Imaginary Lobster Rolls

 

To my taste, this fishy po'boy is as good as or better than a take out lobster roll, and a  fast and tasty way to get your weekly salmon requirement.

We get these wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon portions, skin on, from Walmart, either fresh (previously frozen? IDK), or frozen, but they are rather bland tasting for some reason, especially since I rarely cook with salt. 

So to increase our gustatory pleasure, I make a salmon salad and throw it on a sandwich. A traditional lobster roll or fish or shrimp po'boy is on a hot dog bun. Here we used a soft French baguette, $1, made in store at Walmart. 

1. Mix a couple scoops of mayonnaise in a bowl with a squirt of tomato ketchup. Add an optional teaspoon of horseradish. Add chopped pickles. We used my sour refrigerator pickles, homemade from fresh cucumbers.
2. Pan fry the salmon portions, in olive oil, skin down, a few minutes, flip, and continue cooking until the interior of the salmon is flaky rather than sushi. Pepper it generously with black pepper. Dill or tarragon are traditional options as well. Roughly chop it in pieces with the spatula flipper. Squirt over it the juice of a lemon.  
3. Toss in the saucy bowl, layer on your choice of sandwich roll.

Omit the pickles if you like, but they are a welcome tart crunchiness. Chopped fresh ripe tomatoes are good too, capers, even grated carrots, onions, or apples.

Job done!

The salmon isn't buttery as genuine lobster meat is, but it does taste rich, and the pink and white of the salmon, mayo and blush of tomato ketchup, with the rough points of the salmon flesh, tricks my mind into feeling just as spoiled. 

Bread Machine Northern Cornbread the Way We Like It

We started with a recipe from Bread Dad who has lots of helpful tips about making a quick sweet bread, like a muffin bread or tea bread or cornbread, in a bread machine.

My research seems to confirm Bread Dad's take, that the sweeter, moister cornbread we like up here is Northern style, and Southern cornbread is savory, dry and crumbly. 

We substituted olive oil for butter, and maple syrup for the sugar, since they are saying that maple syrup doesn't cause glycemic spikes the way other sugars do. Plus we LOVE it!

Probably butter and maple syrup would be what New Englanders had on hand to make cornbread, but we have tested and confirmed, this bread tastes sweeter and moister with the olive oil/maple syrup combo.

We started this as a Thanksgiving side dish but my 10-year-old nephew considers this a genuine sweet treat, so now we make it alot! Perfect for Presidents' Day, too, (those old guys liked cornbread). 

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil       (or 6 Tablespoons butter if you prefer)

1 cup maple syrup    (or 1 cup sugar or honey)

1 1/4 cup milk (optional; I know this because I forgot it last time! the cornbread was nice and sweet and moist and delicious, just a little smaller)

2 eggs (lightly beaten) (if vegan, use your choice of egg substitutes) 

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking power

1 tsp. baking soda

Our method

My bread machine is an Amazon Basics. Like all baking machines I have used, start by putting all liquids at bottom and then dry ingredients.

So put ingredients in the machine in the order listed. 

I add the leavening (baking powder and baking soda) last, sprinkling it over the flour, and then use the measuring spoon to sort of fluff mix just the leavenings and flour part on top. This is how I get around separate bowls for mixing flour, etc. in recipes. 

Settings

I use the "CAKE" setting on my bread machine. I have also been successful when I used the "Quick Bread" setting, when first experimenting. 

The CAKE setting takes 1 hour 50 minutes for the whole process. The quick bread setting is 2 hours 40 minutes. 

I typically bake breads on my DARK crust setting, because I like to make very sure the center is done. However, this one will be slightly overbaked on dark setting, (still good to eat!). I will probably go with Light next time, I used Medium this time.

When I serve my family I sometimes cut off the floury crusts all around so it looks like one giant square serving of cornbread! Plus I get to taste it by eating those yummy crust pieces!

  

Cornmeal Cakes with Antique U.S. Presidents

We celebrated everything, with kids...

On George Washington's Birthday, or on Lincoln's Birthday, or on President's Day, we made cornmeal "hoecakes" or pancakes.

On Lincoln's birthday we played with, yup, Lincoln logs. We decorated with money, (pennies and dollar bills). Of course we read the books, early readers, Abe Lincoln's Hat, stories about George, about Martha. Age appropriate stories, and got to the meat of the stuff when they were a little older.

Here's a cornmeal pancake recipe. 

Equal parts cornmeal and flour; or all cornmeal (my preference)

An egg or two, or omit and use a little baking powder and a little baking soda (less than a tsp ea.)

a spoonful of sugar or honey, if desired

a pinch of salt, if desired

enough "sour milk" to mix lightly into a lumpy batter:

    use buttermilk if you have it, or add a squeeze of lemon to            milk; or substitute yogurt or sour cream

Fry like pancakes on a hot griddle. When bubbles show on top, it's time to flip. 

Serve with butter and honey. 

These are the all cornmeal version, no leavening other than eggs. The cornmeal is very tender and sweet.

(Or maple syrup: I read that Washington aspired to plant maples at Mt. Vernon, ever the entrepreneur, as people tried to convince him that maple sugar would one day be a successful product, see "founders archives" at this link: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-20-02-0101

But of course maples are New England trees, they don't like Virginia weather. I wonder if John Adams ate them with maple syrup?)

Adding Cocoa Reduces Blood Pressure? Try Co-coatmeal cookies

 

Ok my family loves oatmeal cookies, and we have our own recipe but I also love the one that comes with the oatmeal for Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies, because it doubles the oatmeal (to use it up and make you buy more of course, but who doesn't need more oatmeal?). 

And I have been reading about all the foods you need to eat everyday to reduce blood pressure and prevent cancer and prevent heart disease and prevent dementia, and so now we have a little group of foods we take one of everyday like a vitamin--which pretty much meets our calories for the day by eating them all!

AND now they are telling us that cocoa reduces high blood pressure! but has no ill effect if you already have low blood pressure.

So in advance of our annual checkup we are adding cocoa to everything! And cinnamon. (I usually add cardamom and ginger and any spices I can to oatmeal cookies! but I thought I'd taste the cocoa first...)

These came out great and my family urged me to share with you all. These are nut free, and use no eggs, (because I was out, and can only afford one shopping per paycheck).  I used white chocolate chips, dried blueberries and dried cranberries as mix-ins because I intended to make our white oatmeal cookies red, white and blue for the 4th, but didn't make them...oh well they tasted great with chocolate anyway.

1/2 cup plus 6 T softened butter (Or make it vegan: I also love to substitute olive oil pretty much anywhere! I have also used solid coconut oil here)

1 cup sugar (this is about half the Quaker Oats amount of sugar and these were still super sweet, you can cut this to taste)

Cream it up. Then add:

1/2 cup applesauce (here's where you would add the eggs)

Follow with these:

about a cup and a half flour

about half a cup of cocoa

a teaspoon baking soda

a teaspoon cinnamon

Mix it up. Add 3 cups oatmeal (dry, not cooked).

Add your add-ins, raisins, nuts, or as I did, chocolate or white chocolate chips, dried fruits (blueberries and cranberries were really good!)

Drop tablespoonfuls on a baking sheet, bake about 10 minutes in 350 degree oven. 

Made 4 dozen. 

Enjoy that calming drop in pressure!

Cold Comfort Food

This is a kiddie fave, banana pudding pie, right before baking.  

Avoiding grocery shopping and using up everything available to eat?  Make something cold and tasty and sweet and nutritious.  

This is a marriage of a stove top cooked blanc mange pudding with a baked egg custard, depending more or less on your available milk/eggs, and uses up as many ripe bananas as you like.  

Because it's ant season, I have been hastily using up all of my sugar/molasses/maple syrup/honey, so I finished off the sugar with this one too.  

Not only did I have ripe bananas on hand, because my daughter who does not eat bananas does my shopping, and when I put bananas on the list, she thinks we can stock up for several months....in stocking up on "comfort food" treats to maintain coffee break variety for my adult children working from home, I had purchased FOUR POUNDS of animal crackers.  

This was overly optimistic because the novelty wore off after a handful.  We crumbled them on ice cream or yogurt.  I crunched them up and used them as the "crust" and topping for our banana pudding pie.  

Line the pie tin, bowl or baking dish with a layer of crumbled animal crackers, (or graham crackers, yeah we have four boxes of those too), or vanilla wafers.  

On the stovetop cook:

About a quarter cup of flour or cornstarch 

About a cup and a half of milk

2 Tablespoons butter

A cup of sugar 

Cook on low, stirring, to cook off the flour taste and thicken the pudding.  This is the blanc mange part.  

While you simmer, whisk up a little of the hot milk mixture into a small bowl of two egg yolks, and then add back to the pot, continuing to stir.  

Add 3-5 ripe bananas, sliced.

Pour the pudding onto your cookies, crumble some more on top to cover, and bake in a 350 degree oven about 15 minutes.  That's the custard part.

Chill and then eat. 

Another way we used up the animal crackers?  In the best granola bars we've made yet!  My family loves these, and they are even better the second or third day as the flavor ripens.  

Mix your choice of (I used all these):

2 cups crumbled animal crackers (or graham crackers, or skip this altogether)

peanuts

walnuts

chopped figs

raisins

dried cranberries 

3 cups of old fashioned or quick cooking oatmeal

ground flax seed (1/4 cup or less)

poppy seeds (a tablespoon)

orange zest

cinnamon

ground cardamom

peanut butter (I had just a quarter cup)

maple syrup (I had about 3/4 cup)

2 eggs

I did not salt, but add if you like

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper, spread mixture and bake at 350 for 15-30 minutes, until dry to the appearance and touch, and just beginning to brown.  

Let cool and cut into bars.

Ok, one more cold comfort food with the overstocked survival shopping you completed:  

Swiss Miss Ice 

My daughter does not drink coffee but likes hot chocolate from an instant mix.  She is sensitive to some dairy products but finds the dried nonfat milk in hot chocolate mix works for her.  Because my kids were going to be trapped at home for awhile, and because ingredients including milk were kind of hard to find at the beginning of all this, I sprung for a package of Swiss Miss in the canister, so I could scoop out the cocoa/sugar/milk mixture to use for her, and for....things.  Baked goods, maybe.

Except the delivery of one unit of this Swiss Miss included about five years worth of hot cocoa servings.  I have about 10 lbs. of it.  I have the canisters tucked away everywhere!  

So we made hot cocoa ice last night.  I followed the directions for a cup of cocoa and made a quart of it, with boiling water.  Then freeze!  Mix occasionally while freezing, or use your ice cream maker, we did.  Return to the freezer until hard, then run your spoon over the top and collect the chocolaty ice shavings in a paper cup.  Better than Rita's!

Mother's Day Brunch by the Boy

Our Guest Editor today invented this lovely brunch modeled on a photo he saw but for which he could not find a recipe!  He says:

It's literally just baguette slices with a sunny side up egg on top.  The sauce is balsamic vinegar and blueberry jam mixed together.  Serve with fruit and yogurt.

Happy Day!

My Favorite Food

Lazy Cole Slaw

cabbage, coarsely chopped

grated carrots

lemon juice

mayonnaise

salt

black pepper

caraway seeds

When stocking up, oh it was before St. Patrick's day, I picked up a cabbage because I know how long they last in the refrigerator!  Good old foods from the lands of long winters and short growing seasons, cabbage, potatoes, root vegetables....Anyway a little cabbage goes far, in soups, salads, as a vegetable, so I still had 3/4 of my cabbage and finally got around to making my favorite food, cole slaw!  Cole slaw feels like spring so is perfect for the Easter table, and was terrific on our turkey and rye bread sandwiches.  

I can eat my cole slaw like candy, I can eat the whole bowl, now how else could you enjoy so much cabbage?  I prefer homemade over the classic because I add NO sugar.  The carrots and cabbage are sweet enough.  What is necessary for cole slaw flavor is lemon juice and mayonnaise.  Carrots are optional, though beautiful for color and vitamins, and sometimes I generously add caraway seeds, and coarse salt.  I don't usually salt anything, even soup or pasta, (except in baking bread or cakes, because in there, salt is crucial to the chemistry as well as flavor), but Lazy Cole Slaw is a special treat.  

Classic cole slaw grates the cabbage and carrots very fine, but I often (usually) just do Lazy Cole Slaw, roughly chopping the cabbage across the grain, and tossing the whole thing.

This gets even better over time in the fridge, though it never lasts too long!

Retro Turkey Soup

What is more retro than something which in the good old days would have been called Turkey Carcass Soup?  Yes!  Everything old is new again, including last night's turkey.  When is the last time you ate a recipe called "carcass"?  Yes, this is one honest recipe.

Now that we are all home with limited access to marketing, we are cooking again like our grandmas, making things go further than ever.  At least we have the time; what have we been missing out on!

Last time I shopped, I bought a frozen turkey breast, for lack of any other choices, and roasted it earlier this week with salt and pepper, onions, herbs, carrot and celery.  Now we have a meat thermometer so I didn't even overcook it.  It was so good, and we are still eating it sliced in sandwiches.

But most special of all, I re-used the turkey carcass post-roasting for this soup, which is so good and tastes even turkier than turkey!  The house smells more like Thanksgiving this April than it ever has.  Turkey soup seems somehow lighter than chicken but is so rich in flavor, we just drink cup after cup!

Simmer the turkey carcass a good while until the remaining meat falls clean from the bone, with a few carrots, a stalk of celery, a garlic clove and an onion, quartered, and desired herbs, (thyme, and pepper). 

Remove the carcass and vegetables.

In a separate pot, cook rice or other starch of your choice.   Traditionally this is made with white rice, as I remember it, but I only had brown rice and it turned out nuttily delicious.

Add back the boiled carrot, sliced, the rice, and I added some mixed frozen vegetables.

We have been enjoying this as a light supper for a change, after so much grazing over the past few weeks!  Light, feel good comfort food with so much flavor, it satisfies all on its own.  I guess that's the secret to the popularity of the bone broths.

Job done!  Dinner accomplished!

Today's Daily Soup Special

Everybody's currently working from home, and whew, don't you really work so much harder at home!  The day goes so fast, especially when you're planning and preparing the next meal and cleaning up from the last and there won't be any going out to eat if you didn't get to it.

We're trying to eat so healthfully, too, to keep immune systems strong!

So Today's Daily Soup Special is really how to make leftovers new again, without saying "leftovers" to anyone.

This is the second iteration of homemade chicken soup, (my chicken soup answers to "Liquid Gold").
The soup was originally rather strongly flavored from all the immune-boosting spices I included, so this was the perfect mod to make today's desk lunch for the folks working from home offices in our little home.

Ingredients:
leftover Liquid Gold chicken soup*
leftover egg noodles stored in the leftover chicken soup
leftover cooked broccoli florets  (optional) (these had been frozen, cooked in bag and not served last night for  dinner, since we ended up having sandwiches and baked potatoes and there wasn't room on the plate or menu for more broccoli, hence refrigerated overnight)
leftover crisply overdone thin boneless pork chops (or use crisply cooked bacon) (optional)
leftover blanched Italian cut green beans (optional)
juice from half a lemon
dollop of sour cream
coarse salt, (optional)
black pepper
dash of paprika as garnish (optional)

Heat it all up, add the lemon and sour cream last, mix in, serve.


Liquid Gold Chicken Soup:  This is of course totally health food; chicken soup is often affectionately called, "Jewish penicillin", and this one even includes garlic, "Russian penicillin".

1. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer, one whole chicken, OR chicken necks and backs, quartered chicken pieces with bone in, etc.
2.  As the foam rises and floats on the surface, skim-skim-skim it off with a spoon, discard.  (I collect it all in a medium size bowl and then discard.)  Skimming makes the end product clearer, but you can skip this step and remove the fat from the surface after you chill it, if you can't skim.  It isn't actually that bad, you only have to skim a few times.
3.  After all the skimming, you can add:
carrot
celery (leaves; also stalk, celery seed)
onions
garlic
ginger
bay leaf
ground cardamom, or float the whole seed
a clove or two
black pepper
dash of turmeric
your choices:  marjoram, basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage...
a star anise (this is optional and is a slightly different, peculiar flavor and smell of licorice, though the soup will still be mostly chicken-y; I added it because star anise is reputed to be a source ingredient for Tamiflu! and why not, I will try any home remedy and old wives' tale to make us strong!  It is also an ingredient in Chinese 5 Spice and also reportedly in  some Vietnamese soups...I have learned how to dare combining some warm, "sweet" spices with the herbs or savory, spicy spices since trying to cook some Middle Eastern/African dishes for my son's tastes.)
salt* (optional)
lemon juice at end before serving (optional)
lemon/orange zest (optional)

When simmered long enough to turn "liquid gold" and the meat falls off the chicken bone, remove the chicken and the vegetables, and serve as broth, or add what you like to serve as "chicken soup", e.g., egg noodles, pasta noodles, dumplings, rice, mixed vegetables...

*Most soups benefit from the taste of salt, and quite a bit of salt, but I don't use it at all in soup for my own health, my family adds it at the table if they like; I find this flavorful enough that it doesn't even need it.

To your health!

Good for You No-Bake Bites, aka "Conglomerate Rocks"

Mix this with your hands.  I like to make this in the morning when I am up before the family, (every morning!) because I don't use the mixer so I don't make noise, plus, it's an excuse for a peanut butter fix with my coffee.

Makes a baker's dozen of 2 inch balls.  They look like conglomerate rocks, too, for science class.
(This recipe is my adaptation of one from King Arthur's Flour.)

3/4 cup nut butter, or, the rest of the peanut butter left in the jar (it is pointless to try to measure peanut butter in an additional cup)

1 cup oats

1/2 cup raw honey

1/4 cup cocoa (optional)

1/3 cup dried buttermilk powder (or other powdered milk)

3/4 cup oat bran

1 or 2 T apple cider vinegar

Plus 1 cup of mix-ins of your choice:
I used 1 T chia seeds, and a cup of chopped figs and dates

Roll into balls and keep covered in the fridge.  When my family gets up, I'll let you know how they liked them with their lunches!

Chocolate covered frozen banana ice cream....

Remember your teen magazine treat recipes, how you freeze half a banana on a popcicle stick and cover it with chocolate shell?  Remember how cold and frozen it was and how if you're patient enough the banana gets a little creamy inside, and it's not too sweet, you get that earthy aftertaste of the banana and then the rich bitter chocolate, and you can't stop eating them because they seem so much healthier than ice cream, they taste just sort of icy?

We have duplicated the experience. We mixed up about 7 browning bananas with the Kitchen Aid mixer; now lots of people make banana ice cream just like that, in a food processor from frozen bananas, but we started with fresh and then tasted;  we added a little milk to taste, because it so improved the banana flavor, a tablespoon of maple syrup, and for the chocolate:  I had leftover chocolate ganache glaze from a cake in a jar in the fridge, about 1/2 a cup.

The chocolate glaze which I mixed in:   semisweet chocolate chips (Vermont Nut Free Chocolates) melted with equal part heavy cream, and a tablespoon of cognac.

Mixed, frozen and churned:

The taste, texture, temperature and experience, whole family agreed, was exactly that of eating the frozen banana with the hint of chocolate cover. 

Note:  just like the bananas would, this freezes a little too hard at the temperature you would use to freeze your other ice creams, so you may want to turn down the cold a little, or microwave 30 secs. to a minute upon removing from the freezer!

Non-dairy strawberry sherbet!

Creamy, smooth, intensely strawberry sherbet (vegan)

First summer holiday weekend, and we commenced ice cream experimentation to use up nice things in the fridge before the fresh fruits and veggies ripen and start coming home in the Community Share box.  

This is the best ice dessert ever I've made, and I am a dairy princess who loves every food except coconut, but this is totally non-dairy made for my daughter.

Mix about two cups strawberry preserves and about a half cup of lemonade;  mix in a cup and a half to two cups of coconut milk, and a pinch of salt.  That's it!  Chill or freeze for half an hour, then churn in the ice cream maker and freeze for a few hours in a bowl.  

Best yet!

Invisible eggplant cake

This is our Zucchini Bread substituting Eggplant.   The color of banana bread without that cloying sticky flavor; not too sweet tasting with a curious after- tang, I bet no one will identify the mystery ingredient and it will be universally loved.   Good plain or with Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge icing (the glossy dark color perhaps hints at the original shiny aubergine peel).

1 eggplant, sliced in half and broiled 10 minutes each side.

 3 cups all purpose flour      
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
stir together the dry ingredients            

Add

3 eggs
1 cup olive  oil
           2 1/4 cups sugar

Mix.     Scoop the soft broiled eggplant flesh out of the skin and add to the mixture, beating well.
Bake in 325 for 30-50 minutes (I used an oblong glass pan time.)  It will be a gray-brown, banana bread color.

For optional chocolate frosting, I used unsweetened baking chocolate, 4 large marshmallows and 1 can of sweetened condensed milk.  Melt all together on stove top or microwave, mixing until all ingredients are melted and combined and thick and shiny (yum).  Also makes good fudge as it!  I think my daughter will appreciate it, since she no longer eats cake or icing because the butter is too rich; no buttercream here!

The golden warm cake, unfrosted, and frosted!  Ummm more veggies for dessert!

The way to eat kale

Uniquely flavorful, nodding to traditional greens cooking.

olive oil and/or goose fat
clove garlic
kale leaves, ripped from the tough center ribs
roughly chopped baby bella or other mushrooms
salt and pepper
finely chopped and/or whole hot peppers to taste
sauerkraut--(I had about a cup leftover in the fridge)
finely chopped slices of Canadian bacon


Heat on medium the fat/oil in enameled cast iron casserole, add the ingredients in order listed, toss well periodically and cover and let simmer on medium low for about 40 minutes until kale softens somewhat and the fresh green color becomes more olive colored.

Best. Ever.

More cake-as-vegetable: Zucchini Bread!

Another recipe in the series of how to use up your weekly CSA box of fruit and veggies:  the best zucchini bread.  And let's admit it, it's cake.  You can bake this recipe in two loaf pans like bread, but I just bake it as one big beautiful Bundt.

It's great weather for this as fall blows in, and there's lots of cinnamon to warm you up.  No butter or dairy, just healthy olive oil, lovely fiber-y zucchini and optional cocoa-dusted pumpkin seeds for my nephew allergic to nuts.  Stays moist as long as you can keep it in the house.  10 minutes prep, 50 min. to an hour in the oven.

3 cups all purpose flour          

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
stir together the dry ingredients

Add
3 eggs
1 cup olive oil
2 1/4 cups sugar

Mix.     Don't be alarmed that the dough is stiff like cookie dough rather than wet like cake batter:  the zucchini adds a LOT of liquid.

Add grated zucchini.  (As much as you like: about 2 cups is one large or two small zucchini.)

Mix.

Add (optional) 1/2 cup cocoa dusted hulled pumpkin seeds https://www.superseedz.com/

Bake at 325 degrees in two loaf pans or one bundt pan, for 50 minutes more or less (until skewer inserted comes out clean).  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar if desired.

Enjoy!  It's ok--it's your vegetable!

Using up the CSA box: eggplant. And, Dog saves Dinner.

Still using up that weekly farm box.  We try to cook through most of them before the new weekly box.  I thought I didn't like eggplant, and we are getting one or two a week.  But I am loving any variation of my made-up rataouille. It's become my new comfort food!

I heated olive oil in my old enameled cast iron pot.  Add roughly chopped onions, peeled and roughly chopped raw eggplant, a few carrots, 6 chopped plum tomatoes , a crushed garlic clove; I threw in what my farmer calls "spicy peppers", seeds removed but left whole so I can remove before serving, because we are not all, in my family, fond of biting heat.   Salt pepper and cumin to taste.  I added a drained two-cup can of chickpeas and a cup of canned chopped tomatoes because I wanted it saucier tonight.  You might add chopped green peppers, chopped zucchini.  Cook until the eggplant darkens and is soft to bite and the rice is ready.

Grocery shopping online I accidentally bought something like 25 lbs of rice (the photo looked like a small 1 lb bag and cost no more!)  AND I  split bulk oatmeal with my college student's apartment (they are living of course on overnight oatmeal "bakes").  So we are now in the grain business.

For my student:  you cook rice like this.  Ratio 2:1 water to rice.  To match my pot of ratatouille I used 4 cups of water and 2 cups rice.  Boil the water.  Add the rice, (salt and/or butter optional, I skip it) turn heat to lowest setting and cover the pot.  When the water is all absorbed, remove from heat, fluff with fork.  Total time:  20 minutes.

ACTUALLY MY DOG SAVED THE DINNER!  I joined my father on the backyard patio to chat, just for a few minutes, with the window open to smell the good cooking.  My dog came to me stood up with her paws on my knees and a panicky alert cry.  I suddenly thought, I bet the dinner is about to burn!  Sure enough, just in time, it was the eggplant and rice, both done at the same time, liquid gone and a few charred chickpeas, but the pot bottom ISN'T burned!

Serve the eggplant over the rice.  Serves 5-6 as main dish for hearty appetites.

Mmmmm.  My fussy vegetarian and my classic-fine-diner both loved it!  Sweet tasty and warming after a pool day and as the evening falls earlier!


Thanks Dog!

Roast peach ice cream!

Summer is the best!  I have decided to remain for the remainder of my days a Girl of Summer.  I think I will return to teaching for the summers off (among other worthy and noble reasons).     

Summer series starts now:    how to use up your weekly CSA box.  Peaches are local New Jersey bounty and as we all know a special chemistry geometrically improves the flavor of peaches when you heat  or cook them.  Yes we have Perfect Peach Pie kindness of Grandpa’s hands, and yes we have Peach Jam which my grandma used to make on the stovetop, just a few jars to use, which is itself justification for eating a slice of bread (make it homemade for a slice of heaven).  

For that reason, (heat + peaches = sunshine in the flesh)  AND because you know it is our philosophy here to make do without extra appliances and I don’t have a suitable appliance to whip up Peach Puree--ROAST PEACH ICE CREAM!  I thought broiling the peaches would make them easy to mash with a fork or potato masher, yes, it did.  You may also barbecue the peaches!

(I know, “roast peach” sounds almost like “roast beast “c/o Dr. Seuss and the Grinch! Only my dog would like roast beef ice cream!)

Recipe:

Roast 5 peaches:  Half, pit, and broil, grill or bake until slightly blackened.  Slip off the skins and mash.

Cook over medium heat:

2 cups milk

3 cups sugar

¾ tsp. Salt

When steaming hot almost boiling, stir in:

6 lightly beaten eggs

Cook, stirring, until the custard until thickens slightly.

Stir in:

4 cups heavy cream

2 tsp. Vanilla

Your mashed roast peaches and juice

Freeze several hours or overnight.  

Churn in your ice cream maker then freeze several hours for hard ice cream or serve immediately for soft serve (soft serve was good too but melted too fast to photograph!)

This made slightly too much to churn all at once for my Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment bowl to my Kitchen Aid mixer, so I made two batches, a small batch to taste soft serve and the bulk of it to freeze for later. (I LOVE my #KitchenAid_ice_cream_maker_attachment, a gift from my son; having successfully used it starting with orange-buttermilk sherbet, dairy-free sorbets for my daughter and multiple fresh fruit produces, I gave one to my brother to make allergen free ice cream for his little boy.)

Job done. My family LOVED it. Best ice cream ever. Creamy, cold, and lots of delicious icy-creamy peach chunks. Feel free to alter the proportions of cream/half&half/milk and increase the peaches quantity!

Cheatin' Chowdah



With the convenience of shop from home and good intentions to serve (and eat) real food this week, I came home from work on time to the urgent necessity of cooking, tonight, the lovely fillets of cod, haddock and salmon, and of eating another bag of soon-to-expire lettuce.  Broiled the salmon and served a small wedge atop a small lovely lettuce salad (I know, a meal itself), but then--the lovely white fish flesh in an all-American summer-celebrating chowder!

Now I happen to have the new book called Cod: A Biography of the fish that changed the world, by Mark Kulansky. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140275010/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=freeebooks13-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0140275010&linkId=dd17f922b5d4
BUT this is not the recipe (as far as I know) from the back of that book which I haven't read yet.  All I did note was that there used to be a rumor that the children from Marblehead Massachusetts were bigger than all the others because their diet consisted of cods' heads....

THIS was ready and served in LESS than a half hour!

2 fillets of cod or haddock roughy sliced, two inches each
a large yellow onion sliced thinly

Heat in a medium saucepan with 2 T butter, salt and black pepper
Remove the fish when cooked through to another plate

I added a beer to deglaze the pan. (I have a 12 pack of Yuengling lager to get rid of before our southern Baptist relatives visit, which we have because my dad  looks for a beer once a year after hot yardwork, I sent my kid (ADULT CHILD) to the store for a 6 pack, and,  she doesn't drink, or do math.  Yes we are a 3 generation household.)

Boil off the alcohol and add a cup and a half of stock (chicken or vegetable).  Add
quartered mini red potatoes
thinly sliced carrot
chopped tops of celery
frozen green peas
(corn if you have it, I didn't)
Season:  salt, pepper, thyme/tarragon (preferred, but I'm out) or dill or nutmeg or paprika and 4 flakes         dried red pepper
Enrich with 1 cup of half & half or whole milk and return the fish to the pot.
Add a few Trenton oyster crackers or Vermont Common Crackers to each serving bowl.

Job done!  Now read the classics in Cod, or Fannie Farmer, and let me know if this is good enough!

One Bowl Wonder Meal

Home on time to make dinner and craving a good salad?  Check off all your family's food group requirements in one bowl with a Nicoise style salad, with whatever you have on hand to use up.

Rub your extra large salad bowl with a clove of garlic.  Then soak the clove in half/half olive oil, squeeze of half a lemon and red wine vinegar (organic and fermenting, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0131F0NB6/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=httpdinneraccomplished.blogspot.com-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0131F0NB6&linkId=1f09e38a165b2ff291905a13ee8f441b.  Chop a tomato into it.  Finely slice and chop a few sundried tomatoes into it.   Add  1/4 c. chopped red onion to soak.  Add a few tablespoons of dried cranberries or raisins.

Meanwhile boil the water for a half pound of mixed small red/yellow fingerling potatoes, and slice same into the pot.  When soft, drain the potatoes and while hot, toss with olive oil, wine vinegar, 1/4 c. mayonnaise, and plenty of dried thyme and pepper,  (salt optional).  Also optional, a splash of white wine is traditional.

Back to your salad bowl:  Add dried dill to the dressing at the bottom of the bowl, my new favorite  Italian seasoning! http://amzn.to/2p3iKzg, pepper (salt if you like, I'm skipping the salt); chop a handful of fresh parsley into it.  Add the spinach and toss in the dressing to soften a little.  Chop over the dressing a head of romaine.  Add chunks of canned tuna, two hard boiled eggs quartered.  Crumble goat cheese over the top and toss.

Serve the salad in a large pasta bowl, garnish with optional anchovies, and present with a scoop on top of your warm potato salad.

Presented your family everything they need to eat to eat today.  Job done!

Smuggler's Mystery Cake

I love:  using up stuff in the cupboard and fridge; making do with what I have on hand; avoiding in-person shopping of all kinds; making easy quick cheap nutritious food for my family, AND smuggling some nutritive value (healthy goodness) into my adult vegetarian daughter's diet.  You may wonder why a vegetarian needs smuggled vegetables but her version of vegetarian means she gets to limit her diet to the sweet extras, not caring much for most vegetables or fruits, and definitely not potatoes or ancient grains.

Hence the special cake tonight in lieu of dinner, and having enjoyed a healthy Sunday breakfast and lunch...

Smuggler's Mystery Cake

Mix dry ingredients:
1 3/4 c. all purpose (King Arthur) flour http://amzn.to/2pN1fYX
1/4 c. cocoa*                      *having suffered kitchen cabinet avalanches TWICE with the cocoa, it's                                                not in its original packaging and I also know to be VERY CAREFUL                                                    mixing dry ingredients with cocoa BECAUSE IT'S LIKE TALC, EASY                                                TO BREATHE IN AND DIFFICULT TO SPONGE UP!
2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder (I use Aluminum Free)                                  
                                                 

1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar*       *I used two small fist-sized clumps of brown                                       sugar, having used up what was left                                                     in the sugar bowl....It looked like 2 scant cups

                http://amzn.to/2qnegFA
                      
Dump in:
8 oz. tomato soup
1/2 c. olive oil*                 *As a patriot I used to use California olive oil, but my son and his                                                          California student girlfriend having recently split up, I am trying to avoid                                              C-word memories around the house.  Imported will do fine.
2 eggs                                   \                                                   http://amzn.to/2qiThX2
1 cup "soured" milk    *Similar recipes call for buttermilk but I didn't have it or yogurt on hand.
                                  Since the baking soda is for the buttermilk chemistry, I used nonfat milk with
                                  a squeeze of half a lemon.
Beat all together for several minutes to aerate and create the cake's structure.

Pour into olive oiled oblong pan (I used the same rubber scraper to grease the pan and to scrape down the sides of the bowl, I try to keep my hands and fingers out of the food) and bake at 350 degrees 35 minutes.

                                         chocolate mystery batter

You know with chocolate cake, it's ready before the usual tests apply, before it shrinks in the pan, before it's altogether dry in the middle on testing.

Beautiful, glossy, level!


I iced with a Cream Cheese glaze:  I had about 6 oz. of cream cheese leftover and the only confectionary sugar in the house was about 1/2 cup in my sugar shaker, which I keep in a plastic bag but still wanted to empty and wash before ant season!  I mixed these together with maybe a half teaspoon of lemon juice.  Spread on warm cake . Yummmmm....

.
The cake has a tender crumb and is not too sweet,has an adult flavor and is as good served with red wine as with coffee.
Job Done!