fatcook

This came up because of a discussion from someone on my flist. When I was typing it up for him I realized My Husband can never have this, in this manner, ever again.  This is most definitely not low sodium. I am going to need to do some serious reworking of this recipe.

Smoked Tea Eggs

From Treasures of our Past by the Phoenix Buddhist Friendship Association

8 eggs

3 tbsps loose black tea (I like Russian Caravan)

2 tbsps soy sauce

1 tbsp coarse salt

1 whole star anise

Water

Asian Spinach & Shrimp Salad

1 tsp of ground ginger

3 tbsps of rice wine vinegar

2 tbsps of low sodium soy sauce

2 tbsps of water

1 tbsp of sesame oil

10 oz of fresh spinach – cleaned, washed and stems removed

1 lb of shrimp – cleaned, cooked and chilled (31-40 work very well)

1 cup of bean sprouts – fresh or canned (I prefer fresh)

1 cup of snow peas – cut in half

1 red bell pepper- cut into strips

1 yellow pepper – cut into strips

Cashews – unsalted (optional)

Mix ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, water and oil together with a whisk until frothy.  Let rest for about 15-30 minutes at room temperature to let the flavors blend.

Assemble the salad in this order: spinach, shrimp, bean sprouts, snow peas and bell peppers. Drizzle with dressing and serve.  Garish with cashews if desired

Makes 8, 2 cup servings.   

120 calories, 260 mg of sodium per serving.

For my birthday I was given the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid, I was also given the sausage stuffer attachment for my Kitchen Aid. I can now make my own stuffed meat products of questionable items and dubious nature!

Mahahahahahhaahahahahahahahahah!

Try this if you dare: 

Xni-Pec* Salsa

*Mayan for Dog's Nose

2-10* Habanero Chiles, minced (if you like it milder, remove ribs and seeds)

3 Plum tomatoes, finely diced

¼ cup of fresh cilantro, chopped

¼ cup of white onion, minced**

¼ cup of sour orange (or 3 tbsps of orange juice and 3 tbsps of lemon juice)

Combine all the ingredients and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.

*The amount depends on how much heat you like.

**I replace this with a ¼ cup of tomatillo.

dead green bunnies through a cocktail straw!

Now I remember what I hated about being single: the being alone part, the being bored part and the not being able to share silly stuff with part.

This is the single longest period we have slept apart since we got married.

 I hate it.

I have it easier than My Husband; at least I have the right bed, the right light and (mostly) the right noises. He’s got the wrong bed, the wrong light and the wrong noises. He also has a freezing house to deal with. My in-laws keep the house about 72 degrees, which doesn’t sound so bad until you realize that’s our high in some of the winter months. To a Phoenix boy, born and bred, that’s cold. It’s also why their power bill is in the $300-400 range per month for the summer months. I keep ours about 80 or so. A 20 degrees is a good difference when it’s 100-110 outside, not 30-40. Brrrrr

He is going to see the PT’s, as soon as he finds the damn referral.  

Roasted Potato Salad

Potatoes
2 lbs of unpeeled red potatoes, halved and quartered (about 6 cups)
2 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of olive oil
¼ cup of fresh parsley, chopped coarsely
Cooking spray
Foil*

 Dressing

2 ½ tbsps of balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

2 tbsps of olive oil

1 tsp of fresh ground black pepper

½ tsp of ground oregano

Heat the grill to medium high (about 350-400 degrees).**

Combine the potatoes, garlic and olive oil in a bowl, toss to coat. Make sure that the garlic and oil evenly coat the potatoes.

Spray a large sheet of heavy duty foil with the cooking spray. Spoon the potato mixture onto the center of the foil. Bring up the sides. Double fold the top, then the sides. Make sure you leave room for heat circulation inside.

Place on grill for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Turn the packet over at the 15 minute mark.

Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Cover and shake vigorously. Can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Pour dressing over hot potato mixture, add parsley, toss and serve immediately

Makes 6 servings, 1 cup each.

*The pre-made foil packet work well here.

**This can be made in the oven, instead of the grill: Preheat oven to 450. Place potato mixture on a cookie sheet with a rim and coated with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes or until tender.

I was going to post yesterday but any day that I declaim that there is not enough bourbon or chocolate, is not a good day to post anything. My office mate wisely left me alone. Today was looking better, then this afternoon hit. There’s still not enough chocolate.

Sorrel Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

3 cups of sorrel

3 tbsps. Unsalted butter

½ cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Cayenne to taste, optional

Ground nutmeg to taste, optional

Wash sorrel and remove stems and any woody ribs. Roll leaves into a log and thinly slice.

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add sorrel and cook, stirring, over medium heat until it melts into a puree, about 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the cream. Simmer for 2-3 more minutes while adding the seasonings. Sauce will thicken.

Serve hot or let chill for a least 4 hours.

Goes great with fish, chicken or vegetables.

I’ve been looking at my last several posts and OMG, what a depressing bunch!  I’m going to try and make sure I talk about the good things that have happened. I just don’t pay as much attention to the good things that happen and I should. So here is a short list from the last several weeks:

Got within about four feet of a Green Heron and got to watch him fish.

The Calliope hummingbird came thorough on schedule, bubbled the feeder twice and left.

The fortress has come back.

Got the backyard cleaned up from the winter and it is now ready for the BBQ season. (YUM)

Got the storage room cleaned up and organized.

Gave up ½ gram of saffron to My Husband, so he could try making saffron-wheat beer. (I’m bottling that tonight)

Was given a partial block of black tea.

Discover the cocktail called “Death in the Afternoon” (very yum)

Finished making the lemoncello and put it to freeze.

I know there’s been other stuff but that’s all I can remember right now.

Hot and Sour Matzo Soup

Hot and Sour Broth

6 cups of beef broth (home-made or canned*)

1 tbsp of cider vinegar

1 tbsp of white vinegar

2 tsp of rice vinegar

½ tsp of hot oil or 1 tsp of Tabasco

Matzo

2 large eggs, brought to room temp.

2 tbsp of oil

2 tbsp of water or stock

½ cup of matzo

½ tsp of kosher salt or ¼ tsp of table salt

Water

Combine the broth ingredients in a large pot with a lid. Bring to a boil.

Mix the eggs, oil, salt, water and matzo together in a non-reactive (glass) bowl, cover and let rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

After resting, using lightly wet hands (the matzo will be very sticky), make walnut** size balls. Add balls to boiling broth, cover, reduce heat and leave for 30-40 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings.

*If using canned broth, make sure to use the lowest sodium possible. Otherwise it is way too salty.

**I make grape sized balls, because I like lots of matzo in my soup.

My Husband has been feeling unwell so I made up one of his favorite comfort soups.

Corn Egg soup

6 cups of chicken stock

1 can of cream corn

2 large eggs

1 tbsp cornstarch

Salt

Pepper

Spices

Bring the stock to a boil in a deep pot. Remove 2 tbsp of stock and combine with the cornstarch in a separate container. Add the can of corn. Beat the eggs together but not foamy ( I use a spoon to do this). Add the cornstarch slurry to the stock. Then add any spices, salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to a boil. Remove from heat and slowly pour the beaten eggs into the hot broth, stirring gently until all the eggs are added.  Serve at once.

Makes 4 generous servings.

I was typing this up when my MP3 threw me for a loop. I went from Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn” to the Toadies “Possum Kingdom”. I like both pieces but together it’s a little surreal.

I needed to cook duck this weekend. Yes, I know, one normally doesn’t need to make duck but I had to make room in the freeze (Buy one family pack of petite sirloin steaks, get two free, could not pass that up) and it looked like it was getting freezer burn.  It also looked like it had some kind of gray spots. Mold? Blood spots? I wasn’t sure but I don’t know of any mold that can live in a freezer, but hey, I’ve been surprised before. Anything was possible; we’d gotten the duck from our sister in law after she culled her flock.

I decided to water thaw it so I could check it out quickly. It did have blood spots, just a couple and it wasn’t mold. It was feathers, lots and lots of feathers. Who ever cleaned this bird did a horrible job. I know how to clean birds. My mom and grandmother made sure of that. My mom, so I would appreciate where my food came from and my grandmother, because she considered an important skill for a woman to have. This bird looked like it was on the third day of a four day shore leave. Two and half hours later, I finally got it as clean as I could with salmon* pliers and forceps**. That was Saturday, I cooked it on Sunday, I have an easy and simple recipe for duck, and all it  takes is some time and patience.

Sunday is when I had a realization. The duck was cooking, the asparagus was ready to steam and I was making hollandaise sauce, when I wondered if I could cut the hollandaise in half. I have certain recipes memorized and hollandaise is one of them. So I pulled the Joy out to check what it said about cutting the recipe in half.  The recipe I have memorized was for a double batch. I’ve always made it that way. When I said so to My Husband, he comment was: “Of course, you did. That’s what your mom taught you do. Mostly because, I think, your dad loves the stuff and will put way too much of it on just about anything.” So now I get to memorize the “new” version of hollandaise and stop worrying if I have enough eggs.

*Long flat pliers I use for pinning salmon bones
**When I really need to get a good grip on salmon bones

Crispy Skin Duck
The Joy of Cooking

1 4-5lb duck, thawed or fresh

Salt

Water, if needed

Time

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Remove neck and giblets from the duck. In a deep roasting pan, place a V shaped rack. Rub the duck inside and out with the salt. Prick the skin well about 20 times per side. Place duck breast side down in the rack. Roast for 3 hours, pricking the skin again every hour. DO NOT COVER! If the fat is sizzling too much or splashing, add ¼ cup of water  to the bottom of the pan. After 3 hours remove the duck, turn it breast side up and increase the temperature to 350 degrees. Roast for 45 more minutes, remove. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. Have lots of napkins and enjoy.

The axes have started falling here at work. It looks like some of  the management teams are trying to keep as many jobs as they can. They are cutting hours but keeping people employed. I still don’t know what is going to happen in my department, our management team doesn’t tell us anything.

These help with both comfort and stress:

Molasses Cookies

3 cups of sifted all-purpose flour

2 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of ground ginger

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 cup of butter, softened

1 cup of white sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup of dark molasses*

3/4 cup of sour cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon; set aside. Cream the butter and butter together gradually, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and molasses. Mix in sour cream alternating with the sifted flour mix. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.**

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Transfer to wire racks to cool.  Makes about 5 dozen cookies

* I use un-sulfured molasses.

** I always use parchment paper, so I don’t know how these will behave on a plain cookie sheet.

Fire−And−Ice Chili

1 20 oz can pineapple chunks in syrup

2 lbs lean boneless pork roast cut into 1−inch cubes

2 tbps olive oil

2 medium yellow onion chopped, about 1 cup, divided *

3 cloves garlic, minced, divided

1 28 oz can tomatoes, diced and undrained

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 4 oz can diced green chilies, drained

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

¼ cup chili powder

4 tsps ground cumin

2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped fine

½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Chili toppers: sliced onions, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese

Drain pineapple, reserving syrup.

In a Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering, cook the pork, half a pound at a time, until brown. Return all the meat to the pot. Add ½ cup chopped onion and 1 clove garlic. Cook over medium heat till onion is tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the reserved pineapple syrup, undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, green chilies,

red and yellow peppers, the rest of the onion, the rest of the garlic, chili powder, cumin, jalapenos and salt.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer the chili for 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. Add the pineapple chunks. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes more.

 Makes 8 to 10 servings.

*I make this without the onions.

Baked Churros Munchies from Pam Anderson

2 sticks (16 Tbs.) unsalted butter, divided
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. plus 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 cup bleached all-purpose flour
5 large eggs
1 1/2 Tbs. cinnamon

Set oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees. Bring 1 cup water, 1 stick butter, salt and 1 tsp. sugar to a rolling boil. Turn heat to low, add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a soft ball. Off heat, thoroughly stir in one egg at a time. Let dough stand until it can hold its shape, about 5 minutes. Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop scant 2 Tbs. dough to form balls. Bake 30 minutes, until golden.

Reduce oven to 200 degrees. Melt remaining butter. Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Dunk puffs in butter, coat in cinnamon sugar and poke an X in puff bottoms with a knife. Return to cookie sheet and set in warm oven until puffs crisp, 45 minutes to 3 hours. Serve with Warm Chocolate Dipping Sauce.

Makes 30

Warm Chocolate Dipping Sauce

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. instant espresso
1 Tb. cornstarch
1 Tb. water

Heat chocolate, milk, sugar and instant espresso in a medium-size saucepan until chocolate melts. Combine cornstarch and water and whisk into hot chocolate; simmer chocolate until it thickens, almost immediately. Pour into a small bowl; serve warm with churros.

Makes 2 1/2 cups

I spent 45 minutes on the phone yesterday with IRS. Now, normally that would not be fun but I got to stump not one but two IRS employees with a 1099 question. I finally ended up with a supervisor who could answer my question. When I told him I’d talked to two other employees, he asked for their names and ID numbers, so he could make sure that next this question came up they could answer it.

I love my job!!

As promised:

Welsh Rare-bit

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

1 tbsp.  mustard powder

¾ cup of a strong, dark beer, Guinness is the one we us

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 lb. Cheddar (or other good semi-hard cheese), grated

4 to 8 pieces of bread, lightly toasted

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat (I know!) When it melts, stir in the flour. Keep on medium heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes. Then stir in mustard. Then add the beer and Worcestershire, you may need to use a whisk. Once everything is blended, turn heat to low and add the cheese. Keep stirring until smooth.*

 Put toast on a cookie sheet then spread cheese mixture on to the toast. Put under broiler until the edges are crisp and the cheese is bubbly, about 2-4 minutes, depend on your broiler. Serve immediately.

Makes 4-8 servings.  We like this with nice salad,

*At this point you can store the cheese sauce for up to a day in the fridge. You can, but I've never had it last that long.

I’ve been trying to plan our meals out better, so I started making a list of everything that could be made from things already in the pantry. This has really made me be more creative with existing recipes. This started out as a long cooking curry with dried chickpeas and the tomatoes coming at the very end. I’ve gotten it down to about 10-20 minutes by using canned goods.

Enjoy!

Chickpea Curry

2 cans (16oz) chickpeas (garbanzo beans)*, un-drained

1can diced tomatoes, un-drained

2 tbsp. garlic, diced or minced

1 tbsp. oil (I used canola)

2 tbsp. Garam Masala curry

1 tbsp. ground yellow mustard

1 tbsp. black pepper (I used coarse ground tellicherry)

1 tsp. red pepper**

½ tsp. sugar

Heat the oil in a large skillet, over medium heat; add garlic and sauté until fragrant. About 2-3 minutes. Add the spices and mix until they start to form a paste. Then add the chickpeas and the tomatoes, including their juices. Add sugar, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot rice, maybe with some yoghurt on the side.

Makes 6 servings

**omit if you like you curry more mild.

*Variations:

Variation 1

Replace 1 of the cans of chickpeas with ½ lb of boneless chicken, cut into small cubes. Add the chicken to the garlic, before adding the spices. Add spices when the chicken is about cooked about halfway though. Continue instructions from there.

Variation 2

Replace 1 of the cans of chickpeas with 1 cup of cubed, extra firm tofu. Increase oil by 1 tablespoon. Combine the oil and spices first, then add tofu. Make sure to completely coat the tofu in the spice mix, and then add garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes. Continue instructions from there. 

Nov/Dec 08 Simple & Delicious

6 cups of baby spinach

1 can (15oz) unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained

1 can (15oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup red bell pepper, diced

½ cup yellow bell pepper, diced

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

¼ cup balsamic vinaigrette

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, pineapple, beans, peppers and cheese. Toss with vinaigrette. Serves 6.

Note:

You can add a ½ cup of diced, cooked chicken or ½ cup of salad shrimp if you want some extra protein.

This weekend I made toad-in-the-hole. I‘d been wanting to make it for awhile and since I was going to have the oven on anyway for cookies, I thought why not.

My problem was that I only had half a pound of Bangers, so I checked the freezer, and I had half a pound of Andouille, leftover from making jambalaya. Perfect! My Husband likes stuff spicy.

Well, my pound of sausage was bigger than the recipe’s pound. So I ended up with more toad than hole, but that was okay. Still tasted good, except My Husband decided that the Andouille was too much for the dish. *  

*I think he turned into a pod person.

Toad-in-the-Hole

Cooks Encyclopedia of One-pot and Clay-pot Cooking

Jenni Fleetwood – ed.

1 ½ cups plain (all-purpose) flour

2 tbsp chopped chives (optional)*

2 eggs

1 ¼ cups milk

2 tbsp fat or oil

1 lb good tasting pork sausage

Salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees/gas 7

Sift flour in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper. Make a well in the center of the flour. Whisk chives, with the eggs and milk, then pour this into the flour well. Gently whisk the flour and liquid together to make a smooth batter. Cover and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

Put fat or oil into a small/medium roasting pan and place in the oven for 3-5 minutes until very hot. Add the sausages and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the sausages twice during cooking.

Pour batter over the sausages and bake for 20 minutes, or until the batter is risen and golden. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

*I used dill weed instead of chives.

It’s a fluffy day. I really mean that. The sky is a shaded misty blue down at the horizon and deep cerulean overhead. Cotton ball white clouds float about on the breeze. The temperature is in the low to mid 80’s. It really is a fluffy day.

And I’m stuck inside. sigh

This weekend was really nice. The convention was okay. I got to see some old friends, make some new ones.  

howardtayler

 is just as expected: smart, knowledgeable (morphic metals, anyone?), patient and funny. Watching him play target for the 6 foot paper airplane will be a treasured memory.  

Speed Racer is an excellent movie, if you don’t have epilepsy. It is rather frenetic but totally enjoyable. I have rather fond memories of the cartoon and was concerned what might have gotten done to it. But the Wackowskis did it right, even if they did leave the “M” off of Speed’s shirt. If car racing in real life was like it is in the movie I would watch it all the time.

Sour Cream Cornbread by Diane Rattray

1 ½ cups cornmeal

½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

1 can (15oz) cream corn

3 eggs

6 tbsp melted butter

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Sift or whisk together the wet ingredients in second smaller bowl. Combine with the dry ingredients in large bowl until all ingredients are moistened. Pour into a greased 9 inch pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes.  

Makes 9 servings (3 if you are greedy).

The stuff you see on cars never ceases to amaze me.
This morning I asked My Husband if he was seeing the same thing that I was. "Eight point, miniature buck sitting on the ball hitch.." "Waving at us with a bulls-eye on his tummy." "Yes". The front legs were wired to the break lights.  And this was before coffee.


Bread Salad
1/2 lbs stale, crusty bread
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped or 1 can diced tomatoes with the juice
1/4 cup fresh basil or parsley - roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix garlic, oil, lemon juice, tomatoes and basil together and set aside.  Cut or tear bread into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces (no larger). Toss sauce mix with bread. Chill at least 1 hour but no more than 6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 servings.