Cooking Schmooking...No Problem: 10/1/10

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Breakfast is my favorite meal

This chicken apple-smoked sausage was so good...from Food Co-op.

When you go to cook your potatoes..make sure you use bacon grease and not schmaltz.

Corn bread made for a delish addition to bkfst with sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns.

What is your favorite breakfast?

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Lazy Blogger... but I am cooking!

One of Nathalie Dupree's dishes from her upcoming cookbook!

A big pot of it. I could serve quite a few wonderful meals from this dutch oven.

Stella Koontz....for Governor of CA. Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

**I am one lazy blogger. I have been cooking quite a bit lately. Testing recipe's for Nathalie Dupree's newest cookbook, so all top secret really...but I think I can share a photo. :) You know, Nathalie is running for Senator in South Carolina. Write in candidate! Seriously. Go Nathalie!!!! I know she'd do a great job too. Watch her on CNN here!

I have posted a couple of photos of one of her fabulous recipes from her up-coming cookbook....delish.

(I've shared that my cat, Stella Koontz, is a write-in candidate for Governor of California. She has not spent one dime on her campaign. No matter. The top two candidates have spent millions and we still don't have a decent choice).

Stella likes to sit in the kitchen and meow loudly, she is for same-sex marriage (is in love with female cat next door) and believes that all beings are created equal...except for her brother's, Buddy and Stanley. They are dorks.

Friday, October 22, 2010

The First Halloween

I was happy to be at Mike and Jenn's when they celebrated their first Halloween in the new house. See Elaina?

Do not run with knives!

I do believe that this was Elaina's first ever Halloween Costume! That was the following year and she was almost 7 mos. old. Time really does fly.

Friday, October 15, 2010

From the Archives....This dish knocked our socks off!

Sundays with Marlena Spieler...Balkan Aubergines with Cheese and Moroccan Vegetable Salad

Male eggplant on left...it is smaller and has fewer seeds. Good to know.

Saute untill a bit golden.

The texture is much like that of a souffle. It is delish cold too! Great to make ahead for Shabbat or a picnic. Great potluck dish..sure to please everyone!

Dave sprinkled some feta on top....very good idea. Next time I will peel the eggplant.. to make it easy to cut with just a fork.

Another great make ahead option.

My version of Balkan Aubergines with Cheese by Marlena Spieler from Jewish Cooking

Ingredients: Serves 6..or maybe even 8

2 large eggplants (aubergines) cut into 1/4 inch slices
(salt them and put them in a colander to drain for 30 minutes...then wash off the salt and pat dry) You will saute them until they are a golden brown.
5 TBS olive oil
3 TBS butter
3 TBS all purpose flour
2 large onions, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds (saute in pan while eggplant is draining)
a small container of cherry tomatoes...sauteed till they pop open
2 1/2 cups of hot milk (do not boil)
1/8 tsp each of nutmeg and cayenne pepper (I used a tsp of sambal olek chili paste)
4 lg eggs lightly beaten
3 1/2 cups grated cheese like Gruyere, parm, and cheddar. I mixed them all together!

[I boiled some Israeli couscous and layered that in too...nice texture)

1. So, melt the butter in a sauce pan. then add the flour and cook for a minute, stirring the entire time. Remove from heat and gradually add in the hot milk..and keep stirring. Return to med heat and let it come to a slow boil..stirring..until it thickens. Season with nutmeg and pepper or chili paste. Let sauce cool.

2. When the sauce is cool, beat in your eggs and then mix in the grated cheese. Save a bit of cheese to top the dish with.

3. So, now you layer in an ovenproof dish or pan. First the sauce, then some eggplant, then the onions and tomatoes, then the couscous (optional) and start over until you end with eggplant and the remainder of the sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until a light golden brown and it is firm. Let it rest for 15 minutes before cutting or chill and serve cold or at room temp.

Dave sprinkled some feta over it..and that was the bomb! It is so very souffle-like. We loved it..and so did my in-laws! Now, for the salad.

Moroccan Vegetable Salad..a great salad to go with the entree!

I have learned many things while cooking through Jewish Cooking by Marlena Spieler. A major delight and surprise is how wonderful the salads are...and they aren't just mixed greens. Often, greens aren't even on the menu! Not that greens are a bad thing. I've also learned....Jewish Cooking is not what you might think it is!

I made this salad the other night and Dave and I were crazy for it! I don't like green bell peppers, so we decided to exclude those.

Ingredients: Serves 4

2 waxy-type boiled potatoes..chilled and then sliced
2 bell peppers sliced thinly
10 black olives...slice a few
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
juice of one lemon
2 finely chopped lg garlic cloves
1 sliced jalapeno....remove the seeds
1 medium cucumber...sliced
1-2 finely chopped green onions
3 TBS each of chopped parsley and cilantro
1 TBS chopped mint
Feta cheese is optional and not in the original recipe..Dave wanted to add some and voila!

I put the ingredients on a plate and then drizzled the olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs over the top..took the photo, then mixed it all up in a bowl and chowed down!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Mondays with Marcia Lowry-Butcher Day the Kind Way

In April we set fertile eggs from both our meat and egg hens in the incubator to hatch 21 days later in May. Out of these we typically get 10-15 butcher birds and 5 or so replacement layers. This year we had a bad hatch and only ended up with 3 roosters to butcher and 5 laying hens. Today was THE DAY for the boys. They have lived a healthy, stress-free life up to now and the killing process was swift and I hope, merciful.

Pict. #1 - hanging to bleed out
Pict. #2 - headless in scalding water to loosen the feathers for plucking ease
Pict. #3 - evisceration - gizzard and liver among intestines (Mel - you would have LOVED all the fat!)
Pict. #4 - the finished product - two 5 pounders and one 4 pounder. It took me about 1 hour from start to freezer.

(My friend Marcia is living the sustainable lifestyle...off the grid, in Wyoming)

Thursday, October 07, 2010

"Cheesus Saves"

The ceiling is way cool....and so is Ethan.

The counter's are groovy.

(I don't know why this photo is here...but I like it) Grandkids doing the dishes. :)

"Cheesus Saves" is considered THE best cure for a hangover in Portland, Oregon. That is not why I checked it out though. It is the name of a behemoth 1/3 burger patty between two grilled cheese sandwiches. You can get it at the Grilled Cheese Grill food truck on NE Alberta Street...right across from Radio Food (and they will let Grill customers use their bathrooms).

You might want to dine outdoors..at a lovely picnic table...or inside, which is a school bus re-done 1960's Stoner Style with booths and a counter. If you don't eat meat, they have the "Kindergarten and Pre-school Grilled Cheese Sandwiches...the latter has the crusts cut off. Any sandwich can be made without meat..of course.

I enjoyed the Pops grilled cheese which consisted of gooey wonderful velvety havarti with fresh tomatoes, black forest ham, honey mustard on Dave's Killer Cracked Wheat Bread. Their bacon and potato soup was fantastic as was their "truck-made" tomato soup with chunks of real tomatoes.

I am visiting my kids and grandkids...and we dined at the Grilled Cheese Grill last night. The owner said he bought the old airstream on craigs list for 1500 bucks and spent $25,000. making it into a kitchen with a grill and a 3 basin sink...among other things. He is opening a double decker Grilled Cheese Grill soon...he bought that bus for 1300.00 in Washington.

Portland boasts over 200 food carts/trucks including a Bicyle Food Cart Delivery Service...and this town must be the bike capital of the world! Bicycle taxi's even!

Next time I return, I have got to try Tabor's for their schnitzlewich, The Swamp Shack for their cajun, Buddha Bites for their Thai, Ruby Dragon for their vegan, Nong's Khao Mon Gai for their Khao Mon Gai...and many, many others.

I am hoping Sacramento will come into the 21st century and get with the food cart rage.... and, I need a bicycle....and a dog...and a bus...and red knee socks to wear with purple shorts...and an airstream and lots of cash.

Their is a book about the food carts in Portland...."Cartopia"...get it? Get it.