Category Archives: Recipes

What Did You Cook

Posted on May 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

for Cinco de Mayo?

I got some “homemade” tortillas that stuck together but everything else went right. I marinated chicken breast strips (of course I sliced them) in lime juice, salt and pepper and some fresh Fresno chile.

An orange pepper was used, along with a large sliced onion. But first I did the tortillas in a dry pan and almost set off the smoke alarms. I placed them between two plates to keep warm and had to take the pan off the heat for a couple of minutes.

Then I added the onion/pepper mix. Now I have to clean the stove. it cooked well and quickly but I had to keep my eye on it. I made guacamole with one avocado, some cumin, ancho chile and lime and covered it.

I took fresh corn off the cob and marinated it with lime juice, added tomato, salt and pepper. It’s raw corn. I should have done more with seasonings but time was critical and we’ll see how it tastes after marinating 24 hours.

After the veggies were done, I took them out and added the chicken, just cooked it almost and added the veggies and we were good to go.

A bit of salsa, sour cream, and I didn’t have Cotija cheese but crumbled a bit of Feta for a little bite.

Hubby said, after enjoying my fajitas probably once a month for 12 years, that this was the best. Isn’t he sweet?

Today I may try carne asada with the sides I’ve already prepared. Enjoy the day, dear readers, Dee

ps Happy birthday to Margie, a dear reader indeed. She has a big one today but gals don’t tell, and guys shouldn’t ask.

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Pasta a la Dee

Posted on April 18, 2013 | 1 Comment

I tried this a couple of times and if my husband likes it in different versions two nights in a row it’s a winner. He doesn’t like leftovers.

Dinner for two:

1/2 lb linguini, get the water boiling

Dry roast a handful of pine nuts and cool. Sautee broccoli, separate pan, in olive oil and add chicken or vegetable broth by the tablespoon. Add a bit of pasta water and the drained pasta to the broccoli. Add 1/4 c feta cheese, crumbled, and toss. Add the pine nuts.

Toss the drained pasta, mix and put it in big bowls to enjoy.

Last night I made it differently with linguini, by adding shredded snap peas and some diced chicken. Plus, I’m cleaning out the frig thoughtfully before anything becomes a “science project.” Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Recipe Ideas, Recipes

Blackbird, Bye Bye

Posted on March 18, 2013 | 4 Comments

Pack up all your cares and woes,

Here I go, singing low, bye bye blackbird

…… blackbird, bye bye.

Last post, they’re selling my posts. I never wanted or got a nickel from them, I will be removing them from WordPress.

I don’t know how to do this as I’m a writer and not a techie, that’s probably why they allow people to steal my words and sell them.

To my readers, I salute you and will be back on other than WordPress. Thank you for being with me and inspiring me these few years. The grandmother who died before I was a year old sang that song to me, to get me to go to sleep. It’s that time. Dee

 

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Posted in Cook Books, Cooking Utensils, Editorial, Education, Friend Alert, Greece, haiku, Home Improvement, Italy, Music, Pet, Recipe Ideas, Recipes, Recommended Pantry Contents, Scotland, The Ranch, Travel, Uncategorized, Utah

Variations on a Theme

Posted on March 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

No, I’m not Rachmaninoff, or his muse Paganini, but I took on a master. Chef, that is.

The first recipe I ever made from Mastering the Art of French Cooking was Julia Child’s French Onion Soup.

So, I broke down a five pound chicken, onion, garlic, carrots and celery and made chicken stock. The last hour I caramelized five large onions in oil and butter with salt, pepper, thyme and a bit of sugar.

I refrigerated the stock and onions separately overnight and skimmed the stock of fat today, then measured out 8 cups to heat and season while I brought the onions up in another pot and added flour to cook out.

The resulting soup needed more stock so I added perhaps another cup, then at the end, before adding 2T cognac I added 1T buerre manie to thicken it a bit more. I had to keep tasting and adding salt and pepper without reducing too much to oversalt.

I’d made toasts with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil the day before, and had to try some “sharp” Wisconsin Swiss cheese on top. Soup was hot, I assembled the soup, toast, and cheese and broiled until the cheese bubbled. It was served with a salad of bitter and spring greens.

A neighbor tried a bowl and just said “Yum yum yum.” As for me, I spent over an hour caramelizing the onions and it didn’t look as good as if I’d made a beef broth. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted great, it just didn’t look like the traditional French onion soup underneath the cheese and crouton.

I generally do not like canned or boxed beef broths. I keep a box of chicken broth at all times as the non-spoiled dog has a Tbsp. at every meal, and find some OK. The veggie stocks I’d rather make myself because all the store-bought taste tinny  or are “off” in one way or another for my tastes.

Lessons learned. Tasty stock, soup, onions, croutons and Wisconsin cheese but it just didn’t feel right. Sorry, Julia. The beauty is that we all get to make mistakes. Another lesson: don’t ever try out all new recipes for an impressive dinner. Try things out beforehand, we all have family and friends as guinea pigs, but stick with something with which you are comfortable. Cheers, TGIF, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Recipe Ideas, Recipes

Re-Making

Posted on October 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

It took me a while. My mother died four years ago and I have a few things of hers, like her Lenox china for ten. I also have Nanny’s (my husband’s grandmother) setting for eight. We have service for 18 in an apartment that’s 1,248 square feet and a dining table for four. Fabulous!

A while ago my sister sent me an envelope with recipe cards from the early 1970′s. Every one, hand-written, brought back a memory. It was difficult, emotionally, to put them into context.

I talked to my brother the other day and he has her Hungarian Coffee Cake recipe, a bread we ate early every Christmas morning. I traded it for our aunt’s Piquant Meatballs and threw in BBQ Beef for good measure (because I mentally tortured him as a young child). That is a joke, dear reader, it’s just that he drummed on everything, especially on 14-hour car rides and drove me up a wall.

Taste and smell memories are awesome. Just making Mom’s pot roast brings back memories and it’s such a simple dish.

The BBQ Beef calls for three pounds of beef chuck. I haven’t made it in decades. I remember it being delicious, our homemade version of that supermarket stuff. When I looked at the ingredients I went to one of the cookbooks I have online (in the Cookbooks section, silly) and thought I might substitute a true Texas BBQ sauce while cooking the beef. The book is by Jeanne Voltz and entitled “Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Ribs and Other Great Feeds.” Publisher is Knopf, the same company that was smart enough to publish our beloved Julia Child.

It’s a wonderful cookbook (I’m not paid a cent to say this) and her regular rub, rib rub, peppery barbecued rib sauce and fresh cucumber relish are out of this world. I have over 200 cookbooks, and don’t cook every dish in every one!

I’ll let you know how this new, old family favorite turns out. My husband is having cold pizza at a seminar tonight so it’ll have to wait. And I was going to try chicken-fried steak tonight! He’s a Texan and his dad runs a ranch so I thought I’d try to wing it but that will have to wait as well.

There are many dinners (I hope) to come for us and family and friends. It’s great to be cooking for two, these past eleven years, instead of a toasted peanut butter sandwich over the kitchen sink for the 20 before. Don’t worry, my husband of nearly ten years and dog of nearly nine are not spoiled at all. Ask anyone! Right….. Dee

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Stuffed Peppers

Posted on September 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

Years ago my mother used to make this dish with a recipe and precision. I wing it. Saturday afternoon I got out two huge bowls and made a double batch and gave half to a young couple who just had their first child last week.

I’ll give you my ideas for a single batch. This would serve four and I use an 8×8 pyrex baking dish and crowd things a bit.

1# ground beef or turkey

1/2 onion, chopped

3/4 cup rice, cooked (I use half broth, half water in a 2:1 ratio)

2 peppers (I prefer red ones for color and flavor), halved lengthwise and seeded

tomatoes, about 1/2 cup canned chopped whole or ripe fresh to taste, for moisture

thyme, salt and pepper

breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, optional

Get the rice cooking. Saute the onion and add the meat, seasoning and browning until nearly cooked. While these are cooking, halve and stem and seed the peppers and nestle them in the dish. My mother used to boil them, no need as it takes away both vitamins and flavor.

Salt and pepper the peppers. I get a fattier cut of meat for flavor then drain it thoroughly before mixing. Mix the meat, onions and tomatoes and rice and season to taste. Add a little parmesan into the mix if you like it. I didn’t as I was cooking for a very healthy and athletic couple and wanted to keep it as free of salt and fat as possible.

Fill the peppers. Over-fill. Top with 1-2T bread crumbs and parmesan, if you wish. Pop into a 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes to reheat the ingredients, cook the peppers through and brown the top. If everything is hot, prick a pepper with a knife and if it goes through easily, the dish is done.

So yesterday this dish did double duty. In a town that doesn’t welcome newcomers, where we live it’s all newcomers and we “pay it forward.” I’ve an easy meal for anyone new who moves in on our floor because I know they’re living in box-land after a long day’s drive and unloading. Also for new families. Come up with your own riff on it and let me know!

Cheers, Dee

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Mom’s Cheesy Meatloaf

Posted on September 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

I have to wing this because I cook for two and have never had a recipe for this. As the climate and light change towards our first fall and winter here, I’m adapting.

1.5 # ground beef, whatever cut you like

1 tsp. each garlic and onion powder

1 tsp. Worcester sauce, one egg, salt and pepper to taste, mixed together

Bread crumbs, fresh or plain, to pull it all together.

Mix with fork or hands and add 1 cup of diced cheddar cheese. Form in a loaf pan or freeform on a baking pan. Slather with ketchup or BBQ sauce at will, optional of course. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees.

It will be yummy as the cheese melts… I’m making it tonight because I had a failsafe in case our restaurant (recently featured on Food Network and crazy busy) was full.

So now I have 2# of ground beef and may make us a couple of burgers and a meat loaf for later. Cheers, Dee

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Grilled Salmon

Posted on August 7, 2012 | 1 Comment

This is a really simple recipe. Get equally sized salmon fillets and make sure to use your kitchen needle nose pliers to get out those pin bones (no, not the pliers in the garage, the one from your secret kitchen stash).

Oil the skin side, yes, keep the skin on as your guests will be able to discern whether they wish to eat it or not. On the flesh side, season with salt and pepper and slather with a very good whole grain mustard.

Grill, closing the top so you don’t need to flip it, remove and with a simple squeeze of lemon juice you’re ready to serve.

It would be great with a homemade slaw, a jicama salad, quinoa salad or even cold sesame noodle salad. May I thank Mark Bittman for making minimalism chic. I’m certain we’ve both been minimalists for years, he’s just on TV and writes for my favorite newspaper. Happy cooking! Dee

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Olives a la Dee

Posted on June 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

This isn’t really a recipe, but is what I did last weekend for an international dinner/wine tasting. Out of a hat, we picked Greece.

With guests in town, we were unable to attend the feast but brought a few appetizers and Italian wine (couldn’t find Greek on short notice). I bought frozen spanakopita (sorry) and made my olives, and some sliced tomatoes with oil from the olives and fresh oregano.

I bought a large container of pitted Kalamata olives at the “olive bar, ” drained them of brine, and placed them in a quart measuring cup with several smashed cloves of garlic, hot pepper flakes, bruised rosemary and oregano sprigs and covered them with extra-virgin olive oil, for 24 hours at room temp (covered).

My m-i-l tasted an olive right out of the brine, then 24 hours later after the “Dee Treatment” and it mellowed them just the right amount. After draining them into a bowl, I used some of the oil to drizzle on the tomato appetizer, then saved the rest to use in and on homemade pizza dough the following evening.

Yes, my Boy Scout nephew was the pizza chef that night, and I was his sous-chef. It’s always a challenge to cook for guests, especially picky children like my nephew. He’s a garnish-phobe. Cereal, no fruit. hamburger, no cheese. I have to gain his trust before trying the old favorite Auntie L trick: you must taste it before you ask the ingredients.

It worked for me. For one thing, I found out I LOVE bleu cheese, and now that my palate has expanded I’m a serious fan of Gorgonzola dolce.

As for the olives, I use anything I have that’s appropriate. I might put in some lemon peel or whatever I have on hand. I particularly love garlic, oregano and rosemary. Whatever you do, when you strain it, keep the oil! It’s delicious to baste a roast chicken or whatever, and will keep in the frig for a bit. Cheers! Dee

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Grass Fed Beef

Posted on June 15, 2012 | 2 Comments

I paid another $3 to try the grass-fed skirt steak last night. We were eager to get a new grill here but our tiny Coleman fold-up and tote grill is searing hot and has been wowing us for the last week or so.

Olive oil, Borsari seasoning mix (black label) and pop it on the grill. Jim loved it. I made rosti potatoes (shredded potato cake, stovetop) and boiled corn on the cob for dinner. Yum, it was good. Oh, I had some homemade chimichurri sauce leftover from the other day so used it on the steak.

This morning the dog and I were up and out at 6 a.m. Sun comes up early here as we’re on the eastern edge of the central/eastern divide. The sky changes colors beginning at 4:00 a.m. so I’ve taken to putting the shades down at night. I hate to do the blackout shades in the bedroom because I love seeing the moon over the lake.

While we always go to Nanny’s for Thanksgiving, I’m going to try to get a capon for Christmas. I know Whole Foods will never carry them (holier than thou ones who sell me bacon that goes rancid on the second day it’s open – Give Me Nitrites!) so I’ll check my other butcher. Or order online in advance. I’ve been trying to do this for too many years now to let you down.

Mom always made a simple stuffing for chicken or capon. For a chicken I’d take 4-5 slices whole wheat bread and toast it, take off the crusts and cut with a serrated knife into 1/2″ cubes. Saute some finely chopped celery and onion and add it to the bowl. Dig out the liver and saute it, chop it and add to the bowl. She always added some beef consomme to wet the mixture. Season the interior of the chicken with a mixture of salt, pepper and thyme – I mix it up beforehand to season the entire bird – tie and place in a 375 oven for 25 minutes per pound, basting every 25 minutes.

As I usually make a brown gravy to go with the chicken and stuffing, I like to brighten up the meal/plate with colorful veggies, such as roasted carrots or steamed broccoli. If I roast red potatoes with garlic and rosemary, I leave on the skins for color and nutrients and eye-pleasing color.

Folks always say you eat with your eyes first. If we didn’t, foodie magazines wouldn’t employ stylists and photographers. I don’t do mile-high chef plates, just quality ingredients cooked simply and usually served family style. When one has service for 18 and a dining table that seats four, in a small city apartment, that’s what I’ve chosen to do. TGIF! I get to work on Boxlandia (our move-in) this weekend! Oh, to put art on the walls. Can’t wait! Dee

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