounded divine, and I decided to give it a try. In coming up with a name for this recipe, I decided to name it after the campground we were in: Dinner Station.

Dinner Station Pork Tenderloin
from Dean and Margaret Miller



1 pork tenderloin
2 large garlic cloves, sliced lengthwise into strips
2 t dried rosemary
2 t dried dillweed
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1/3 c soy sauce
1/3 c red wine vinegar

Using the tip of a sharp knife, cut 6-10 small slits in the tenderloin. Insert a slice of garlice into each slit. Sprinkle meat with rosemary, dillweed, and Worcestershire. In a large bowl, combine soy sauce and red wine vinegar. Add meat, and marinate 30-45 minutes. (Don’t marinate any longer than that, or the soy sauce will make the meat too salty). Grill till meat is just cooked through. Serves 4.

Picture Quiz



Can you guess what/where this photo is? Californians - you’d better get this one right! I’ll give details tomorrow.

food & drink

Capers - WHB #42

Since I used capers in tonight's dinner, I thought I'd use them for this weekend's Weekend Herb Blogging. Paz is hosting this time, over at The Cooking Adventures of Chez Paz.




from whatscookingamerica.net
Capers are the unopened green flower buds of the Capparis spinosa (Capparidaceae - caper family - closely related to the cabbage family), a wild and cultivated bush that is grown mainly in Mediterranean countries (southern France, Italy, and Algeria) and also in California.

Manual labor is required to gather capers, for the buds must be picked each morning just as they reach the proper size. After the buds are picked, they are usually sun-dried, then pickled in a vinegar brine.

Capers can range in size from that of a tiny peppercorn (the petite variety from southern France, considered the finest) to some as large as the tip of your little finger (from Italy).

Capers generally come in brine but can also be found salted and sold in bulk. Either way, rinse before using to flush away as much salt as possible.

The taste is slightly astringent and pungent, and they can lend piquancy to many sauces and condiments; they can also be used as a garnish for meat and vegetable dishes.


Visit The Cooking Adventures of Chez Paz after the weekend's over for the roundup!

food & drink

A Borrowed Recipe Plus One of My Own

Tonight’s main dish comes to us courtesy of Mia of Nosh. I changed only a couple of things from her original recipe for Chicken with Caramelized Onions, Tomatoes and Capers. I think I’ll name my version after her, and call it Chicken Mia.

Chicken Mia

2 T olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
1 med. yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
freshly ground pepper
1 large tomato, chopped
1 T butter
2 T capers
1 T dried basil
1/2 cup white wine
 
Preheat the oven to 425˚ In a medium skille over medium-high heat, warm the 2 Tbs. olive oil. Add the red and yellow onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add the vinegar and cook, stirring often, until the liquid is nearly evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes more. Season with salt.

Use the Jamie Oliver method for creating an "oven bag": "Using wide tin foil, make your bag by placing 2 pieces on top of each other (about as big as 2 shoeboxes in length), folding 3 sides in and leaving 1 side open."

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and place them side-by-side in the foil bag. Sprinkle in the tomato, butter, capers, basil, and carmelized onions. Carefully pour in the wine and seal the foil bag tightly. Slide the foil package onto a roasting tray. Jamie recommends placing the tray on a burner on your stove over high heat for a minute to get the package going. Then put the tray in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

When it comes out of the oven, open the foil bag, place one chicken breast for each person (use the third to make a great sandwich the next day!) on a plate and spoon over the juices.

Along with the chicken, I made a slightly sweet rice dish, one that I normally would use white rice in. This time, however, I used brown rice, and it turned out quite nicely. I like the nutty flavor and quality of brown rice; I just don’t often have the time to cook it.

Curried Orange Rice

1/4 c olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped
2 t curry powder
1 c uncooked brown rice
1 c orange juice
1 1/2 - 2 1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 t salt
1/2 c seedless raisins
1 bay leaf

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Sauté onion until soft and golden but not brown. Stir in curry powder and rice. Cook 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients; stir with fork. Bring to boiling; lower heat; cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, or until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed. You will probably have to add more broth periodically. Remove bay leaf before serving. Serves 6.

food & drink

Home Sweet Home!

Yes, I’m back home, where it’s blazingly hot, but I’ve seen in the papers that it’s this way across the United States. I had a wonderful conference in Monterey, and then a great evening with my sister and her husband in Concord. Friday morning I left her house at 5, and with only a stop for breakfast and two stops for gas, made it home by 2. Back in my own kitchen. Back in my own bed, where I collapsed for a two-hour nap before supper.

I got a great start on my commitment to cook those dishes I mentioned in a previous post. We started with Rigatoni with Roasted Garlic, Mushrooms and Chili Pepper from Cream Puffs in Venice. My oh my. It was soooo good. It’s a fabulous no-meat main dish, and we had it with some salad. Here is the link to Ivonne’s recipe, which she got from Truly Madly Pasta by Ursula Ferrigno. Ivonne’s picture of the finished product is much better than any photo I could take, so go look at hers to see what it’s supposed to look like. The only changes I made to the recipe were based on ingredients I had on hand - I used regular white mushrooms instead of the portobellos and oyster mushrooms, and half and half instead of cream. This is something I’ll definitely make again!

Rigatoni with Roasted Garlic, Mushrooms, and Chili Pepper
from Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice

2 heads of garlic, with tops trimmed off
3-4 T extra virgin olive oil
1 t crushed red pepper flakes
10 oz. mushrooms, roughly chopped
8 oz. penne rigate or rigatoni
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 c heavy cream
1/3 c freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375˚. Place each head of garlic on a square of foil. Drizzle each with a tablespoon of olive oil, then wrap loosely in the foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the garlic is golden and soft. Let cool for 20 minutes. Grasp each head of garlic at the base and squeeze out all of the roasted garlic. Set aside.
Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta.
Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms and sauté over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and continue cooking another couple of minutes. Add the roasted garlic, and cook another couple of minutes. Reduce heat and add cream. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm on low heat while pasta cooks.
When pasta is finished cooking, drain it and add it to the cream-mushroom mixture. Add Parmesan, stir, and serve immediately with additional Paremsan.

My son Kenny got his photo in the Kunsan Air Base (Korea) base newspaper a few weeks ago. Not only is he playing goalie for the base soccer team, he’s playing intramural softball. Go here, then scroll down to the sports page. I think it’s a pretty decent shot–great batting form!

food & drink

Another Quick Turnaround and a New Fish Recipe

I had a great night last night back in my own bed; though the temperatures here in southern California are a whole lot higher here than they were in Colorado. Luckily we have ceiling fans (even though we don't have air conditioning - don't really need it at 6,000 feet). I leave tomorrow morning for Monterey; I'm going to a conference of teachers' association chapter presidents. It takes place at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, where the high yesterday was 62˚. I'm looking forward to being cool again.

The fire has grown to almost 70,000 acres, but like we had hoped, has moved north and east of here. I really feel for those firefighters battling the blaze in 112˚ temperatures.

Here's a new fish recipe I came up with today, since I've decided I really like those crunchy coatings. I've been using the mahi mahi fillets from Costco, but this could be done with any white fish fillets, such as tilapia, flounder, or sole. You might want to adjust the crushed red pepper, though we really liked it this spicy.

Parmesan-Red Pepper Mahi Mahi


1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c milk
1/3 c panko bread crumbs
1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 t crushed red pepper
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t salt
2-3 mahi mahi (or other white fish) fillets
3 T butter

Prepare three shallow bowls: in the first, put the flour. In the second, the milk. Combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, crushed red pepper, pepper, and salt in the third bowl. Coat the fillets with the flour, then the milk, and then the bread crumb-Parmesan mixture. Press the mixture into the fish. Melt the butter in a skillet, and sauté fillets until golden brown and flesh flakes easily. (I had to cover mine for a while to get them done, and then uncover to finish crisping up.)

One of my favorite side dishes with fish like this is what DH calls fried spaghetti. I cook up some spaghetti noodles, in this case Barilla Plus, then sauté them in a skillet with a little butter and garlic. Occasionally we top them with Parmesan cheese, but tonight we didn't, since there was already Parmesan in the fish.

Another Costco favorite is the huge bags of berries - a mixture of raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. Sometimes I just heat them up and put them over ice cream, but tonight I was in the mood for a cobbler. I used two individual ramekins and made two small cobblers for dessert for DH and me. I was able to make these in my toaster oven, and therefore not heat up the kitchen too much.

Triple Berry Individual Cobblers



Filling
3 cups frozen triple berry mix
zest of one-half lemon
1/3 c Splenda or sugar

Topping
1/2 c Bisquick
zest of one-half lemon
2 T Splenda or sugar
1/4 c milk

Preheat oven to 375˚. In a medium bowl, combine berries, lemon zest and Splenda or sugar. Divide between two individual baking ramekins. Bake for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients. Divide between two ramekins, spreading gently. You don't have to reach the edges of the dish. Bake another 20 minutes, or until topping is golden and cooked through.

Question for you experienced cooks: what do I need to add to this recipe to make the filling thicken? Cornstarch? Flour? I thought about flour, since I've used it in apple pies, but I guess I hoped the filling would magically thicken up on its own. Alas, it didn't. It tasted wonderful, but it was juicy, where I'd rather it be thickened. Let me know what you'd suggest.

See you next weekend!


food & drink

My Beloved Wilderness is Burning

We just got home from Colorado today, and the San Gorgonio Wilderness, the one right outside my door, the one I wrote my thesis on, is burning. You may have seen the story on the news. As we drove across the desert towards home, we first smelled, then saw the smoke of the fire. We were first to the east of it, along Highway 62 in Yucca Valley, where many homes and buildings were burned down, and were in awe of the expanse of this fire. It started as four different fires, one of which started only 5-6 miles from our home. By this afternoon, they had all merged into one, and so far over 55,000 acres have burned. About a quarter of those acres are in the San G Wilderness, and more are threatened. The Forest Service has closed "the mountain," meaning no hikers are allowed in the wilderness.

Our home isn't threatened, even with the fire this close - we live to the west, and the fire is burning northeast. Even Big Bear, which the media had reported as being in danger, is really not - and the firefighters hope the fire continues north back down the mountains to the desert where it will (hopefully) run out of fuel. Who knows? Creosote and Joshua Trees burn pretty easily.

Just wanted to vent and to let everyone know we're in no danger.

Note to Self - Cook!

When I come back from all my travels, and have a few weeks before school starts, I need to try some of these wonderful recipes I've come across on other blogs:

(If it's marked through, it means I've made it!)

Escarole and Bean Soup from Peanut Butter and Purple Onions,
Cheddar Chile Waffles from Taste Everything Once,
Spicy Chicken Cakes with Horseradish Aioli and Orange Cranberry Nut Bars (substituting Splenda for the sugar) from Culinary in the Desert,
Spicy Peanut-Encrusted Catfish from Christine Cooks,
Orange Coriander Muffins (again, substituting Splenda for the sugar) from Chef Michele’s Adventures,
Pine Nut-Crusted Flounder with Balsamic Orange Reduction Sauce from Sweetnicks,
Cheese-Stuffed Chicken with Bacon from Deetsa’s Diningroom,
homemade nut butter just like Catesa from Look Hunny, I Cooked,
Banana Cinnamon Waffles from Culinary Adventures
Zucchini Cookies from bakingsheet,
Simple Vanilla Ice Cream from zen foodism,
Triple Berry Coffee Cake and Rigatoni with Roasted Garlic, Mushrooms and Chili Pepper from Cream Puffs in Venice,
Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Hoisin Sauce from Kalyn’s Kitchen,
Pear & Gorgonzola Pizza from Albion Cooks,
Blueberry Breakfast Bars from Farmgirl Fare
Chicken with Caramelized Onions, Tomatoes and Capers from Nosh,
Boiled Chicken in Spicy Sauce (Guy Op Sea Eaiw) from Appon's Thai Food Recipes,
Chicken Cacciatore from Daily Gluttony,
Tuna Casserole from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

I also have a couple of cookbooks I have to try, including one that was sent to me so I could try some recipes and write a review. I'll try to get that done, too.

food & drink

I'll Show You Mine, If You Show Me Yours #2

Among the thousands of things Sweetnicks does is something new, called “I’ll Show You Mine, if You Show Me Yours.”

I was out of town for the refrigerator posts - and that’s just as well. My fridge is a total mess! Since it still works, it’s low on the priority list of things to spend money on. I think this one is about 24 year old - we bought it the year before our son Kenny was born. If we can get this one to last 5 more years, it’ll be out last full-sized refrigerator, since our next one after that will be in our RV. (My plan is to retire into an RV and hit the road full time. At least until we get tired of it.)

This week, it’s all about our spice racks. I started with one. Then had to add a second one. And then had to add a shelf for the large bottles of spices I use a lot of. So here they are. And yes, they’re in alphabetical order!



Here's what's on the shelves: allspice, basil, bay leaves, whole black peppercorns, coarse black pepper, celery salt, celery seed, ancho chili powder, chipotle chili pepper, cilantro, cinnamon, ground cloves, whole cloves, ground coriander, cream of tartar, ground cumin, curry powder, hot curry powder, dill weed, instant minced garlic, garlic powder, garlic salt, ground ginger, Italian seasoning, lemon peel, marjoram, Montreal steak seasoning, ground mustard, nutmeg, onion powder, orange peel, oregano, paprika, parsley, poppy seeds, poultry seasoning, pumpkin pie spice, ground cayenne red pepper, crushed red pepper, rosemary, rubbed sage, sesame seeds, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, ground white pepper.

Go to Sweetnicks to see the roundup.

Home for a Quick Resupply and Gone Again

I love the mountains. I love the Rockies and the High Sierras. I've got a small problem with the southern Cascades, though. You see, right now we camp in a tent trailer that doesn't have air conditioning. So everywhere we camp has got to be at a pretty high altitude during the summer, because I also hate being hot. Our most recent trip was to the eastern Sierras and a quick overnighter in the Lassen area in northern California--those darn Cascades aren't really a mountain range, just lots of beautiful volcanoes rising out of the lava flows.

Here's how our trip went:

Two days before we left, we received a phone call from the campground reservation folks that we couldn't come to Trumbull Lake, our first destination. The explanation given was that it was still closed because of the snow. So, we made some changes in our plans and pressed on. First we drove up the 395 to Bridgeport, and then southwest on Twin Lakes Road to Twin Lakes. After deciding that we didn't want to stay at a crowded "resort" near the lakes, we found a perfect Forest Service campsite on Robinson Creek, the creek that flows out of Twin Lakes. By perfect, I mean it had lots of shade from the tall pines, it was far away from other sites, it was within walking distance to the bathrooom, and was close to the creek. From that campground, we drove to the Virginia Lakes at 9200 feet, where DH spent two days on the water in his float tube catching and releasing lots of rainbows, cutthroats, and brown trout. I happily cheered him on from my chair, where I read, sunned, and enjoyed the beautiful scenerey. I also learned the importance of sunscreen at 9200 feet. My shins are burnt! We also spent two days on several different creeks in the area, including Robinson Creek, as well as on Twin Lakes. The days were warm - 80's - and the nights were nice and cold, just like I like 'em.

On day 5 we continued north on the 395, and drove to northeastern California, where we'd made reservations at a campground called Lassen Pines. Now, wouldn't you think that a place called Lassen Pines would be close to Lassen and would be in the PInes? This place was neither. It was a nice campground, but it was 40+ miles from Lassen (Volcanic National Park), and was in the oaks. There were a few pines scattered around, but not many. When we made the reservation I'd asked about the fishing opportunities and was assured that they were many, and were close. I guess "many" means within an hour's drive. I'd also asked about temperatures, and was told they were "mild," but when we arrived it was 95 degrees in the shade. Aaacckk. Over lunch we decided to stay just one night and to go back to the Sierras the next day. We spent the afternoon in the swimming pool, sat in the shade until it cooled down enough to cook dinner, and then went to bed. It didn't cool down until around midnight. Too hot for me.

Day 6 saw us headed back DOWN the 395, and we stopped at June Lake - a place we'd been to many times before. Five lakes within a 5-15 minute drive (one within walking distance), creeks, and it was 8500 feet. Back to cool days and cold nights! We had a wonderful 2 1/2 days there, and came home the afternoon of the third day. We've now done our laundry and shopping, paid the bills, cleaned the vehicles and the house, and are ready to go to Colorado Sunday morning.

Here are some great camping meals we had on our trip:

Dinners
1. Hamburgers with corn
2. Hot dogs with baked beans
3. Geschnetzeltes with boiled potatoes (recipe available)
4. Chicken breasts with pineapple salsa (I'll post that recipe below), rice a roni
5. Chicken breasts with raspberry balsamic vinegar, rice a roni
6. Cornmeal-breaded fried fish with carrot salad and turnip greens
7. Fleishsalat with rye bread (recipe below)

Breakfasts
1. Pancakes! Twice!
2. Corned beef hash with eggs
3. Sausage-Egg Quesadillas (recipe available)
4. Pfannenkuchen (also called Pfannkuchen, Klettiten, or Swedish Crepes) with lingonberries and sausage. Recipe below.

Pineapple Salsa

1 6-oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 t brown sugar or 1 t Splenda brown sugar blend
2 T finely chopped purple onion
1-3 t finely chopped jalapeno (depend on how hot you want it)

Combine all ingredients. This makes enough for 2-3 grilled or sauteed chicken breasts.

Fleischsalat



Fleischsalat is German for "meat salad," and this is an excellent meal to eat when it's hot outside and you don't want to heat up your kitchen. DH"s mother taught me the orginal recipe, which didn't have cheese or tomatoes. I added cheese after having it that way at a restaurant in Zweibrucken, Germany, and then added tomatoes after DH suggested it. We love to eat this with buttered rye bread, since we can't get real Mischbrot here in the States.

1/2 lb. German bologna, thinly sliced
4 thin slices Swiss cheese
1 medium tomato, diced
1 c Kruegermann pickle salad (I suppose you could try dill pickles, but the flavor is truly different)
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
2 T vegetable oil
1/4 c vinegar
2 T water

Cut the bologna and cheese into strips about 1 1/2 inches long and 1/8 inch wide. Put in medium bowl with tomato, pickle salad, and onion. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together oil, vinegar, and water. Pour over salad, and stir to combine. Serves 4.


Pfannenkuchen

These are very similar to the crepes served at IHOP. Their Swedish Crepes are served with lingonberries, and are my favorites.

2 eggs
1/8 t salt
1/4 c sugar or Splenda granular
1/2 t vinegar
1 T melted butter
1 3/4 c flour
2 c milk
more butter for cooking
lingonberries or preserves of your choice (DH likes blackberry)

Beat eggs well. Add salt, sugar or Splenda, vinegar, and butter. Add flour and 1 cup of the milk; stir until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup more of the milk. Preheat a large (12 inch) skillet, and add 1/2 t butter. When butter is melted, add 1/3 cup of the batter. Quickly turn pan in a circular motion to coat bottom of pan with a thin layer of the batter. Cook about a minute over medium heat; flip to other side and cook another minute or so until lightly browned. Serve with lingonberries or preserves. Makes about 9, or enough to serve 3 people.

Before I sign off, here's a photo of me from my graduation!

Actually, we DON'T have a Settlement

Friday was an interesting day. Following numerous site meetings and many phone calls between members, the tentative agreement was rejected by our membership. We had the largest turnout for a contract ratification (70%) that we've ever had, and the vote was 61% to 39%. I have mixed feelings - I don't look forward to more months of negotiations, but this vote sends us back to the table in a pretty powerful position. We can say that it's not just the YCEA leadership that is insisting we get a decent cost of living adjustment, it's the membership, too.

I think this'll be the last time I post for a while - tomorrow night's graduation (my master's degree - whoo hoo!), and we leave early Monday morning for our first camping/fishing trip.

See you at the end of June!

food & drink

No Time to Cook

Every couple of months or so I pick up a small package of Rondele Garlic-Herb Cheese Spread. I used to eat it on crackers, until I came up with a way to use it as a sauce for chicken. This is heavenly, and the sauce is fabulous over rice or couscous.

Chicken and Mushrooms in Herb Cheese Sauce

1/4 c butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 lb. thickly sliced mushrooms
1/2 c dry white wine
4 oz. semisoft herb cheese (Rondele or Alouette)
1/4 t dried dill weed

Melt butter in medium-skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to platter using slotted spoon, keep warm. Add mushrooms to skillet and cook until softened; stirring frequently, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon, sprinkle over chicken. Pour wine into skillet and bring to boil. Add cheese and dill weed and stir until smooth and slightly thickened. Pour over chicken and serve. This is great with hot rice or couscous. Serves 4

food & drink

We Have a Settlement !!!!!!

In our third session with the state mediator, we finally came to an agreement. It was signed this morning. 10 1/2 months of negotiations - a full school year, and we're settled. Neither side is totally thrilled, but that means it's a good settlement. We'll get a decent raise, plus a couple of good language changes to the contract.

But it's over. For now. Whew. No more picketing, no more demonstrations at board meetings; time for rest and relaxation and coming back in the fall for a fresh start.

Cranberry-Orange Pork Chops

I'm always looking for new ways to use those thick pork chops from Costco--and this one is VERY easy. I keep fresh cranberries in my freezer year-round, and pulled out a cup of them for this recipe. I was really pleased with how it turned out--the sauce was good on the rice, too, which we ate with our chops.

Cranberry-Orange Pork Chops

2 thick (3/4") boneless pork chops (I took one of the thick ones from Costco and sliced it in half)
1 T butter
salt and pepper
1 c fresh/frozen cranberries
1 T Splenda brown sugar blend
3/4 c water
2 t cornstarch
1 4-oz. cup mandarin oranges (from Del Monte or Dole snack packs)
hot white rice (optional)

Brown chops on both sides in butter. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Add cranberries, brown sugar, and juice from oranges; cover and simmer about 20 minutes. (Cranberries will release their juices). Remove chops from pan and keep warm. Combine water and cornstarch and add to berries. Simmer, stirring, until thickened. Add oranges and reheat. Serve sauce over chops and rice, if desired. Serves 2.



food & drink

Update

For those of you who have checked in and seen that I haven't posted in a long while, I've been super-busy with the ending of the school year and all its accompanying meetings, social activities, and assemblies, along with our ongoing negotiations and crisis organizing. I'll try to post a few times in the next week, but then we're going on several long camping trips. I'll try to take pictures while we're gone and keep in touch.

Harvest Moon Chops from Martha Green

One of my favorite purchases from Costco is the thick boneless pork chops. They’re between 2 and 2 1/2 inches thick, and come in packages of about 12. Each one is enough for a meal for DH and me. Last week I sliced one into three slices and flattened them with a meat mallet until they were very thin. From those I made schnitzel. I’ve cut them up in small pieces for geschnetzeltes and stir fry dishes and used them sliced in two or three chops in various pork chop recipes. Tonight I made a new recipe for me, Harvest Moon Chops. This recipe is adapted from a recipe I heard on the radio this morning from Martha Green. Martha Green is sort of like Paula Deen - she sounds just like Paula Deen, and she even looks a bit like her, though she’s slimmer. She owns Dough’Lectible Bakery and The Eating Room in Redlands, the former making nothing but breads and sweets (so I can’t go there!), and the latter serving casual breakfasts and lunches. She does daily spots on the local NPR station, KVCR, and I’ve made it a point to try some of her recipes. This recipe was orginally for chicken, but I thought it would be just as good on boneless pork chops. I had to downsize it considerably, and judging from the taste of everything, I did it right. This recipe makes enough for two or three chops, and is probably great for a low-carb diet. I served this with steamed cauliflower and carrots, and a green salad.

Harvest Moon Pork Chops



1/4 c mayonnaise
1 T prepared horseradish
1 T spicy brown mustard
3/4 t Worcestershire sauce
dash cayenne pepper
2 boneless pork chops, about 3/4” thick
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c cooked, crumbled bacon (about 3 slices)
two dashes paprika

Preheat oven to 375˚. Combine the mayonnaise, horseradish, mustard, Worcestershire, and cayenne in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and chill. Spray a foil-lined small baking pan lightly. Place the chops in the pan and bake 25-30 minutes, until done. Place chops on a broiling pan or ovenproof platter. Top each with the mayonnaise mixture. Sprinkle with the cheese and then the bacon pieces. Broil for 1-1/2 minutes or until the cheese is blended with the sauce and llightly browned. Just before serving, sprinkle each chop with paprika.

Tuesdays are the days we’re supposed to post about antioxidant-rich foods, and today I had quite a few. In addition to the cauliflower and carrots we had with the chops, I made my favorite salad. My favorite salad is mixed greens (sometimes called spring mix), purple onion, tomato, toasted pine nuts and crumbled blue cheese, topped with a plain balsamic vinegar-olive oil mixture. A good quality balsamic vinegar, I’ve learned, needs nothing else added to it.



Make sure you visit Sweetnicks, and look at the roundup of ARF/5-a-Day posts. I haven't visited her site in a long time, and sure do like the new look!

More Martha Green recipes can be found here.

For those of you who have been interested in what’s going on with our contract negotiations, we’re three weeks away from the end of the school year and we haven’t settled. Even though the District is going to be getting LOTS more money than originally projected, including one-time funds to help them with their textbook adoptions, they’re still holding firm with their very poor and insulting offer. We’ve picketed numerous times at various school sites, done all kinds of activities to let parents and the community know that the District is being unfair, and most recently held a successful ice cream “rally” at the community park. We gathered 289 signatures of support, and were able to spread our message a little further. One good thing coming out of this is that our members are more vocal, more empowered, and more involved than ever before. Solidarity is a pretty good thing. We have aonther session with the state mediator scheduled for June 9, and we hope that our board will finally recognize that we’re not going to buckle. These times are so stressful and so tiring - and yet I rejoice in the support of my executive board and my members. I really do love my job! (I just wish this negotiations crap would go away!)

food & drink

Warm Weather–Time to Grill!

Lately it seems that everything I’ve cooked is either something I’ve already posted about or it’s something for which there’s no recipe. We’ve had a lot of grilled foods recently since the weather’s been so nice. Yesterday I decided to try a grilled flank steak with a spicy rub on it. I saw a recipe for a rub in a Southern Living magazine at my sister’s house in North Carolina in March, and put it in my little notebook I carry in my purse. I changed a few things to adapt it to what I have in my kitchen, and came up with this:

Spicy Grilled Flank Steak

1 1-pound flank steak
1 T canola or vegetable oil
2 t ground cumin
2 t chili powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 t ground black pepper
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t ground coriander

Rub both sides of flank steak with oil. Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl, and rub over both sides of meat. Grill over medium heat till done (we like ours medium–still slightly pink in the middle), and slice across the grain.

Today we went up to Angleus Oaks, a small town up the highway about 8 miles, to visit our friends Shannon and Rob. Shannon’s a great cook, but had never made biscuits and gravy. I offered to come up and make some, and then Rob and DH could go fishing while I hung out with Shan and her two girls. Her olderst daughter (age 10) wanted to help, so I had her do the cooking. She’s been interested in learning how to cook, and recently made Johnny Cakes on her own for some extra credit at school. She did the research all by herself on the history of Johnny Cakes, how they used to be called “journey cakes,” and described to me how to make them. She dug right into the process of making the sausage gravy, and since everyone liked it, will probably be making it for her family again.

Tonight’s dinner is one of my favorite ways to eat grilled chicken. It’s marinated for a short time in a balsamic vinegar mixture, and served on a crusty sandwich roll with grilled onions and bell peppers. I served it with a pasta salad that I created out of a chicken pasta salad recipe. It was easy to mix up and chill while the chicken marinated and then was grilled.

Grilled Chicken with Onions and Peppers

1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t dried rosemary, crumbled
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halvescut in 1”-thick strips
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper,
2-4 crusty sandwich rolls
mayonnaise
romaine lettuce leaves

In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, oil, garlic and rosemary. Marinate chicken in this mixture at least 30 minutes. Prepare grill by covering part of it with aluminum foil. Pierce foil in numerous places and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Grill vegetables on the foil, and chicken on uncovered part of grill over medium heat until cooked through. Serve chicken and vegetables on a crusty sandwich roll along with mayonnaise and lettuce. Makes 2 or 4.

Asian Pasta Salad

8 oz. cooked thin spaghetti (I used Barilla Plus)
1 c frozen baby peas, thawed
1/3 c sliced peeled carrot
1/4 c chopped red bell pepper (other colors will do, too)
1 can water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
3 green onions, sliced

Dressing:
1/3 c light soy sauce
2 T canola oil
2 T rice vinegar
2 t sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T brown sugar
1 t grated fresh ginger
1/4 t red pepper flakes

Put salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients in a small bowl and pour over salad. Toss to combine. Chill. Serves 4-6

A question for those of you more technologically adept than I am: Do rechargeable batteries "wear out?" I have not used my digital camera much at all all lately, but the batteries have lost their charge. It's happened more and more often lately, so I'm thinking they start losing their ability to keep a charge. Is that the case?
(That's why there are no photographs with this post!)

food & drink

Stress-Related Cravings

I had chocolate on the brain today. Not just chocolate, as in candy or cake, but chocolate buttercream frosting. I think that all the stress of the past few days is causing this craving. About 4:00 this afternoon I wanted some chocolate frosting, the kind made with butter, cocoa, and powdered sugar. I wanted to eat it by the spoonful from a very big bowl. The Dove Promises I had in my desk drawer for emergencies weren’t even appetizing. Have you ever had a day like that? Or a craving like that?

I never got the frosting . I still want it. But instead of chocolate frosting, I had some beef. A big beef burger. I had that craving, too, and satisfied it with this wonderful burger.

Smoky Burgers



3/4 lb. lean ground beef
2/3 c shredded smoked gouda
1 t Montreal Steak Seasoning
1/2 t Wrights Liquid Smoke Seasoning

Mix all ingredients and shape into two large burgers. (Or you could make smaller burgers, but I was having a beef craving) Grill until done. Serves 2 or 3.

food & drink

Save The Internet--Give a Bit of Your Time to This

Yesterday I was involved in a 4-person phone interview with Senator Feinstein. I'm sure she'll never connect my name on the petition with the person in the interview, but it's cool timing to me!

Help us out here!


food & drink

A New Toaster Oven and Another Fish Recipe

I love my new toaster oven! I have gone through two Black & Deckers and a Hamilton Beach Toaststation. The problems? The Black & Deckers didn’t toast as well as I wanted them to, though they served me well as ovens. The Toaststation was an interesting concept--toaster slots in the top, swing-open oven door in front, but not only was it way too small for my purposes, it didn’t broil. Plus, after a couple of months, the knob for the toaster slots quit working. I decided it was time to do some research and get a decent toaster oven.

Here were my requirements:

1. Since it gets pretty warm here in the summer, even at 6,000 feet, we don’t want to heat up the kitchen and house with the regular oven. So my new toaster oven needed to be a) large enough to cook main dishes and side dishes, but it needed to b) maintain correct cooking temperature.

2. It needed to make more than two slices of toast at once. Four would be optimal.

3. It needed to broil.

4. I wanted the convection feature, which is pretty standard on newer toaster ovens, since there are a lot of things I cook, like roasted vegetables, which do well in a convection oven.

I spent several hours over two evenings doing extensive research on three different websites. I started with Cooks Illustrated, but found that they only reviewed toasters. I then went to Consumer Reports and found the best guidance for what to look for. From there, I visited epinions.com, and eventually ended up on amazon.com. It was on amazon that I was able to read dozens and dozens of reviews of all kinds of brands and models, and made lists of “yes,” “okay,” and “no”.

My next stop online was ebay, to see if any of the “yes” models were listed. Some were, but I really didn’t want to do any bidding or even waiting for a “buy it now.” I knew I was going to Costco on Monday, so I figured I’d see what Costco had.

Costco had two models of toaster ovens, both of which were on my “yes” list. The first one, a Cuisinart, cost $99. The other one, the Oster, had virtually identical features, and the reviews on amazon were full of praise. And it cost only $49! Needless to say, that’s the one I bought. Here’s the link on amazon: Oster 6297 6-slice Convection Toaster Oven . I used it for the first time tonight to make the roasted potatoes and green beans that we had with our fish. I used the convection feature, set the temperature at 425˚, and it cooked them perfectly.

As I’ve said before, I’ve tried to eat more fish. When my friend Claudia and I go to lunch, she always eats fish. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen her eat anything else. Last week we had lunch at a great restaurant in Redlands called Joe Greensleeves. I was trying to make up my mind between the blue cheese burger or the salad with gorgonzola and pear wine dressing, when the waitress changed my mind by describing the specials. She described a halibut fillet in lemon caper butter sauce, and Claudia and I both decided to give it a try. Wow! It was fabulous. Tonight I decided to try to replicate it at home, and I think I succeeded. Of course, I used mahi mahi instead of halibut, since that’s what I’ve been buying at Costco, and you could use almost any white saltwater fish. It was really tasty, and is now another way for us to enjoy fish.

Mahi Mahi with Lemon Caper Sauce



2 T butter
2 mahi mahi fillets
1 T capers
2 T half & half or cream
1 t lemon zest
2 t lemon juice

Melt butter in a medium skillet. Sauté fish until golden on each side and it flakes easily with a fork. Remove from pan and place on serving plates. Add capers, cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice to remaining butter in pan. Stir; ladle over fish. Serves 2.


food & drink

Hello Again!

Wow-I can't believe I haven't posted in a week! I've done a lot of cooking, but it's been things I've posted about before, or it was things that didn't require recipes - hamburgers, barbecued chicken, and bratwurst. Or, we've eaten out or I haven't even been home. But last night I made a great Asian-influenced dish with some pork tenderloin and napa cabbage. I only recently started eating peanut butter in a main dish, and this one was a success. I didn't use enough napa cabbage this time, so it looks pretty "saucy." I'll use more next time.

Pork and Napa Cabbage



1 c water
3 T soy sauce
3 T chunky peanut butter
1 t ginger (I used the fresh grated in a jar)
1/2 t browning sauce (Kitchen Bouquet)
3/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
2 T cornstarch + 1/4 c water
1 pork tenderloin (1 lb.), cut into 1-inch cubes (you could use boneless pork loin, too)
5 t canola oil, divided
1 med. onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 c thinly sliced Napa or Chinese cabbage
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 c thiny sliced cabbage

In a small bowl, combine the 1 cup watter, soy sauce, peanut butter, ginger, browning sauce, and red pepper flakes; set aside (The peanut butter does NOT blend in). In another bowl, combine the cornstarch and 1/4 cup water until smooth; set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry pork in 2 t oil until well browned. Remove and keep warm. In the same pan, sauté onion and garlic in remaining oil for 2 minutes. Add cabbage, water chestnuts, and carrots; stir-fry 3-4 minutes longer or until crisp-tender. Return pork to the pan. Stir in water-soy sauce-peanut butter mixture; blend well. Stir cornstarch-water mixture and gradually stir into pork mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over rice. Makes about 5 servings.

Soup for Dinner

DH says that he likes to eat soup in the winter, but there are times when I just want the flavors of this one. It’s creamy, hearty, and very low in carbs and fat (as long as you use lowfat milk). It takes only 30 minutes to make, so it's a good one to cook on a weeknight after work.

Sopa de Coliflor y Champinones (Cauliflower and Mushroom Soup)



2 c cauliflower (about half of a medium head)
3 t butter
2 T minced onion
2 c sliced mushrooms
2 T flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t white pepper
2 beef bouillon cubes or 2 t beef soup base
3 1/2 c milk
2 T chopped parsley (optional)


Wash and drain cauliflowerets. Slice the larger ones. Cook in boiling salted water 8 minutes or until barely tender. Drain and mashl slighlty. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onion and mushrooms. Cook until onion is tender but not browned. Stir in flour, cook 1 minute. Add salt, white pepper, bouillon cubes and milk. Cook and stir until hot and slightly thickened. Add cauliflowerets. Cook until heated through. Serve at once. Serves 4

I always serve this with cornbread or crusty French rolls.



food & drink

Another Great Fish Recipe

After I made the great Mahi Mahi from Jeff's Pecan-Crusted Tilapia recipe last week, I'd been thinking about what to do next with some more of the fillets in my freezer. I came up with this. I really like coconut and macadamia on fish, and this time I wanted a good sauce. I'm calling it a pineapple beurre blanc, since a beurre blanc is a cream sauce with butter swirled in. This sauce is reduced pineapple juice, butter, and cream. It tasted wonderful on this fish. I think I like this dish even better than the pecan-crusted one. I sure am enjoying learnig how to make fish after all these years of avoiding it!

Macadamia-Coconut Mahi Mahi with Pineapple Beurre Blanc



1 6-oz. can pineapple juice
1 T butter
3 T heavy cream
1/4 c flour
1 t lemon juice
1/4 c milk
1/4 c unsweetened flaked coconut
1/3 c macadamias
2 Mahi Mahi fillets
2 T butter

Start the sauce, since it takes the longest time, and can cook while you're preparing the fish. Put the pineapple juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and continue to cook over medium heat (not boiling but more than simmering) for 15-20 minutes. Add butter and continue cooking until reduced by over a half. It will appear syrupy. Turn off heat and add cream.

Prepare three dredging plates: in the first, put the flour. In the second, stir together the milk and lemon juice. Chop the coconut and macadamias very finely, and combine in the third bowl. Coat the fish fillets with flour, then dip in milk, and then in coconut-macadamia mixture. Sauté in butter over medium heat until browned on both sides and fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with sauce. Makes two servings.

Beef & Potato Quesadillas

My friend Diane, who is a teacher at one of our middle schools, has given me several recipes that are now family favorites. One of them is her bean “dip,” and another is this one, which I’ve changed only to make it quesadillas instead of loose meat-and-potatoes that you spoon into warmed tortillas. We’ve had it both ways, and this way seems to be “neater,” in that I just make the quesadillas and serve them hot without any mess.

Beef and Potato Quesadillas


1 1/2 c cube-style hash brown potatoes
1 T canola or vegetable oil
3/4 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 small can tomato paste
4 8” flour tortillas
2 c shredded cheddar or jack cheese

In a medium skillet, brown the hash browns in oil. Drain on paper towels. In same skillet, crumble and brown the ground beef; drain. Stir in tomato paste, mixing well. Stir in potatoes. On a hot griddle or large skillet, place two tortillas. Spoon some of ground beef-potato mixture onto one half of each tortilla; top with grated cheese. Fold tortilla over to make half-circles. Brown gently on each side. Serve with salsa. Feeds two hungry people.

food & drink

Chicken Satay and Curried Rice Pilaf

Following a very busy week, which included an afternoon of picketing at Yucaipa’s busiest intersection and a school board meeting, I traveled out of town for a working retreat with a group of teacher-leaders from around San Bernardino and Riverside counties. We were up in a mountain town called Idyllwild, which sits at about the same elevation as my town (6000 feet). I had the French Country room at the Idyllwild Inn, which has rooms with various themes, such as West, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, and Farm. We spent most of the weekend working, but did enjoy free evenings. Last night we ate at the Creek House Restaurant, and I had another great fish dish (wow! 2 in one week!). I’m going to replicate it sometime soon. We came out of the restaurant to a very light snow, which quit after about 15 minutes. But this morning, we woke up to a heavier snow, which left a little over an inch on the ground. It wasn’t very cold outside, and when the sun came out around 9 am, all the snow quickly melted. It sure was pretty, though.

I came home this morning and put the chicken in to marinate in my Foodsaver marinating dish, and had a dinner with numerous exotic flavors.

Chicken Satay

2 t lemon zest
2 med. shallots
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t grated gingerroot
2 t ground coriander
2 t ground cumin
1 t turmeric
1 T brown sugar
1 1 t salt
1 T soy sauce
2 t sesame oil
4 boneless chicken thighs

In a processor, combine all ingredients except chicken. Whirl to a paste. Place chicken in a marinating dish or ziploc bag and spread with paste. Marinate in refrigerator at least 2 hours, up to overnight.


Return meat to room tempearature before grilling. Skewer meat; preheat grill to high. Grill skewers 2-3 minutes on each side and serve with peanut sauce. (I didn’t skewer it this time–I just cooked it on my George Foreman grill.)



Peanut Sauce:
1/3 c creamy peanut butter
1/4 c chicken broth
2 T chili paste
2 T brown sugar
2 T soy sauce
1 t grated gingerroot
1 clove garlic, minced

Place peanut butter in heavy medium saucepan. Slowly add chicken broth, then all other ingredients. Stir over medium heat until smooth and thick, about 6 minutes. Can be stored in refrigerator 3 days until ready to use. Reheat before serving.

Needing a good side dish, I turned to my rice recipes and changed one of my favorites a little by adding curry powder and pine nuts.

Curried Rice Pilaf



1/4 c pine nuts
2 T butter
1/2 c chopped onion
1 t curry powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1 c converted rice
2 c chicken broth
2 T orange juice concentrate
1/3 c raisins, plumped in hot water and then drained

Toast pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes until golden. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and sauté onion until softened but not brown, about 4 minutes. Add curry powder and garlic to onion, and sauté another 30 seconds. Add rice, and continue to sauté about 3 more minutes, or until rice begins to appear translucent. Add chicken broth and orange juice concentrate; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer over very low heat until all liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Add raisins and pine nuts. Fluff with a fork and serve. 4 servings.


food & drink

The Best Fish I've Had in a Long Time

All my life I've avoided most fish. As a child, the only fish I ate was fish sticks, or fish that was breaded and fried. I grew to like the fish a Long John Silver's (still do!), and make oven-fried fish every once in a while. But other than that, I've not made much fish. I know I need to, so through the years I've tried different recipes, never really finding any that I truly enjoyed.

Until tonight.

After seeing some posts on other blogs about fish, I decided to give it a go again. I bought some mahi mahi fillets at Costco, and then searched for some appealing recipes. On Culinary in the Desert, Jeff posted a recipe for Pecan-Crusted Tilapia. I like pecans, and the idea of having a breading with pecans in it sounded pretty good. It was easy, and I LOVED it! I have to admit I changed the recipe slightly, and used more pecans and less breadcrumbs.

I would have a picture here, but the batteries on my camera were dead and I didn't want to wait for them to recharge! But mine turned out like Jeff's, so go look at his!

Now I'll be looking for other good recipes. I found another one I'll try on Kalyn’s Kitchen. It's for Almond and Parmesan Baked Tilapia. If you have other ones you think I should try, let me know!

A Spring Day in the Mountains

What a lovely day it was! Sunny, warm--pretty up here in the mountains, with the snow melting beneath a beautiful blue sky. I was able to get DH to grill this evening, so I tested another one of Ruth’s recipes--this one was for a grilled flank steak that I started marinating yesterday. The marinade was something that can be used for all kinds of meats, and the sauce was great!

Breakfast was omelets. Sometimes we use ham and cheese, other times we'll use mushrooms, or spinach. But today we had asparagus and Swiss cheese. There's a restaurant in Buena Vista, Colorado, where we stop sometimes when we're camping in Leadville and start heading for home. It's called the Evergreen Cafe, and it serves fantastic breakfasts. While I'm tempted by several things on the menu, I always get a dish which is sort of like Eggs Benedict. Instead of ham, though, it's served with roasted asparagus. After I ate that the first time, about 15 years ago, I thought I'd go home and try an omelet with asparagus in it. And since I didn't want to make Hollandaise sauce, I used Swiss cheese. DH and I agreed that it's a great combination.

I used canned asparagus this time, and had about half a can left, so I decided to use it up by making some of Kalyn’s egg "muffins." I changed the recipe just a bit and added cream cheese to the egg mixture. The muffins I made this morning had asparagus and Swiss cheese in them, like our omelets, and are now packaged and in the freezer to grab for a couple quick breakfasts this week.


Since I had the oven going, I thought I'd make double use of it and make an apple tart. We bought some apples last week that we found were too mushy to eat out of hand, so I used three of them for this tart. It's something I throw together now and then, since I always keep already-made pie crusts in the freezer, and the recipe calls for ingredients I always have in the kitchen.

Rustic Apple Tart

1 unbaked 9" pie crust
3 large apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 c sugar or Splenda granular
1/4 c flour
2 T butter, cut in small pieces

Preheat oven to 350˚ Lay pie crust flat on a pizza pan or cookie sheet. Toss apples with cinnamon, nutmet, sugar/Splenda, and flour. Pour into a mound on the pie crust, and shape with your hands to leave 2-3" of pie crust all the way around the apples. Gently pull the edges of the pie crust up around the apples, leaving most of the center uncovered.

Dot apples with butter. Bake for about 40 minutes. Here's what it looks like cooked:


Dinner tonight was the flank steak. Some corn on the cob and a simple salad and we had a nice easy meal.





food & drink

Hearty Italian Sandwiches - from the Crockpot

Yesterday I cooked another crockpot dish; this one has got to be one of my favorites. It's so easy, and so yummy, and can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd. I just make a small batch, because even then we have some leftovers.

Hearty Italian Sandwiches


2 mild/sweet link Italian sausages
3/4 lb. lean ground beef
1 med. onion, thinly sliced
1 large green or red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 large tomato diced (or about a cup of diced canned tomatoes)
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 t crushed red pepper
1 c burgundy or water
4 crusty sandwich rolls (you could use hoagie rolls, if you want)
1 c grated mozzarella cheese

Remove the sausage from its casings, and brown with the ground beef, breaking all the meat up into smaller bits. Layer half of the onion and bell pepper in the crockpot, then top with the meat. Put the rest of the onion and bell pepper on top of the meat, then the tomatoes. Sprinkle all with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook on low 6-7 hours, checking after 3-4 hours. If it appears to be drying out, add some of the wine or water.

Split the sandwich rolls, and divide the meat mixture evenly among them. Top each with 1/4 cup cheese. (I usually pop the completed sandwiches in a 350˚ oven for about 5 minutes to crisp up the rolls and melt the cheese, but it's not mandatory.
4 Servings.

food & drink

Quick and Easy Hot Ham Sandwiches

The day started out warm-I didn't even need a jacket this morning when I left for work at 5:30, and as I walked down the steps to my Jeep, I could hear the snow melting off the roof. At around 10 this morning, however, it started raining in the valley, and I was worried it would be snowing up here.

When I left the office and headed for home, I called DH as I always do, and mentioned I had no idea what I would fix for dinner. He mentioned that I had some sliced Black Forest Ham in the fridge, so I said I'd come up with something using the ham. That's one of the advantages of living up here-I can use the time during the drive home to plan dinner. I had some bagels that were in the office freezer that I was bringing home, and decided to use them and make Baked Ham Sandwiches. Normally the recipe calls for hamburger buns, but I thought the bagels would be good. They were. I also had half a cucumber and half a bell pepper that needed to be used, so I made a pasta salad that I first had at a scrapbooking party. It's pretty simple, and DH likes it a lot.

Baked Ham Sandwiches



1 T butter, softened
2 T mayonnaise
1 T mustard
1 T finely diced onion
2 t poppy seeds
3 hamburger buns or plain bagels (hmmm. some of the flavored bagels would be good, wouldn't they?)
3 slices cooked ham
3 slices Swiss cheese

In a small bowl, mix together the butter, mayonnaise, mustard, onion and poppy seeds. Spread on top and bottom of hamburger buns or bagels. Add a slice of ham and a slice of swiss to each, and wrap sandwiches in foil. Bake 15 minutes at 350˚. Serve hot. Makes 3

Easy Pasta Salad



6 oz. rotini or elbow macaroni, cooked
1/2 of a cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 of a green or red bell pepper, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 c bottled Italian salad dressing

Combine all ingredients.

food & drink

A Tasty Crockpot Chicken Dish, Broccoli Salad

This chicken dish turns out nicely - and is like a saucy barbecued chicken. It's easy to throw together in the morning, and the chicken falls of the bone by the time it's done. I also made a broccoli salad - sort of like the one at Claim Jumper, but with a few variations. Then, since both dishes were sweet, we needed something not sweet with them, so I made turnip greens.

Cranberry-Barbecue Chicken



2-3 pounds chicken pieces (I used 3 chicken breasts)
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 c diced celery
1/2 c diced onion
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 c barbecue sauce (I used Bullseye)

Place chicken pieces in crockpot. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low 7-8 hours.

Broccoli Salad



Salad:
2 crowns fresh broccoli, cut in bite-sized pieces
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 c seedless red grapes, sliced in half
1/4 c raisins
1/3 c diced purple onion
1/3 c pine nuts
1/3 c real bacon bits (or 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled)

Dressing:
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/4 c sugar or Splenda
1 T cider vinegar

Mix all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Mix dressing ingredients and toss with salad.

food & drink

Zucchini Casserole

My sister-in-law Carol sent me her squash casserole recipe, and I tinkered around with it and came up with a very similar one for zucchini. I added some cheese and a crumb topping, and sautéed the onions that went in it, to avoid the raw taste that sometimes comes with adding frozen chopped onions to things. (I usually use frozen chopped onion, since there's always some in my freezer.) This one came out very nice--since it's got some eggs in it, it's very light and fluffy.

Zucchini Casserole



3 lbs. zucchini
1/4 c butter
1/2 c chopped onion
3 eggs, beaten
2 T cornstarch
5 oz. can evaporated milk
2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 T sugar or Splenda granular
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
 
Preheat oven to 425˚. Wash and slice zucchini and boil until tender, about 8 minutes. While squash is boiling, sauté the onion in the butter. Drain the squash well, slightly mash and mix with onion and remaining ingredients. Bake in a 12 x 7" baking dish 35-40 minutes. You could add a crumb topping of crushed Ritz crackers or saltines, mixed with a tablespoon of butter. I used 10 Ritz crackers and 1/4 cup of panko break crumbs, since that's all the crackers I had.

food & drink

Last Day of Spring Break- It's Back to Work Tomorrow

I was going to sleep late today, the last day I could do so for a week, but my son called me at 5:30 am from Korea. Oh well. I made a pot of coffee, and decided to bake a batch of healthy breakfast cookies. I've been seeing commercials for a major company's "breakfast cookies," and I can just imagine how much white flour and sugar they have in them. Mine are much healthier. And they don't have fruit in them, like raisins or apples–they have bacon, and cheese, and oats. The combination of salty protein with the sweet make for a yummy, filling treat to eat by hand while driving to work if you're in a hurry and can't make breakfast at home.

Breakfast Cookies



3/4 c white whole wheat flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2/3 c butter, softened
1/4 c Splenda
1/4 c Splenda brown sugar blend
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 regular oats, uncooked (can use quick-cooking, but not instant)
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c ground flaxseed
1/4 c oat bran
1/2 c real bacon bits

Combine flour, soda, and salt; mix well, and set aside. Cream butter and sugar; beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats, cheese, wheat germ, and bacon. Using hands, form dough into 1 1/2" balls. Slightly flatten them and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350F for 16-18 minutes. Cool 1 minutes on cookie sheets. Yield: 2 dozen

I cheated for dinner tonight. I used a seasoning mix I bought at George's Market, a German store around the corner from my office.

Instead of following the directions, which called for only meat, mushrooms, water, and a bit of cream, I added diced red potatoes, and white wine instead of water. Served with a salad, it made for a great dinner, with leftovers for DH's lunch tomorrow.


Bananas in Walnut Sauce
I learned something tonight about fat free half and half. It doesn't curdle when heated in a sauce. We wanted a sweet dessert, and I had some bananas, so I thought I'd throw together a simple walnut-brown sugar sauce sort of like Bananas Foster. It turned out wonderful. Here's what I did:

Heat two tablespoons of butter in a skillet, and add about half a cup of coarsely chopped walnuts. Cook the nuts gently for a couple of minutes, and then add two heaping teaspoons of Splenda brown sugar blend. Keep stirring, and after a minute or so, add 1/2 teaspoon rum extract and half cup of fat free half and half. Cook, stirring gently another couple of minutes--it will cook down and thicken. (This is where regular half and half tendes to curdle). Add two bananas, halved and sliced lengthwise into fourths. Heat through and serve. It tasted decadent, but had less real sugar and fat than regular.

food & drink

Testing a Recipe from Ruth

Since DH went to Vegas this weekend to see his brother, I took the opportunity to make one of Ruth’s recipes--not that he wouldn't like it, but because it used two very small filet mignons that I had in the freezer and I knew he would want BIG steaks. I invited my neighbor Carol over for dinner, and fed her Ruth’s Steak au Poivre, baked potato, and mixed green salad. We both ate every bite, and practically licked the plates clean. Another success, Ruth! I don't have any pics though; by the time I remembered to take a picture, we were halfway finished. Dessert was more of Tuesday's Mocha Cappuccino Pudding. We shared a baked potato--both of us not wanting the calories, and I savored every bite since I haven't had baked potato in months!


food & drink

Some Texas Barbecue for a Snowy Day

More snow. Ack. I've had enough. It's April! It started snowing last night, and DH and I woke up to over a foot on the ground. We spent most of the morning after breakfast shoveling the steps, the driveway, around the two vehicles, and then the huge berm put up by the snowplow. My wrists and back are so sore! We broke for lunch, and it started snowing again. Around 4, DH went out and shoveled again until dinner, but it hasn't stopped snowing. There's another foot. It's supposed to stop tonight. I hope so. DH has got to go to Las Vegas tomorrow, and I have a lunch date with my daughter.

Yesterday I started on tonight's dinner. Normally I take three days to do a barbecue brisket, but decided to shorten the process since I was able to start the cooking so early this morning. If you've never done a barbecue brisket, Texas style, here's the way to do it in a regular oven.

Barbecue Brisket, Texas Style

Day 1: Sprinkle both sides of the brisket with garlic powder, onion powder, and celery salt. Place in a marinating dish, or a bag, or a Foodsaver marinating canister, and sprinkle with liquid smoke. This is a liquid sold under several different brand names. The one I have is called Wright's Hickory Seasoning Liquid Smoke, and comes in a 3.5 oz. bottle. Use about a third of the bottle for a 1.5 pound brisket, two thirds for a 3 pound brisket, and the whole bottle if you're doing a huge cut of meat. Seal bag or canister and marinate in the refrigerator at least overnight.

Day 2, early morning: Sprinkle brisket generously with Wocestershire sauce. For my 1.5 pound brisket, which is a small one, I used about 3 tablespoons. Place in a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for four hours at 275˚. Remove from oven, let cool for about an hour, and then place, still covered, in the refrigerator.

Day 2, 45 minutes before you want to eat: Remove brisket from pan and put on cutting board; slice thinly across the grain. It will seem tough, but it softens to a wonderful tenderness when it's reheated. Lift congealed grease from baking dish and discard. Put meat back in pan, and cover with about 1 cup of prepared barbecue sauce. I use either Bullseye or K.C. Masterpiece, since they don't have that raw sour taste that Kraft and Hunt's do. It's up to you.

Cover dish again with foil and bake at 325˚ for about 30-35 minutes. Enjoy!

We always eat this with my mother's potato salad and baked beans.

Mom's Potato Salad

1 very large russet potato or two medium ones
2 hard-boiled eggs,
3 T diced onion
4 sweet pickles, diced
2 T diced pimento
1/2 c Miracle Whip
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potato in its skin for about 25 minutes, or until knife inserted in potato goes through easily. Let cool. Peel and dice into a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix. Makes about 4 servings.

Mom's Baked Beans

1 large can B & M or Bush's Boston-Style Baked Beans
1 T mustard
3 T brown sugar
2 T ketchup
1 T dried minced onion (yes, the dried stuff--if you use fresh, it doesn't cook enough and tastes too raw and onion-y)

Combine in a baking dish; cover tightly and cook at 350˚ for at least 30 minutes.





food & drink

A Foodblogger’s Meme Around the World

A couple of weeks ago, Ulrike at Kuchenlatein tagged me for this intriguing meme. It’s a fun one for me, since I am having a great time enjoying blogs from all over the world.

1. Please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from foodblogs to try:

Ruth’s Chile Chicken with Cashews from Once Upon a Feast

Carrot Cake Bread from Chef Michele’s Adventures

Joe’s Chocolate Snack Cake from Culinary in the Desert

2. A foodblog in your vicinity:

So Cal Foodie

3. A foodblog (or more) located far from you:

a curious mix in Singapore, Malaysia

Anthony’s Kitchen in Mumbai, India

my favourite plum in Melbourne, Australia

4. A foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?):

Erin Eats - I discovered her after she posted a comment on Once Upon a Feast

Look Hunny, I Cooked - I discovered her blog through some links on other blogs, and we’ve “spoken” through comments

Kayaksoup - same thing - links from other blogs

5. Any people or bloggers you want to tag with this meme?

Sure! How about Anthony of Anthony’s Kitchen and Catesa of Look Hunny, I Cooked

food & drink

A Recipe from my Childhood Plus a Guilt-Free Dessert

Last week in North Carolina, my big brother Chuck and his wife Carol shared with me a recipe that I faintly remember from when I was a child. I remember the name, Pluto Pie, but not the actual dish. It sounded really tasty, and something that DH would like, so I wrote down the description as Carol and Chuck told me how to make it. I’m not sure mine’s exactly like theirs, but it’s got to be pretty close. It’s sort of like a pizza without the crust, and without the Italian seasoning.

Chuck and Carol’s Pluto Pie

3/4 lb. lean ground beef
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
3/4 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c sliced green olives
1 6-oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained
3/4 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350˚.
Pack the ground beef into the bottom and up the sides of an ovenproof 10” skillet. (You might be able to use a pie pan for this, too.) Spread the tomato sauce on top of the beef, top with the cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the olives and mushrooms on top of the cheddar, and then top all with the mozzarella. Bake 40 minutes; let stand 5 minutes before cutting into wedges.

I served this with a salad right out of my childhood–iceberg lettuce, tomato, and bottled French dressing.

DH’s verdict: delicious! I thought so, too. The olives give it all the salt it needs, and the combination of flavors is just divine.

For all you chocolate lovers who can’t eat sugar, here’s a sugar-free chocolate dessert I tried tonight. We both thought it was rich, and couldn’t tell it was sugar-free.

Mocha Cappuccino Pudding

4 t instant coffee or espresso granules
1 T very hot water
1 1/2 c cold skim milk
1 sm. pkg. sugar-free instant )
chocolate pudding mix
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 cup Sugar Free Cool Whip
additional Cool Whip
Oreo cookie crisps (optional)

Dissolve coffee granules in water; set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine milk, pudding mix and cinnamon. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Stir in coffee. Fold in Cool Whip. Spoon into serving dishes. Garnish with a dollop of Cool Whip and cookie crisps if desired. Makes 4 servings.

food & drink

Good Eatin' on Monday

While I was in North Carolina last week, my sister Marilyn made us a wonderful mushroom quiche for breakfast. She made it without a crust, and I begged her for the recipe since it tasted great and would be a fabulous low carb breakfast. The recipe she shared with me included sausage, so I asked DH which way he wanted it. He chose a crust and the sausage.

Marilyn's Mushroom Quiche

1 T butter
1 1/2 c sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 c chopped onion
1/4 c chopped sweet red pepper
1/4 c chopped green bell pepper
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1/3 c half & half
1 c shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
dash ground nutmeg
(optional) 4 oz. bulk breakfast sausage, crumbled, cooked, and drained
(optional) 1 9" uncooked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350˚. Sauté mushrooms, onion, and peppers in butter until tender. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in eggs and half & half Stir in cheeses, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Spray a 10" quiche dish with nonstick cooking spray. (Optional: use a pie crust) (Optional: sprinkle bottom of pie crust or quiche dish with cooked sausage). Pour egg mixture into dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I had some fish sticks still in the freezer, along with some shrimp, and decided to make fish and shrimp tacos for dinner. One of my favorite fast food restaurants here in southern California is Rubio's Baja Grill. They used to make some wonderful shrimp tacos, until they switched to breaded shrimp. I especially like their salsas, but tonight it's all about the tacos. DH likes fish tacos, so we had both.

Fish and Shrimp Tacos

8 breaded fish sticks
8 medium pieces uncooked shrimp
3 T mayonnaise
3 T plain yogurt
1 t chipotle chili powder (I use McCormick's)
6 small corn tortillas (use 12 and double them if they're really thin)
grated cheddar cheese
diced tomato
shredded cabbage

Cook fish sticks according to package directions. Boil shrimp a couple minutes until pink. Remove tails and keep warm. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, yogurt, and chili powder. Put corn tortilla on a hot griddle or skillet. Put cheddar cheese and two fish sticks or 4 pieces shrimp on each tortilla. Just as cheese melts, remove from griddle to a plate. (If you cook them too long, they get hard) Top each with a couple teaspoons of mayonnaise-yogurt mixture, some diced tomato, and some shredded cabbage. Fold in half to eat. Makes 4 fish tacos and 2 shrimp tacos.


food & drink

Beef Burgundy on the Stovetop

Another recipe that I grew up loving from my mother's kitchen is Beef Burgundy. Not only is it easy to fix, it's a stovetop recipe instead of an oven one, and it tastes wonderful. I've cut it down some so that it makes only 3-4 servings.

Beef Burgundy

3/4 lb. round steak, cut in 3/4" pieces
1/2 c flour
3 T butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 c chopped onion
2 T chopped dried parsley
2 6-oz. cans mushrooms, drained
1 1/2 c burgundy
1 bay leaf

Shake round steak pieces in flour in a plastic or brown paper bag. Brown in two batches on all sides in butter in a large skillet. Add remaining ingredients. Turn heat to very low, cover, and simmer about an hour, stirring occasionally. It will thicken as it cooks; you might need to add water or more burgundy if it begins to dry out. Serve over hot rice.


food & drink

Weekend Cat Bloggin# 43- Alvin

This is Alvin, my brother Barry's cat. He's a delightful cat. Friendly, playful. I don't have a cat of my own (I have Pepper, the dog), but thought I'd share Alvin for WCB. Check out the roundup on eatstuff .

It's Good to be Back in the Kitchen

This cake recipe is one of the winners of the Splenda Brown Sugar Blend recipe contest; it was submitted by “PJ L.” of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. I made it this afternoon, and decided it’s a “keeper.” Next time, I’ll add nuts for a change. DH wants frosting, but I put a couple dollops of sugar-free Cool Whip on our slices instead.



Died and Went to Heaven Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 cups SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
1/2 cup SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups lowfat buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup hot strong black coffee (I used hot water with instant espresso powder)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease cake pan or bundt with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
Blend flour, SPLENDA® Granulated Sweetener, SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and coffee in a large mixing bowl.
Add flour to mixture, using an electric mixer on medium speed, mix until
Smooth (about 2 minutes). Whisk in coffee. The batter will seem thin, but it’s okay.
Pour batter into cake pan or bundt pan.
Bake for 35 minutes, until an inserted toothpick in center of cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes.

Note: I don’t usually have buttermilk in my refrigerator, so I use powdered buttermilk instead. You mix it in with the dry ingredients; and use the equivalent amount of water in the wet ingredients. Another option is to try this: stir 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into 1 cup milk; let stand about 10 minutes. This is a common buttermilk substitute.

After I got the cake in the oven, I put some boneless chicken thighs in to marinate. I used a marinade that’s quick and easy, which I call Asian Marinade. It’s not very sweet, but it’s reminiscent of teriyaki.



Asian Chicken Thighs

1 6-oz. can pineapple juice
1/4 c soy sauce
1/2 t grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, pressed through garlic press
1/2 t red pepper flakes
4-6 boneless chicken thighs

Marinate chicken 2 hours or longer. Grill outside or on indoor grill.

While I was in North Carolina, I spent an afternoon watching the Food Network with my mother. She’s a Paula Deen fan, and so of course, we had to watch Paula’s Home Cooking. She made some sweet potatoes that I just HAD to copy, though I made one change that lowered the carbs. Paula called them “chips;” I’ll call mine “planks,” a name suggested by Alice when I described them to her this afternoon on the phone.


Sweet Potato Planks

1 large or two small sweet potatoes or yams
2 T butter, melted
1/4 c dry roasted peanuts, chopped (Paula Deen uses honey-roasted peanuts, but I use regular ones)

Earlier in the day, boil the potato in a large pot of water for about 20 minutes. Drain and cool.
Preheat oven to 450˚. Peel cooled potato, and slice into 1/2-inch slices. Spray a baking sheet with butter-flavored cooking spray and place potato slices on baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Bake 15-20 minutes. Serves 2

food & drink

Thank-you

Thanks to all for your kind words of support and comfort. I'm home now in California--and what a trip it was to try to get back home! After a week in North Carolina with my family, I left Raleigh-Durham Thursday night for what was supposed to be a 5-hour flight to Las Vegas, a one-hour layover, and a 1-hour flight to Palm Springs. I should have been home at 2 am California time, or 5 am Raleigh time. Instead, I learned in Vegas that my flight to Palm Springs was running four hours late. I had a choice of taking a flight to Ontario and a bus to Palm Springs, arriving around 3 am, waiting for a flight that probably would get cancelled, or spending the night in Vegas and flying home the next day. Since I was really tired and wanted to sleep, I didn't want options one or two. So, I slept for 5 hours at Terrible's Hotel (without my luggage!), and flew out of Vegas for Phoenix at 9:40 am. Phoenix? It was the only flight that would connect me with Palm Springs. After a two-hour layover in Phoenix, we were told the flight to Palm Springs was running about 40 minutes late. Aaarrgghh. But it did take off, and I finally made it home to Forest Falls at 4:30 pm. The best part of it was that my luggage was waiting for me in Palm Springs and nothing was lost.

I had a wonderful week in North Carolina. We all gathered at my big sister's house in Cary, and found out that Alice's (Barry's wife) company was giving us three hotel rooms for the weekend. (She works for a company that owns several hotels and department stores in the area). That allowed my oldest brother and youngest sister and I to stay there, while Mom and another sister stayed with my oldest sister. Alice's mother stayed with her at their home in Fuquay-Varina, and after she left Monday, I went to stay with Alice.

The funeral service was Saturday. It was touching and wonderful, and sad. We got to meet a lot of Barry's friends, and saw how loved he was. It was also nice seeing my brother and sisters and Alice and her son and daughter. We all renewed some connections that were a bit fragmented through the years, and vowed to keep those communication lines open and more frequent. I came home to my wonderful husband, having missed him dearly, and had a great time in the kitchen this afternoon. (Airport meals leave much to be desired).