Loving Real Food

Use what you have.

2016-09-27T08:10:00.001-07:00

Pasta and peas in cream sauce can be transformed depending on what you have in the fridge:

Pasta and zucchini
Pasta and fennel
Pasta and radicchio

And my favorite, asparagus.

Or, risotto and peas\
Risotto and fennel
Risotto and roasted vegetables......

You get the idea.

And to play even more, use different wines for your risotto.
Use different grains as well...

Finally, don't forget to eat every bite, but not at a single sitting. Buon Appetito!

Modern- day cooking challenges.

2016-09-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

If anyone tells you that cooking is easy, don't believe them. Cooking requires preparation, timing, pacing, and an understanding of cooking methods for each ingredient to shine. Oh yes, you can open a cookbook, jot down the ingredients, stop by the grocery store to pick up what you don't have and three hours later you might be able to put a meal on the table resembling the one in the cookbook.

The real challenge for the modern family is to find easy way to feed one or two or more people after a hard day at work, commuting, and collapsing on the couch with no energy left for much else. EASY EATING, simple fare to fill our stomachs until someone has time to coordinate a real meal is what we need. No wonder we pick up ready chopped vegetables, deli fare, pizza, burgers...

So, what can you do to eat healthy fare and still not be a slave to cooking and shopping and cleaning up?

SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFESTYLE

Here are the rules:

1. Prepare only one complete meal a week, on a day when you have more energy and time, and make extras so you can have them as lunches or snacks the rest of the week. One big lasagna, or one whole chicken, or roast.

2. Buy real food in its original state, seasonal fruit and vegetables to last two weeks and stock up on eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt to last a couple of weeks. These will be your stand by when time is really short. Yes, you can have yogurt a few times a week for breakfast and for supper; salads with nuts and cheese will become stand by for lunches and dinner; and omelets and frittata will fill you up beautifully if you throw in extra veggies, peppers, olives, etc.

3. Once a week, as you prepare that weekly big meal, stock up on staples such as rice, pasta, canned beans, canned tomatoes, tuna and sardines, mayo, mustard and ingredients to make your favorite meals you put together from a new recipe, or from a previous one you have learned to make without looking up anything.

Before you know it, you'll be enjoying your own prepared meals more, and your palate, your stomach and your overall health will improve.

Make your own frozen TVmeals

2016-06-15T09:31:00.001-07:00

I have doubled up on my recipes lately, stocking up for times when I'll be too busy to cook a decent meal and I'm too far to go pick up at a decent restaurant.

What you see are meals that take time. Hours. And they require specific ingredients you might not have around.
The first one is an onion focaccia; it could be any focaccia, really. Focaccia can be frozen after assembly, and they will go in a very hot oven for fifteen minutes or until they are cooked through, with minimum time allowed for defrosting.

All the recipes for the above are right on this blog. Just scroll down the list of meals on the side.

In my freezer right now, besides focaccia, I have minestrone, stuffed peppers, and chicken and dumplings. If the focaccia is cooked, I slice it, and pack each slice separately. I also pack the rest of the meals in individual freezer and microwave friendly glass containers, write the content on the top, and freeze for three months or less.

When you have no time to cook, even on a hot day, pull your TVmeal and pop it in the microwave to defrost. You could microwave your cooked focaccia, btw., but I use a toaster oven to warm up the cold focaccia, something about a bit of direct heat does that bread good.

Enjoy. Better than anything frozen in your local supermarket, and healthier too.

Snack attack.

2016-03-04T10:44:00.001-08:00

Croquettes were the rage when I was young.
Mother would fry all kinds, in a mixed version, or individually.
If she had too much of any vegetable, or herbs, this is how she cleaned the refrigerator.

Nowadays, I rarely eat or make such goodies. But, if I expect company, I know my friends will help me with every little bite.

Ingredients:
1C fresh vegetables, cooked vegetables, or fresh herbs, cut in bite size pieces;
1 C flour or pancake mix;
1 Egg;
Milk, just enough to achieve the consistency of mashed potatoes
salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients together, and let the concoction sit in the refrigerator for one hour or so.
Just before you want to serve the croquettes, heat two-three inches of vegetable oil until a drop of the mix sizzles.
Scoop one or two tablespoons and run a test run. If the oil is too hot the croquette will brown too fast. Taste the first one before cooking the rest. You may need to adjust for taste as well.
Drain on paper towels and keep warm until ready to eat.

Serve with a dressing made of yogurt, lemon zest, mint and olive oil. Enjoy as appetizers or snacks.

Have you seen the price of vegetables?

2016-02-09T09:31:00.001-08:00

I used to eat like this, a few years ago. A handful of salad greens, a pile of mayonnaised fish and bread or crackers. Nothing wrong with it. I actually felt saintly after this meal. The packaged salad greens were pre washed and measured, and while more expensive, I felt they were a good deal.

Notice that the salad had no real vegetables except for the packaged greens. Nowadays, I make a salad with fresh greens, cooked greens and even canned greens. What I don't use quickly I pickle for yet another addition to my salad plate. I make my own dressing too, one part vinegar or lemon, and three parts oil. I add plenty of aromatics, dried or fresh herbs, and little or no salt.

As for the fish, I still use canned tuna or salmon or sardines once a month, for convenience and economy. I drizzle a bit of olive oil and add chopped peppers and onions to liven up the taste. Pepper helps to spark the blandness, and sometimes a dash of hot sauce.

For starch, a slice of a multigrain loaf, or a grain leftover from a previous meal. After all, we just need to swap to a better deal rather than cutting all carbs.

Add a slice or two of orange or any seasonal fruit and you now have a nutritious meal that is both tasty, heart healthy, filling, and economical.

Veg Up!

2016-02-02T09:19:00.001-08:00

If I see a recipe on line that involves veggies, I will share and try it and continue to fuss with it until it's mine. Yes, combining vegetables and herbs and spices with additions of flavorful oils or nuts will send your palate dancing in the street.

However, let's be real. Fresh vegetables cost as much as meat these days. So, unless you can grow them, or have a constant supply from your local farmers, you are stuck using frozen ones.
This recipe will work with frozen veggies.

Easy Minestrone

Ingredients for four servings:

Two cups of assorted vegetables/fresh or frozen
One cup/can of beans, any type, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup of olive oil or half oil, half butter
Two Tablespoons of chopped aromatics such as onions, garlic, chili peppers, lemon zest...
Sprinkling of cheese
Bread
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute' your chopped aromatics in the butter/oil mix until fragrant, one, two minutes. Add your vegetables and saute for another minute or two until flavors have combined. Add the beans until warmed through. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper and lemon zest.

Voila', your minestrone is ready to be eaten in less time that it takes to warm up a frozen dinner. Add crusty bread and you have a full meal.

What to cook everyday.

2015-12-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

When I want to create something new, what do you think I do?
1. read cookbooks to get ideas
2. go out to expensive restaurants to taste something new.
3. travel

I do all of the above. A simple bowl of fresh pea pods will then be transformed by a Julia Child's recipe , or a new treatment by the chefs at Portland's Ava Gene's Restaurant, and a perfect setting in a comfy place that always impresses me such as Marche' in Eugene, Oregon. Yes, indeed, a trip to a wonderful place out of the ordinary will do wonders in transforming your own repertoire.

This bowl of peas will join a fresh fall salad I adapted from Ava Gene's Restaurant in Portland.

Ingredients:
Fresh or frozen peas
Sauteed peppers and onions
Almonds
Feta cheese cubes

Combine and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a touch of honey.

Count your bites?

2015-11-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

No matter what, Thanksgiving is bound to make you gain weight. How much? A lot.
That wouldn't be so bad if after the meal, you went right back to a balanced diet.
Nah!
From now until the new year, people will gain weight without really trying. So, how do you cope if you have dietary restrictions and need to watch your carbs or sugar and help your digestion absorb the onslaught of sweets and calories presented to us with a loving smile.

Here are some coping techniques:
1. Est regular meals each and every day. No starving before a banquet.
2. Switch to smaller plates at a big meal to keep your servings small.
3. Start and fill up on greens and salad helpings.
4. Drink wine diluted so a glass becomes 1/2 a glass
5. Provide sides that feature unusual combinations of greens so everyone is attracted to the new dish.

Turkey Up!

2015-11-15T13:23:00.000-08:00

These two are hoping the Thanksgiving meal comes to them!
And they know exactly what they want too. Turkey and all its trimmings. This upcoming Thanksgiving feast is the one meal I truly enjoy putting on the table for these very reasons:

1. The main course is ready to go with minimal effort. You can even pre-order and pick up your turkey at the local supermarket or restaurant if you wish.
2. Most of the sides are predictable: cranberry sauce, two kinds of potatoes, one with marshmallows, two kinds of greens, one with bacon, stuffing, two kinds of pies, one definitely pumpkin, and plenty of ice cream for first and second helpings.
3. Leftovers can go home with guests or will feed you for the next few days.
4. No need for cooking supper if the meal is served mid day.
5. Everyone will complain on how much they ate as they scavenge in the back of the refrigerator all afternoon.

A traditional meal is quite easy to prepare, and I make every effort to simplify every year.
Since a lot of people anticipate to taste their childhood meal at this time, stick to brands they recognize and have come to love. If you know that one person connects Thanksgiving to a special dish, be sure to include that dish, even if it is not eaten by anyone else.

1. Purchase a Butterball Turkey, pre-infused with extra juices. Follow roasting instructions on the package. If you opt for a heritage turkey, talk to the providers about how to treat and cook the bird.

2. Purchase or bake your pies ahead of time unless you truly love to fuss with the extra baking. Your oven will be busy for hours; so, anything you need to bake will need to be done ahead of time.

3. If you have vegetarians, try to include a special dish for them, even if they are the only ones eating that item.

Feel like decorating? Go outdoors and pick up leaves and branches to make natural dried arrangements. Add your family heirloom china pieces, even for children's settings. Eating together is a special time for an extended family. No need to save those pieces for future occasions.

I will send home dried, sweet cranberries for everyone, with a printed recipe for homemade granola that will use up those cranberries. Here is the recipe, adapted from Mark Bittman, NYTimes.

Ingredients:
6C rolled oats (not instant)
1Tablespoon cinnamon
2C nuts/seeds
1teaspoon salt
1/2C oil
1/2 C or 1C maple syrup or honey
1 C dried cranberries or other dried fruit

Procedure:
Heat oven to 125F.
Combine oats, nuts/seeds, cinnamon, salt, maple or honey, oil.
Spread on a rimmed cookie sheet.
Bake for 15' and stir.
Continue baking and stirring every 15' until the mixture is golden brown.Appr. 35' or so.
Remove from oven and stir in the dried fruit.
Cool completely before storing in an air-tight container. Shelf life is about two weeks.

A weekly menu? Why not a monthly one?

2015-11-05T09:14:00.003-08:00

Recently, AARP or was it Bon Appetit published a weekly menu to aid the busy cook in the kitchen, reminding everyone that planning a menu doesn't have to be so daunting.
Yes, I thought, why is it that I plan menus and never really follow them?
Or, is it just me?
Or, could it be that as a working mother I had so little time left in my day/week, that a planned menu was necessary for survival, or my family was reduced to opening cans.

The fact is for all of us, young and old, that food is extremely expensive, and feeding our families well is one of the most important task we have.

So, I'm offering my ideal weekly menu for a busy family that with a few variations can become a monthly menu:

1. Monday: Legumes, as the pasta and beans in the picture, all pantry items. Change the type of pasta, the sauce, or the beans, and you have four different meals, one for each week.

2. Tuesday: Chicken, as in fried, bbq'ed, in a casserole, over rice, over orzo, with tagliatelle.

3. Wednesday: Soup, as in chicken soup made with the previous day's chicken, and assorted vegetables, or minestrone with mostly beans, or seasonal with the weeks' greens or tubers like beets.

4. Thursday: Beef, as in hamburger, meat loaf, meat balls, stew, chili, corned beef and cabbage

5. Friday: Pizza: as margherita, with sausage, olives and mushrooms, squash and spinach.

6. Saturday: Crepes or pancakes, filled with cheeses, mushrooms, sausage, or crab. Let the children help before you all scramble out of the house.

7. Sunday: Exotic day, to try new recipes, new combos, from Japanese teriyaki to Swedish meat balls, from an expensive prime rib roast, to a tian provencal, layered vegetables with a cheese top casserole.

This is a primitive plan, sketchy enough to be changed; yet, a guide to provide your family with varieties and creativity. Nobody will call your cooking boring.

Eating well on a budget.

2015-10-31T18:06:00.001-07:00

At a farm stand, or at the grocery store, you can pick up the specials of the week and combine them in your favorite way to make meals that will give you a sense of the world around you. All you need to accomplish such a feat is to stock your pantry with a few items which you need to replenish regularly.
On hand, you need fresh onions, garlic, herbs, chili peppers.good oil.
Stock your pantry with pasta, rice, legumes, condiments such as vinegar, soy sauce, cheeses.
If you see stuff on sale, buy what you can eat in a week or two, and if something is a bargain, and you have room in your freezer, buy enough for another time.

As an exercise, observe the basket in the picture, and come up with combinations:

1. Salads, with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce
2. Stir-fries, with green veggies, an onion or two
3. A tian, or a layered casserole, with sliced onions, potatoes, zucchini, etc.
4, A pasta dish, with sauteed vegetables and a spicy garlic and chili mix.
5. Taco or burrito mix, using fresh chopped vegetables, some canned beans, cheese, and a touch of salsa.

If you cook a pasta, make enough for two meals, one to each immediately, and one for lunch the following day. Cooking double will not only save you money, it will save you time and energy as well.

Favorite things for me to make in bulk and freeze for another week:

1. Chicken and dumplings
2. Lasagna
3. Minestrone
4. Chili
5, Bean burritos

What are your strategies for living well on a budget?

When you have too many veggies...

2015-05-10T08:37:00.000-07:00

If you have fresh veggies, you can't just let them sit around, hoping they cook themselves. You need to do something with them or you'll have to dump them. The first instinct is to saute' them in olive oil, chopped garlic and red pepper flakes until soft and aromatic. You can eat them all, or pop them in the freezer and reheat on a week night when you have nothing else in the fridge.

Or, you could steam them and serve them with a sauce.
Make your own, or use your favorite jar from that specialty store.

Here are two of my favorites. I add grain like Bulgar or orzo, plop in a bowl, add the sauce on top, and there is a quick weeknight dinner. For protein, you could add nuts, or slivers of cheese, or the leftover chicken you meant to use.

Lemon and Olive oil sauce (topping for fish, vegetables, even pasta)
Place everything in a blender:
Juice and zest of two lemons
2 Tablespoons of good olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 bunch of Italian parsley, chopped fine
salt
pepper

Any leftover can be refrigerated for a few days.

Asian sauce (over rice, or any grains and vegetables)

2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
1 T. sesame oil
1 T minced ginger
1T minced garlic
1 T lime juice
Mix in a Mason jar. Write the ingredients on the lid and you can reproduce this sauce in a flash.

Enjoy!

GMO or NoGMO?

2015-04-28T09:01:00.001-07:00

Everything that is growing commercially today, that is growing for consumption, has been genetically modified. What? Yes. Hundreds of years ago, smart people began to cross pollinate wild varieties of fruit and vegetables. They wanted the taste of a ripe, sweet strawberry, for example, but also a hardiness of skin and constitution that would allow that wild thing to last the trek across the land, from its natural place, to the vending stall.

Busy hands and brains mixed and matched, and tested away for years and years before the right strawberry was finally produced in those laboratories, and later reached everyone's table, across deserts, mountains, and oceans.

In winter, here in the Pacific Northwest, as well as anywhere else on this continent and others, we can appreciate oranges and avocados and grapes from South America, and never bat an eyelash. Modifying food to taste better and be able to cross oceans did not happen accidentally.

We should be making many choices when we eat and for different reasons. First of all, we should ask ourselves if we are eating food that is closest to its natural state, just grown, and not packaged in easy to eat packages like those cut up carrot sticks we hand our children on their way to school. If food is grown locally, no extra fuel was used to arrive at the local farmers' market. If it is in season, food is fresher, adapted to local weather and soil condition and each community can be sustainable if the locals consume locally. If it still has roots and seeds and dirt around, you can be assured nobody messed with it or added sugar or a special wash to make it look bright and pretty for your eyes.

Anyone who has lived in California knows a backyard or two with wild oranges, bitter and full of pits, hardly edible by today's expectations. Many experiments were conducted at UC Riverside to come up with the best variety of juicy, sweet oranges and lemons. Let's enjoy them, and encourage our budding scientists to continue to do good science to give us tasty and healthy fruit and produce for our growing population on this ever-changing planet.

If you have a sunny window...

2015-04-11T09:37:00.002-07:00

Everyone can grow flowers and vegetables indoors if there is light and warmth and a bit of inclination. Why do you need to grow your own if you can purchase what you need at the local market? You don't need to, but you may want to just the same to appreciate the wonderful world around you and to have easy pickings for those times when you are just too tired to run and get the scallions you need for that recipe...

To grow your own scallions, you just need to save the root end of a scallion and place it on a soaked napkin by a window sill, roots down. Check it daily and keep it wet. In a day or so, your scallions will send up shoots of new life. There. Food for the asking. You can do this, grow your own herbs and vegetables if you have no green thumb, actually. Anything with a root, carrots, onions, radishes. Try to buy stuff with roots. They will keep on giving. Before long, you'll feel you have to cook something.

How about an omelette? Break two eggs in a bowl, add chopped scallions, chopped radishes, salt, pepper and some slivered cheese. Swirl with a fork as you wait for your skillet to get hot. Drop a pat of butter with a swirl of olive oil and shake the pan to coat the bottom. Drop your egg mixture and swirl this around so the bottom of your skillet is covered. Turn off the heat for two minutes and let the egg mixture cook without interference. Then, with a rubber spatula, fold the omelette and let it sit this way for a few minutes or while you make toast. Time required? Five minutes top.

The real trick is not to bother the eggs while they get golden at the bottom.

There. You have food for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or anytime, really. Your friends will be so amazed at the flavor you concocted and you didn't kill the plant. You just trimmed it a bit. In a few days, those strands of flavor will have grown by that window enough to invite you to scramble some more eggs.

Life couldn't be more generous!
Buon appetito!

Timing is everything.

2015-04-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

I've always looked forward to a grand family get together so that we could all share a traditional meal. What is that, you ask? Turkey at Thanksgiving, prime rib at Christmas, ham at Easter. Mind you, none of these meals were traditional holiday meals where I grew up.
This is what we ate at Easter: a slow cooked stuffed rabbit or stuffed leg of lamb. The rabbit was easier to cook because of its size. Mother could easily stuff it in her big sauce pan and set it on a slow fire in a savory tomato stew that perfumed the house for hours.

Nowadays, if I do get a crowd for a holiday, or any occasion, I try to prepare food that can be cooked in advance:

1. Eggplant parmigiana
2. Mushrooms and spinach strudel
3. Roasted leg of lamb
4. Roasted root vegetables

The timeline is easy: Cook the lamb and the root vegetables ahead, even a day ahead. Prepare the strudel and the eggplant ahead of time as well, but bake it the day of the meal. Before your guests arrive, an hour ahead, slip the eggplant and the strudel in the oven and cook as recommended. Make a gravy for your lamb and slip the sliced lamb and root vegetables back in the oven for fifteen minutes or so after you pull out the eggplant and strudel. Turn the oven off and let the food rest and wait for the time when you are all hungry.

All of these dishes can be prepared and cooked ahead. You can serve them cold if you want, or slightly warmed. Add a salad of mixed greens, and a dessert, and your celebration dinner is ready. Notice that you have lots of veggies, enough for a vegetarian to feel full.

p.s. search for recipes on the sidebar or use your own recipes

Master a few things.

2015-01-30T09:36:00.001-08:00

Pasta is easy to cook and dress.
Think of it as a hot salad.
The dressing can change as you try new stuff.
And the result, to your liking.

This pasta and peas has a a creamy oil and garlic sauce.
Collect all the ingredients you'll need and organize them in front of you in the order you will need them. This will take you fifteen minutes to cook! Yeah!

First, put a pot of water to boil with two tablespoons of salt.
While that happens, you begin the sauce in a large saucepan.
Saute' garlic, four cloves, mashed and chopped, in two tablespoons of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter for a minute. Add some hot pepper flakes at the end. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add peas and turn the heat off.

Boil the pasta according to the directions on the package minus two minutes!
Take a ladle and scoop out 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining the pasta. Add this water to the sauce you have made.
Add the drained pasta to the sauce.

Add some grated cheese to the pasta and sauce and toss it around to coat everything. Let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce. Taste. Add some chopped fresh parsley if you have it, or a dash of dried herbs you like. If the sauce is too thin, add a bit of milk and more cheese.

The pasta should taste "al dente", just soft enough. With practice, you'll get it just the way you like it.
Buon Appetito!

You and fire.

2015-01-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

If you think cooking is complicated, it's all because you use recipes to prepare anything.
Here, we learn a couple of techniques, and learn to respect your ingredients.
Respect, as in "do as little as possible to change your ingredients".

If you start with greens, you are starting with the second food your ancestors tasted. Greens, most greens you pick up at the supermarket have been cultivated to be sweet and tender. So, for you, broccoli and cauliflower, even garlic and onions on your plate are the "designer" variety. They have been modified (yes, genetically so) to travel distances without wilting, to grow fast and to produce a very mild flavor.

So, most vegetables are bland.
They need assistance to pop in your mouth.
There is reason we roast or saute' vegetables instead of eating them fresh.
Fire adds a certain softness to the crunch; it adds a caramel tint too.

To saute' vegetables, you need a bit of fat, a bit of liquid, some accompanying flavors and washed, trimmed vegetables. ( As you trim your vegetables, save those tough stocks, btw, for our soup recipe.)

Fats: oil, butter, bacon bits.
Liquid: water, juices, stock. (We are definitely going to make stocks)
Flavors: onions, garlic, herbs like thyme. You can also use ginger, chili, seeds like fennel, coriander.

Start the fire at medium with a tablespoon or two of fat.
Get these things ready, one chopped small onion,two cloves of mashed garlic and one other item of your choice to get the taste of that item to be identifiable. Later, you can add two items, say ginger and chili, and see how you like that taste.

Start cooking with the onions until they begin to look transparent, then add garlic and the vegetables. Keep stirring, coating the vegetables until they begin to absorb the oil. Add the extra item, say chili. Stir quickly, then cover and turn off the heat.
If vegetables still too raw for your taste, add a Tablespoon of liquid and return to the fire until your vegetables appear cooked enough.
Turn off the heat and taste. Now is the time to add salt and pepper to taste. A few grains at a time.

Try to pull your vegetables out before they are total mush. They should taste a lot like fresh vegetables, so keep experimenting with the time and the amount of liquid.

There, a wonderful bunch of vegetables with a different taste than those you made in the microwave! Each time you add a new flavoring, say, toasted fennel seeds at the beginning when you are sweating your onions, you will add new layers of flavors.

Add them to sandwiches, or over pasta with grated cheese and you have a meal.

Taste the real thing

2014-12-31T10:44:00.001-08:00

To know what you like it's not enough. You need to taste the real thing. That means that you need to be familiar with each ingredient enough to tell the real thing from the adulterated item.

So, start your cooking experience in the vegetable isle. Pick produce that has not been wrapped and eat it raw.

Making salads is a good way to have nutritious and tasty meals.

Buy: a variety of greens, lettuces, red and green fruit or vegetables.
Soak the greens in cold water; rinse, and dry with a clean towel. Store them wrapped in a kitchen towel until you are ready to eat them.

Chop your greens, and add chopped fruit or chopped vegetables in contrasting colors and textures.
Make your own dressing.

Simple dressings have three parts oil and one part acid, such as vinegar or citrus juice. Try the first one with lemon or orange juice. You're adding plenty of vitamins on your plate, including the benefits of citrus. Mix the oil and lemon juice with a teaspoon of mustard and a teaspoon of honey. Adding those last ingredients will allow your dressing to blend better. Taste, then add salt and pepper, a few grains at a time.

A salad is a simple meal. To add protein, cube some cheese, or sprinkle some nuts.

If your greens begin to wilt too much, don't throw them away. We'll keep them wrapped up until we have enough to make a soup.

Keep changing ingredients, trying new fruit and vegetables.
If you use sesame oil, minced ginger and lime juice, you have just made an asian dressing.
I bet you can improvise and make your own with the same pattern: three parts oil, one part acid.

For beginners: Lesson one

2014-12-29T09:38:00.002-08:00

Dear Jasmine
Here are steps/strategies to get you started cooking your own meals.

Week one:

Buy:
1. one small bunch of fresh greens such as chard, spinach, cabbage.
2. one can of beans of your choice
3. a bottle of olive oil/extra virgin
4. a loaf of bread, your choice

A nutritious meal can be had with three ingredients, and good olive oil, using your microwave.
Buy any greens you like, or a combination. Cut them up in bite size, drizzle some olive oil, cover and microwave for sixty seconds. Pull out and taste. Add just a few grains of salt if needed. If not soft enough for your taste, microwave for another thirty seconds at a time.

Next, open the can of beans. Drain, rinse, and add the beans to the greens. Microwave for another sixty seconds.

There, you have a meal. If you purchased a crusty bread, you have a feast. Double this up and you have two meals!

Try the same thing on another day with a simple change:
1. add rice (read directions on the package for making it in the microwave.)
2. or soy sauce
3. or hot sauce
4. or vinegar
5. or citrus juice
6. or pasta (boil the water in a bowl first and add noodles
7. or a can of stewed tomatoes for minestrone
8. anything you have in the fridge.

If you have made enough for two meals, you can roll the leftovers in a burrito wrap, add salsa, and you have created a burrito! You'll go far on simple greens and beans.

Sweet Tart of Mine

2014-05-17T10:06:00.001-07:00

Believe it not, I have frozen apple slices from last fall's harvest to use up before the next harvest.
This is my favorite way to use them:

Apple Tart
One sheet of puff pastry rolled thin
1/4 C of melted butter
Apple slices to cover
2 T marmalade thinned with 2 T of melted butter

Lay the puff pastry on a cookie sheet and brush some melted butter over it. Fold the edges in.
Lay out the apple slices so they overlap each other a bit. Spread the thinned marmalade over it and finish off with the rest of the butter.

Bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes or until golden. Slice and enjoy.

Simple is better

2014-05-13T19:56:00.001-07:00

I have inherited simplicity from my peasant upbringing.
We ate what we grew.
We could taste every ingredient.
Fruit was dessert.
And bread was our sustenance.

So, when I crave the taste of home, I make this pizza.
Bread dough, sliced mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese baked for fifteen minutes in the hottest oven you can procure.

Come summer, heat up the BBQ and make pizza.

Happy Easter.

2014-04-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hubby and I frequent Elmer's Restaurant, an old-fashioned breakfast place in Eugene, Oregon. Elmer's serves this enormous German pancake, light and fluffy, dusted with sugar and drizzled with fresh lemon juice and a pat of butter.

I have been wanting to make this at home, as a special treat.

And I succeeded thanks to fellow blogger's recipe at the following link:
mycarolinakitchen.blogspot.com

She calls it a Bismark/Popover

It is absolute divine. Here is her recipe (with very minor variations) for those of you too lazy to go search.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 C flour
1/2 C milk (hers is 2%; I had whole milk)
pinch of salt
pinch of nutmeg
2 or more T of sweet butter
Fresh lemon wedges
Confectioner's sugar

Heat over to 450degree F. Whisk the eggs with the flour, milk, salt and preferably fresh nutmeg.
Melt 2 Tablespoot of butter in a 10" cast=iron skillet over medium heat.
Pour batter into skillet and place immediately in the hot oven.
Bake until the pancake is golden and fluffy, about ten-twelve minutes.

Transfer the pancake on a serving dish and sprinkle the confectioner's sugar and a squeeze of lemon.
Serves two generously.

Enjoy for breakfast, or for dessert!

Pasta e carciofi.

2014-04-13T09:28:00.003-07:00

I pick my artichokes young, when their outer layers can be simply slipped off, their slender bases easily peeled. I cut them in half, ignoring the unformed choke and drop them in boiling water acidulated with wine vinegar for a total of five minutes. Then, I drain and save the artichokes to serve immediately or place in a mason jar, fill with oil and save in the refrigerator.

Fresh artichoke hearts can be added to salads, pizzas, torta, pasta.

Today, I want them with spaghetti.

I saute green onions and garlic in a big pan with good olive oil and some pepper flakes, add the drained artichokes, cut bite-size, and season with salt and pepper. Voila', a simple sauce for pasta and artichoke hearts.
If you have fresh peas or fresh fava, they will go great in this sauce,

You can take a shortcut and use a jar of artichoke hearts for a similar taste.

Fillet of fish "arraganato"

2014-04-03T10:53:00.002-07:00

Most of the fish we buy are cut so we can easily saute' or grill. But what if you have an opportunity to pick up inexpensive "throw" fish, fish that gets caught in the trolling and is usually discarded. Our local CSF Community supported Fishery brings us a variety of smaller fish we have never seen before, and recommends ways to cook it too.

Breaded and baked in a hot oven, any small fry or uneven chunks can turn out into marvelous meals.

This is how I prepare such fish, may it be a fillet of cod, or a couple of sardines. I fillet the fish, removing the bone, and cover it with a breading mix, I prepare ahead, and bake the fish in a hot oven for 20-25 minutes.

Breading Mix:

2 slices of whole-grain bread
1 clove of garlic
1 diced onion and celery sauteed for five minutes
1/2 bunch of diced parsley or dill

Pulse in a food processor, or chop up and mix and spread on the fish. Add a good drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, and a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Caponata

2014-03-28T10:46:00.002-07:00

Caponata or Ratatouille, is not a special occasion dish. Yet, most of us make it occasionally, when someone in the family hungers for it. And, when most of the main ingredients happen to be around. Not that it is difficult or time consuming.
Not that it needs special techniques or tools.
The only specialty item on this cutting board are the salted capers. You don't need them. But, next time you go shopping, pick up the salted plump variety. They had a certain flavoring that is hard to describe. Sicilians swear by them.

Actually, it is one of the easiest and most forgiving dish to prepare.
I just cooked a batch this morning to accompany my eggs; and had enough to freeze away for those impromptu meals when all I want is a savory vegetable stew to dip my bread in.

Ingredients:
1/2 an eggplant, cut in chunks
one zucchini or yellow squash, in chunks
one small onion, diced
one green pepper, diced (I had small peppers)
one tomato, in chunks (I have used canned tomatoes)
capers, chopped
one garlic clove, mashed
one bay leaf or thyme sprig
one Tablespoon of vinegar (I used balsamic)
two Tablespoons of olive oil
1.4 Cup of water
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion and pepper until soft, about five minutes or less.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the vinegar and water. Cook at slow heat for five more minutes. Add vinegar and a tablespoon of water. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the dish needs more cooking, add a bit more water at a time until all vegetables are soft.