What's For Dinner?

2007-11-16T18:49:00.000-08:00

----- Original Message -----
catlovescrow.com
Sent: Friday, November 16, 2007 5:25 PM
Subject: FW: Recipe exchange

1. Bruce
2. Karena

You've been invited to be a part of a recipe exchange.
Please send a recipe to the person whose name is
listed in the number 1 position above (even if you
don't know that person). It would be preferable if you
e-mailed a recipe that is quick, easy and without rare
ingredients.

Actually, the best one is one you know in your head
and can type out and send right now. Then, copy this
letter into a new e-mail, move my name to the number 1
position and put your name in the number 2 position.

Only my name and your name should show when you send
the e-mail. Send it to 20 friends. If you cannot do
this within 5 days, let me know so it will be fair to
those participating. You should receive 36 recipes.

It's fun to see where they come from!!! Seldom does
anyone drop out because we can all use new recipes.
The turn-around is fast because only 2 names are on
the list.

Ha, ha. You have no idea how bad I am at this sort of thing! You caught me at the right moment because I usually don't get around to sending these on to other people. At least you two will get my recipe.

I'll tell you what I'm making for dinner tonight.

To serve 4
Buy a package of frozen potstickers at Costco.
Pour 1 can of chicken broth (or veggie broth) in a pan. Add 2X as much water as chicken broth. [Or if you aren't worried about sodium and aren't on a budget, just use all broth! Use enough to cover pot stickers.]
Bring liquid to a simmer.
Add 20 potstickers (5 per person) and put the rest back in the freezer. [Five is the suggested serving. You might end up with leftovers.]
Add more water/broth if needed to cover.
Toss in some cut-up veggies. [I used carrots and shredded cabbage this time. Garlic, water chestnuts, onion, etc. would also be good.]
Add most of one of the packets of sauce that come in the potstickers. [I reserved a little bit for Pat because he likes his stuff extra-flavored.]
Serve with rice or oriental-style noodles.
Your children might prefer to eat just the potstickers without any extra broth or veggies. Depends on their age. Seems a lot of kids eat veggies when they are young, then don't eat them for awhile, then start to eat them again. Some children might eat only the pasta on the outside of the potsticker; some might eat only the stuffing. Some might only eat the rice. Some might already be full of Cheerios. You have children. I don't need to tell you this!

2006-06-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

One of Pat's favorite vegetable recipes:

Harvard Beets

2 pounds beets, well rinsed
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons corn starch
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
Grated zest of 2 oranges (optional)

Cook beets until tender by simmering or baking. Slip off the skins, and cut the beets into 1/4 inch dice. Should be about 4 cups beets.

Combine sugar, vinegar, orange juice, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a heavy saucepan. Whisk well and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is clear and thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk in the butter and zest. Remove from heat when the butter is melted.

Mix sauce with beets. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Notes:

An easy way to cook the beets is to wrap them in foil or put in a covered casserole and bake. They take about the same amount of time as potatoes of equal size.

I have also chopped raw beets and cooked them in the sauce. Add the cornstarch near the end for this method.

Beets can be chopped, sliced, diced, or whole. It doesn't matter!!!! Do what you like. Increase the beets for a lightly sauced dish, or decrease them for lots of sauce on the beets. In other words, I don't worry about exactly how much beets I have.

This recipe was adapted from The New Basics Cookbook. I cut the sugar in half and use Balsamic, rather than regular red wine vinegar.

Cooked beets freeze well.

Beet greens are yummy steamed and sprinkled with vinegar or with your favorite vinaigrette dressing. Wash them well, as they are often sandy.

2005-08-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Curried Tofu and Onions

From Fast and Natural Cuisine, by Geifskopf and Toomay.

2 tbsp butter (or oil)
1 onion (I use 2)
1 large clove garlic, minced (or more, hee hee)
2 tsp curry powder (not nearly enough - use 2 to 3 tablespoons of a commercial or your own blend)
2 cups water and 1 tablespoon vegetable broth powder (jeez, why am I giving these people any credit? A can of your choice of broth works just fine and plain water will do in a pinch and of course you can use bouillon or powder if you prefer)
10 oz firm tofu, cut into cubes (I use whatever size the whole package is, minus what I eat raw while preparing the recipe)
1/2 cup shelled peas (or more if you like a lot of peas or use cubed zucchini or whatever else might strike your fancy)
3 tablespoons flour (I've used both white and whole wheat with success)

Heat the butter. Halve the onion lengthwise and thinly slice each half (or slice it thick or chop it, doesn't really matter in the end.) Simmer the onions, tofu, garlic, and curry powder until soft and golden brown. Add flour and cook for a few minutes, then slowly stir in broth. Simmer to meld flavors and thicken broth. Stir in the peas sooner or later depending on how much you want them cooked.

Serve over rice, pasta, or other grain.

I almost forgot to mention - the last few times I've made this I used the habenero oil that someone gave us. I like it spicy! If you want the tofu to be a softer texture, add it at the end intead of the beginning.

2005-07-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

Pasta, Pasta!

Lisa was craving spaghetti with meat sauce. I thought Pasta Carbonara sounded good. I've planned to go to Jennifer's Sushi Party tomorrow, so I made both. This will enable my family to eat dinner tomorrow night without cooking or eating out.

Spaghetti: Brown ground beef. Drain off the fat if you paid less and got the 85/15 blend. Add one jar of prepared pasta sauce of your choice.

Pasta Carbonara: This is a variation of the bacon and egg pasta made famous in an old Audrey Hepburn movie. The first few times I made this, I used bacon, but really it is gross to eat bacon grease now that we know better and no longer milk our own cows. I've used pancetta with happy results. Tonight I made it with the ham steak that was in the freezer, fresh parsley from the garden, a small zucchini, and a few petite peas. We'll add cheese on the side.

Cook one pound of spaghetti. Drain. Put half the spaghetti into the pan with the meat sauce and the other half in with the carbonara derivative.

Rinse some lettuce for a quick salad.

2005-07-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

Here is an easy recipe for a quick dinner. If you keep these ingredients in your pantry, you will always be ready for a dinner fit for company!

Cut the sweet potato and the yam that have been in your refrigerator long enough to get a little moldy spot but otherwise look, smell, and feel entirely edible into chunks. Toss them in a skillet, add water, cover, and cook until soft. Ponder whether you really meant to buy one sweet potato and one yam, rather than two of the same kind.

Pull the package labeled "chicken for soup" from your freezer. This should be the one that was the leftover ginger chicken stir fry that you threw in there a month or two ago.

Add this to the skillet, with, if desired, the broth of your choice. If you happen to have bought a case of chicken broth from Costco, that would do.

This would be really good if you started it early enough in the evening that you could add a bit of rice or other such grain. I didn't. So we ate it with toast.

2005-05-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

Asparagus Dawgs

We've been making this and similar burgers for years now. Sometimes we skip the meat.

Pat loves to grill sweet onions and asparagus, whenever we BBQ anything. I'm afraid I can't reveal his secret BBQ sauce blend. It changes periodically anyway. Any BBQ sauce you like will work, or you can brush the veggies with plain or seasoned olive or other oil, or sometimes dark sesame oil.

Basically, Pat begins by BBQing the onions (always!), asparagus in season, or zucchini. He sets them to the back of the grill and BBQs the hamburgers or hot dogs (or steak). Then the buns are very lightly buttered before they are also quickly grilled to warm them up.

After that, everyone builds their dawg or burger with preferred toppings: mustard or sweet mustard, asparagus or zucchini (depending on the season), the onions, Gorgonzola or other cheese, and anything else you might think of.

Somehow, this idea has leaked to the GP. Today's Herald has a recipe for a smoked salmon and asparagus sandwich on a hoagie bun.

2005-04-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

Silver Salmon Cakes with Sweet Onion Relish

Pat loves salmon cakes, so I made some with our leftover silver salmon.

I sauteed onions and celery on the side, after first planning to mix it in with the cakes but remembering that the girls probably wouldn't enjoy all those crunchies and green stuff. I added Cajun seasoning to the mashed potatoes. Turns out I could have mixed it all together, since the girls didn't care for the salmon cakes at all this time.

To serve Pat, I arranged three cakes on the plate, with the "sweet onion relish" (the sauteed onions and celery) and steamed asparagus. I sprinkled Guerra's on the asparagus, added a splash of ketchup, and grated black pepper on all.

Another gourmet meal. What can I say?

2005-01-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

$$ Black Cod $$

Glancing through the Life insert in the Friday Herald, I noticed a recipe for honey-marinated black cod. Sounds good, right?

To serve 6, the recipe calls for 2 cups of honey, 1 cup of (low-sodium) soy sauce, 3/4 cup grapeseed oil, and 3/4 cup white wine vinegar.

Four and one-half cups of marinade for six white fish filets? And gourmet marinade ingredients, not run of the mill stuff. That chef must not be the one who pays for the groceries.

2004-11-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

What to make for dinner. What to make for dinner??

In the fridge: chard. Refer to Tassajara Cooking. Greens. And eggs.

Chop up giant sweet onion from Farmer's Market two weeks ago. The last one. TGIF. Carmelize onion. Throw in some pine nuts. Grab a stalk of celery to munch on, but chop the leaves and add to the pan. Wash the chard CAREFULLY. It's like spinach and likes to harbor terrorists, er, sand. Admire the greens, yellows, and red of the last batch of my home grown chard. Back starts to ache from leaning over the sink washing chard. Chop the chard and add it to the pan. Put a lid on and let it steam a while. Beat the last two eggs in the fridge with some Parmesan cheese. Hope Jackie doesn't ask for eggs again. Decide if she does to tell her that she ate three eggs already today and now it's our turn. Mix eggs with the onion and chard until eggs are done. Husband raves.

Fill food dehydrator with apple slices. Wash few remaining apples and put them in a glass dish on the counter. Appetizing.

2004-11-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

I love roasted chicken. I bought two small chickens on Saturday, roasted them, removed the meat, put the carcass in a pot with celery and onion, and simmered it for a couple of hours. After straining the broth, I chilled it and skimmed off the fat. On Sunday I made Chicken and Dumplings. This is not your typical Mary Ellen Meal, but it certainly had more celery and carrots than your typical chicken n dumplin's. Monday, I marinated the rest of the chicken breast for Ginger Chicken, always a favorite in our household.

2004-10-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Why I hate the Farmer's Market

I hate the Farmer's Market because I always buy too much. It just all looks so good!

Today we bought 14 peppers, a handful of Muscat grapes, beets, onions, Chantrells mushrooms, eggplant, yellow squash, plums, corn, and probably something else that I can't remember at the moment.

This wouldn't be so bad if Lisa and Jackie ate vegetables. This wouldn't be so bad if we had 8 adults in our household. This wouldn't be so bad if I didn't still have beets in the fridge from the last trip to the market.

Pat cooked a bunch of the mushrooms. He loves Chantrell mushrooms. I like mushrooms, but Chantrells are not my favorite variety.

I roasted 6 large red peppers. We ate some for dinner with the mushrooms and corn on the cob, and I put the rest in the freezer. We also ate a bit of roasted pork with mustard sauce and Lisa had leftover meat loaf and Jackie had french fries. A good country supper.

Wd'd thought about inviting neighbors for dinner, but it didn't seem right to invite people over, then serve nothing but sauteed mushrooms and corn on the cob.

2004-09-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't like French fries?

Not just any old French fries, but real fries. Made with fresh potatoes, cut with the skins on, fried crisp on the outside, moist on the inside, not too greasy, and just the right amount of salt.

The problem is that the little buggers are a hassle to make. The best fries come from a deep fat fryer and are cooked quickly at a high temperature. Sure, these machines are available for the home, but I don't want one taking up space on my counter top, and I don't want to deal with all that cooking oil either.

I find that home made steak fries are quite satisfying. Cut an Idaho potato lengthwise into eighths. Lay the pieces in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and bake at 450 degrees until they are golden brown. Since that method results in a nearly impossible to clean baking sheet, I lay down a piece of foil first. This method works nicely with small red potatoes too, except that I usually just cut them in quarters.

Unfortunately, my family prefers skinny French fries. The skinnier the better. So skinny that one large or two small potatoes fill an entire baking sheet but only serve one or two people. Why is it that they will eat only one potato or less if it is baked, but will down a couple if it is French fried?

Once in awhile I give in and cut them skinny, or Jackie will offer to do it. I toss the strips in a plastic bag with olive oil and cook it the same way I cook the steak fries. It is unlikely that you will ever be served home made skinny fries at my house, because it takes too long to make them for company. Sorry.

2004-08-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

PESTO!

I made several batches of basil pesto for the freezer this week. We ate some fresh last night. Yummy!

2004-08-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Chard Revival

One of the items I planted this year was chard. I like chard and it does fairly well here. Well, it could do fairly well if you can keep the quail away from the tender young leaves and if you pull the competing weeds and if you actually bother to fertilize and enhance your soil.

In spite of my failures, I managed to harvest enough chard for a few meals. I recently noticed that the chard is making a comeback. I was able to pick a nice colander full for dinner tonight. Some of it has gone to seed. My hope is to have an ongoing chard garden.

2004-08-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

missed the Farmer's Market

this weekend. We were invited to a BBQ at Leslie Groves. ALL of my family griped about going. I felt that we should go. My reasons for going: Our friends invited us and it would be fun to hang out by the river. Their reasons for not going: I need to work. There won't be any kids I know there. Well, they ALL had a blast and we stayed until the very end! Not only were there lots of kids, but there were adults who had planned fun things for the kids to do. And the food was AWESOME!

The girls and I stopped at T&R produce today. I wanted tomatoes and corn. We bought small ears of corn at 10 for $1. She threw in 2 more ears because they were so small. It was such tender, sweet young corn! The kind we are supposed to have when we think of corn on the cob. We ate it with the lentils I'd cooked today. Lentils with sausage, onion, basil, and a couple of other odds and ends. Like the green pepper that I bought way back when and forgot about. Jackie wanted blueberries. I bought two pints and they are nearly eaten already. Lisa picked out a couple of nectarines and a donut peach. I bought garlic and a cucumber for good measure.

Jackie is looking forward to apple season.

2004-08-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

Finally ran out of all the good stuff prepared last week. Having company for dinner. Spent the day cleaning. No time to cook, but the kitchen and bathroom floors all look very nice.

Sent Pat to Costco for potstickers and BBQ pork. Will cook brown rice and white rice and do something with zuchinni. Have just a little of the Thai cucumbers left, which will go nice on the side. Sorry, Lisa. We'll make the brownies another day. Diane is bringing peach cake though.

2004-07-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

To Make

After a quick refrigerator tally, I've decided to make the following this week:

Gazpacho
Chelee's Zucchini Pancakes
Minted Cucumber Dressing
Kung Pao Tofu
Thai Cucumber Salad
Roasted Peppers
Harvard Beets, for my Sweetie
More Carmelized Onions for the freezer

2004-07-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

Eggplant Bharta

I love eggplant. I'm not sure why, as it has little flavor of it's own. Tonight I made Eggplant Bharta. This dish has onions, spices from India, and peanuts. I like it more than Pat does, so maybe I'll get to eat most of it.

For dinner tonight I ate eggplant Bharta with leftover brown rice and leftover curried lentils. I added some yogurt and sliced cucumber because I was too lazy to chop the cucumber into the yogurt. I'm out of fresh cilantro and mint anyway. What am I saying? I have 3 different varieties of mint growing in my backyard! Guess I should have been out snipping fresh herbs instead of taking that dumb IQ test...

2004-07-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Farmer's Market!

We went, we saw, we bought:

Beets with greens
Eggplant
Watermelon
Carrots
zucchini (Can't believe I'm BUYING zucchini. Guess that's what I get for missing park day.)
Mixed Berries, 1/2 flat
Apricots
Peaches
Green bell peppers
Cucumbers
Potatoes
25# Walla Walla onions

2004-07-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

Curried Lentils with Brown Rice

. I based this on my recipe for Curried Tofu and Onions, which is one of Pat's favorite vegetarian meals. I don't know what the kids will eat. This is not one of their favorites.

Here is the recipe:

Heat 2 TBSP oil or butter in a skillet. Simmer 1 or 2 sliced onions, some minced garlic, 2 tsp or more curry powder (I use a blend but you can mix your own if your prefer), and 1 package of tofu, cubed. After the onions are soft, add 3 TBSP of flour. Stir a minute or two, then slowly stir in 2 cups of water or broth. (Add this a little at a time and stir well to avoid lumping.) Let this simmer for about 10 minutes, then stir in 1/2 to 1 cup peas. Serve on rice or something.

2004-07-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

Finished off the frozen chicken cutlets. Used ginger marinade, Walla Walla sweet onion, and the last wilted carrot. Lisa ate it with leftover rice. Pat and I had it on a bed of greens. Jackie didn't want to wait, so had a bowl of cereal and a cookie.

2004-07-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm just about out of vegetables. Time to go to the store! Stay tuned for exciting additions to my new food blog.