Thursday, July 23, 2009

Lunch Today: Leftovers


Zucchini: slice, 3-step coating of seasoned flour, egg wash, breadcrumbs/parmesan; fry.
Spaghetti squash: Sauteed with onions
Side of pesto from jar
Leftover spaghetti sauce: caramelized onions, crushed tomatoes, garlic, thyme, oregano, marjoram, Italian sausage

Filled Chocolates


Centers: white chocolate ganache (runny at room temp), cream was steeped with orange and lemon peels. Outer shell: semi sweet and 60% cocoa chocolate chips, tempered. One bite yummies!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Almond Biscotti


I followed a basic recipe, but substituted semolina and whole wheat flours for part of the AP flour called for in the recipe. I also added wheat germ in addition to sliced almonds, and almond extract. I drizzled with dark chocolate and sprinkled with turbindo sugar.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Biscuits






I followed the recipe from the "Woman's Home Companion Cook Book" using butter instead of shortening. They were great with honey, husband had them with egg and cheese.

Man Pizza



I call this "Man Pizza" because it consists of crust, sauce, pepperoni(diced, turkey), hamburger (cooked with oregano and fennel), and cheese (Italian blend, mozzarella, parmesan). No vegetables. I made it for my husband and son for supper last night.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Pesto in a Jar


Lacking an abundance of fresh basil, I tried some pesto in a jar. We grilled Italian burgers last night, and served a macaroni salad on the side. I've posted Italian burgers on here before, but this time, the meat mixture included: It. sausage, hamburger, bread crumbs, parmesan, one egg, oregano, and a couple of spoons of the pesto. Grilled, then topped with provolone. I used pizza sauce from a jar as a condiment. Buns were broiled with garlic butter and parmesan.
Macaroni salad: cooked macaroni (used some white, extra fiber, omega 3 stuff), small dice zucchini and red pepper, sliced green onions. The dressing was very easy, just Miracle Whip and a couple of dollops of the pesto.
This meal offered a lot of flavor with ease.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Blueberry Muffins






Followed the recipe from the book, next time I think I could add a bit more sugar, salt, and almond extract (my addition).

Monday, July 6, 2009

They've come out of the oven...



Peanut Butter Cookies (Adaptation)





I'm making these for my husband's upcoming backpacking trip. Following the recipe in the book, I made adaptations concerning the flour and white sugar: 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 cup AP flour; 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup organic turbinado sugar; added 1/2 cup milled flax seed.
Roll them into logs in waxed paper, freeze. When ready to bake, take out of freezer, thaw slightly, slice and bake. I may sprinkle some of the turbinado sugar on the tops before baking...

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Breakfast Biscuits




A very simple dish, flaky biscuits, cooked meat (sausage this time), and cheese. Oh yeah, melted butter over the top. The original recipe called for Worcestershire sauce, and a bit of hot sauce. But, it was just too salty, too much. One can certainly omit the butter. Bake. When one is making breakfast for folks that like to sleep late, these can be made and be ready whenever. I just leave them on the counter and they disappear! One can also make these for weekday breakfasts on the go, easy to wrap, refrigerate, reheat (to proper temp, always!), grab and out the door. I've also made these with ham and bacon.

Beans and Coleslaw



The beans were pretty simple. I took some ham from the freezer, leftover from the last spiral sliced ham, you know, the part close to the bone. I put the ham in a small saucepan, covered with water, and simmered overnight (because I forgot about it). The next morning, I cut the ham up, and put it and the broth made from simmering all night into a crockpot with small white beans that I soaked overnight (then rinsed). After the beans had cooked most of the way through, I added molasses.
The coleslaw was also incredibly easy. Fine julienne cabbage, grated carrot, grated red onion. Dressing consisted of buttermilk poured into the almost empty jar of Miracle Whip, pepper, celery seed, and sugar. Shake. Mix.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Roasted Corn Spoonbread

Add two cups boiling water to one cup cornmeal. Let sit until water is absorbed. Add one cup buttermilk and three eggs. I roasted corn, then cut the kernels off the cob, added them to the cornmeal mixture. Add onions that have been caramelized in butter, and cheddar (I used white and sharp cheddar from Minnesota). Bake.




Strawberry Cream Torte




Poundcake base, vanilla pudding, sliced strawberries, sweetened whipped cream w/gelatin. Freeze. Take it out of the freezer a bit before serving.

4th of July


I spent the day cooking, relaxing, took a walk in the neighborhood. We put a brisket on the grill, had potato salad, coleslaw, slow cooked beans, home made yeast buns, and roasted corn spoonbread. For dessert, we had a frozen strawberry cream torte.

Surf-n-Turf



Inexpensive alternative to going out...
The steak was a cheaper cut, but just the right size, and it grilled nicely. Seasoned with S & P, thyme. The lobster and shell-on shrimp were marinated in a dry mixture of my special blend chili powder, with additional paprika, pepper. Then onto the grill. There weren't many shrimp, just made a tinfoil packet for them, with an extra dab of butter sealed inside.
The pilaf was pre-cooked brown rice and wild rice that I had in the freezer (in separate baggies, meal-size, frozen flat), and diced red onion, green pepper, zucchini. Sauteed the veggies, tossed in the thawed rice, s&p. Sourdough flute, with butter and parmesan.
Yes, a green salad, or asparagus, or veggie would have been nice, but, oh well...
The lobsters were small, $4.99 ea. The steak was something like $2.99/lb. Shrimp was on sale, cleaned, butterflied w/shell on, $5.99//lb (got just a third of a pound).
The rice was done weeks ago, the veggies were prepped earlier in the week for a home made pizza "bar."

We had a great evening.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

What's been cookin'

Summer is going by quickly! It's time to celebrate the 4th of July already!!! I've been doing some cooking, making a variety of things... cakes, salmon mousse, baked beans, DO chicken with white wine, pizzas, ricotta, cheese lasagna with aforementioned ricotta and home made pasta, braised chuck roast in tomato sauce to go with cheese lasagna, buttermilk salad dressing, granola, hmmmm, I know there's been more...
I'll try and post some "recipes" (ha, more like general descriptions).
My new effort needs to be to drop some weight, so need to develop some healthier eating habits and some new recipes to help me meet that goal.
Well, time to download/upload photos, maybe some will find their way here...