Search Results for '("C'

[Mike Nolan]

Tonight's pot roast was good, but not as good as the one two weeks ago, this was a leaner piece of meat, and having less fat made a big difference. (It is nearly impossible to find bone-in 7 bone roasts anymore.)

[BakerAunt]

I love going to craft shows, Joan.

On Saturday, I experimented with using cider rather than red wine in my beef stew. I changed the spices. I used 2 tsp. dried rosemary, 2 tsp. cinnamon (added the second halfway through), ½ tsp. allspice, and ¼ tsp. cloves (halfway through). I used 2 cups of cider initially, then added another half cup when I added the potatoes, carrots, and bell pepper. I still used some tomato paste, which it needed. The stew is good, but I prefer my red wine version, which is fine by my husband who says it has too much spice. I think that it is missing something in the overall taste profile.

BTW, the pasta salad I made yesterday was great. I now have a use for those four jars of zucchini relish that I canned.

[BakerAunt]

Friday was a morning for cooking experimentation. I roasted a large butternut squash and pureed it in the food processor. I then added it to about 1 ½ cups of turkey broth from the freezer that I had heated. I tasted it, then decided to add a splash of apple cider, then another, probably about 3-4 Tbs. in total. I added 1 tsp. of Penzey's Now Curry. It is the best butternut squash soup that I have ever made. The apple cider gives it just a hint of sweetness, which plays well with the spice. I set aside some for tomorrow and will freeze one serving for the "What will I have for lunch?" conundrum.

Another experiment involved the 4 oz. jar of mostly liquid, but some vegetables left over from when I made that zucchini relish. This jar I did not process but refrigerated. I found a recipe for pasta salad that uses cider vinegar on the internet at Preppy Kitchen, by John Kanell that I could adapt. I had some pasta in autumn shapes (leaves and pumpkins) and I cooked about 1 1/2 cups of it. I combined the contents of the relish jar with 1/3 cup olive oil, chopped red onion, and a minced clove of garlic. I added 2 tsp. of honey to get a tangy but mellow taste. I also added a small green bell pepper that we picked before the freeze that will not be turning red, and ½ tsp. Penzey's Salad Sprinkle. I mixed that with the pasta, then halved and added some of the cherry tomatoes that have ripened in the house. I will let it rest overnight. I may add feta to it tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I made stir-fry on Thursday, using leftover pork from last night, along with soba noodles, de-glazing from last night's pan, carrots, celery, red bell pepper (from our garden), broccoli, mushrooms, and some green onion tops from my husband's pot of green onions on the porch.

I am having to order my soba noodles from Vitacost, as the Kroger in the next town has stopped carrying them.

[Mike Nolan]

I don't know if the cookbook includes a recipe for Italian Beef or if it has you pick it up from a place that specializes in it. (She is in Chicago, after all.)

I've made the Jeff Mauro Italian Beef recipe (without the garlic), I thought it was OK but not quite up to Chicago standards.

My son has been making Italian Beef (not sure what recipe he's using), he says the real secret is having an electric slicer that can get uniformly thin slices so they soak up the gravy properly. There was an ex-Chicagoan running a restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh that did a pretty fair Italian Beef (I had it once, I agree.) Before David got his slicer, he was taking his cooked meat downtown to have the guy slice it for him, and the guy said his Italian Beef was pretty good, though I haven't had it yet. The restaurant closed a while back but I think the guy is running a food truck now.

IMHO, the real secret is the right kind of bread, something that won't fall apart when it gets soggy. The Pittsburgh guy was bringing bread in from Chicago, but I think he was making the beef himself.

There's a place in downtown Lincoln that advertises Italian Beef, but IMHO it's just a French Dip, it lacks that Chicago aftertaste. There was a Chicago Hot Dog place at a mall that had Italian Beef that was reasonable, but it closed. They had supply issues, half the time they were out of the beef or the rolls, one time they were out of Vienna hot dogs.

Portillo's is looking to expand (Tony sold out for about 950 $million a few years back, but kept the real estate the restaurants are in), but I don't think Nebraska's on their target list. The WSJ had an article on Portillo's a while back, their AVERAGE location does about $7 million a year, about twice what a typical McDonalds does.

[chocomouse]

I'm searching for an old recipe, from the 70s, called Dutch Apple Pie, I believe. It used a can of Dutch apple pie filling, which had raisins in it. but is no longer on the grocery shelves. There was no crust. It was more like a custard. This "pie" was baked in a casserole (I used the old blue flowered Pyrex deep dish about 6" square). It was delicious. But I cannot find my recipe in my old-fashioned recipe box. Has anyone here made this or have anything similar? I'd appreciate help locating this, thanks.

[navlys]

I volunteered to make corn bread for the chili contest in our over 55 community. I found a lazy person's recipe on "spicysouthernkitchen.com". It called for 2 boxes of Jiffy Muffin Mix and used 1T of sugar. (I like sweet cornbread). Any way they have a variety of Jiffy Mixes now and I used the honey one. The cornbread had just the right amount of sweetness and some of the people asked for the recipe.

[BakerAunt]

Congratulations, Joan!

Finding ways to reduce some sugar seems to me to work better than trying to omit it. I cut down on sugar in my tea from 1 tsp. to 1/4 tsp., and these days, I enjoy it without sugar, although I admit to having a cookie with it. Part of cutting it from tea (I never put it in coffee) was drinking a better quality of tea.

I find a lot of recipes are too sweet for me, so I often cut back the sugar and do not miss it.

I roll my eyes when dieticians or nutritionists say that a piece of fruit can be equally satisfying. No. I like fruit, but it does not replace cake, quick breads, cookies, or candy. It is good to see an article such as this one that does not repeat that nonsense.

[BakerAunt]

I made a frittata for lunch on Tuesday to use up some leftover brown and wild rice mix from the freezer. I was pleased with how well my recently purchased ceramic skillet performed. I was able to invert it onto a plate, then slice it back into the skillet. It came out well, although I should have used three rather than two eggs or else less rice. Mushrooms, chocolate and yellow bell pepper, red onion, and a spinach-like green (Tatsumi?) completed the dish. I saved some of it for breakfast the next day.

For dinner, we finished the ground turkey, lentils, and vegetable soup.

I also made yogurt today.

[Mike Nolan]

Tonight we had tomato soup and fried cheese sandwiches, and I had a piece of apple pie with some ice cream. (Diane had pie at lunchtime.)

[Mike Nolan]

Interesting article on how to cut sugars in your diet over time. (BTW, it doesn't work as well with kids.)

https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/trick-yourself-into-eating-less-sugar-0bc12a18?st=czfd76kb2uaw0rq&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[Mike Nolan]

Lettuce wraps always seem to be missing something over a bun or slices of bread. I think it's the texture as much as the flavor. Flour tortillas are a little better than lettuce wraps, but I suspect that mushroom mixture would be really good on rye bread. I'll have to work that into the menu plan at some point.

Tonight's souffle came out nearly perfect, I should have taken a picture of it. We packaged the leftover souffle up for lunches for Diane. (Contrary to popular belief, you can microwave a souffle and it will fluff up nearly back to its original state.)

[Mike Nolan]

I'm baking another apple pie today.

I have been experimenting with using a little milk and honey (heated in the microwave for about 20 seconds) on the top of the pie instead of egg wash, I think it improves the color and the sugar crystals stick just as well.

[Mike Nolan]

My mother just kept the oil in her deep fat fryer in between usages, but she'd use it fairly frequently, at least once a week in the winter. If the oil got too gross, she'd put it in a can, freeze it, and toss it in the trash. We do pretty much the same thing with the oils from cooking meats.

We don't even pan fry chicken, too messy and not as good as restaurants that specialize in fried chicken. The last few times we got chicken from Popeyes, though, the legs and thighs were tiny, less meat on a drumstick than on a wing it seemed! We tried Lee's Chicken recently (the oldest restaurant in Lincoln) but it had kind of an odd taste the next day so we probably won't be getting their chicken very often.

Restaurants can use services that will recycle fry oil--it can be turned into biofuel--but I don't think those services will accept home cooking oils, probably because they're often not just fry oil.

I've wondered what the people who deep fry turkeys do with all that oil afterwards. I've had deep fat fried turkey once, I'll stick to doing it in the oven or on the rotisserie.

[BakerAunt]

Cornmeal-Pumpernickel Rye Waffles

Marliss Desens adapted this recipe from "Cornmeal-Rye Waffles" in The King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Book (p. 21). Bob's Red Mill medium grind cornmeal gives a slight, pleasant chewiness. I use King Arthur's pumpernickel (only place I can find it.)

2 cups medium grind wholegrain cornmeal
1 cup pumpernickel flour
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder

3 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs

In large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (first group).

In small bowl (I use a 4-cup measuring cup), whisk together buttermilk and oil, then theggs. Add to dry ingredients and fold in gently. (I use a cake whisk, then switch to a spatula.) Let the batter rest for 10 minutes to allow the cornmeal to soften. Pre-heat the waffle iron.

From here, it is a matter of "know thy waffle iron." I use a Belgium waffle iron that makes two waffles at a time. I use about ¼ to1/3 cup batter per waffle (approximate because I use a ladle that works well). Bake until the waffle stops steaming. For my waffle iron and this recipe 4 minutes, 30 seconds is ideal. Serve warm with maple syrup.

Yield: About 14 individual Belgium waffle squares.

Leftovers can be frozen when cooled. I cut into individual squares, wrap with saran, then put in a bag in the freezer. I re-heat at 375F in a countertop convection oven for five minutes. A good toaster, which I do not have, would also work.

What I changed: I replaced 6 Tbs. of butter with the oil. I tried ¼ cup of oil, but 1/3 seems to work better. I tried avocado oil, but it made the waffles too fragile. I added the milk powder for more calcium, but I also think it improves texture. I reduced the salt from 2 tsp. to 1 tsp. (What the heck were they thinking?!)