I was talking to one of my sisters, and she suggested I start blogging about cookery. A friend of mine suggested I should blog about my philosophy. So I decided to combine the two. I mean, philosophers can get a bit heated, and cooking requires heat, so the two seemed a good pairing, like white wine & fish or toast & jelly. I do a lot of meditating while cooking, as there are times when you have to stir for what seems like hours and it is a bit boring. I also still knead my bread by hand, as it is very good for when you have a lot of aggravation and irritation to get rid of, and somehow pounding out your frustration on dough does a lot to get rid of them while activating the gluten in the flour very nicely.
As to philosophy, I spend a lot of time in my head. I have ADHD, and so sometimes my thoughts get a bit crazy, zinging round my brain like bullet trains in Japan. I think one of my favorite quotes from a movie is from the original "Born Yesterday" with Judy Holliday, when she announces that "last night I got to thinking and I couldn't get to sleep for ten minutes." If only it was only ten minutes.
I am not a vegetarian or a vegan. I eat meat, but I do, on occasion (once or twice a week) cook a vegetarian meal, as it is good for both the body and the planet. I also cook fish at least once a week, and I have some awesome recipes for them as well. I grow a lot of my herbs, and keep trying to grow veggies, but so far with limited success. My husband complained about the time and money that the herb garden tends to suck up, until he came home and I was making chicken soup with fresh herbs--it was really good, actually.
So, recipes. I like to cook, and I like to eat. I make a lot of different things, although I generally leave the baking to my son, who is going to be a better cook than I am (no surprise there, since one of his grandfathers was a chef) but when it comes to main dishes and sides, I rock. Here are a couple of my favorite things to eat, Potato Salad and what I call Lebanese Burritos.
Potato Salad
Eight or ten potatoes
Three or four eggs
Two stalks of celery, sliced
One or two carrots, grated
Two or three slices of onion, diced
Five or six radishes, halved and sliced (optional)
Mayonnaise
Mustard (made up, not powder)
Celery seed
Savory
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Black Pepper
Paprika
Chervil
Directions
Cut potatoes into what seem like ridiculously tiny pieces--If you get a table fork out and cut them a bit narrower than the tines that is perfect. You want to end up with bite size pieces, as they take a lot less time to cook. Put them in a pan with about a tsp. of salt and water to just cover the pieces. Put the eggs into another pan and add water so it is just above the shells--if the air pocket is on one end, and it usually is, they will float up but if the water is above them when you push them down, that is good.
Put both pots on the stove top, and turn on the burners. I have a gas stove, and I really like it because I set the timer to twenty minutes at this point and when it rings the eggs are done, so I drain them and put them into cold water. Then I check the potatoes to see if they are done and if they are, I drain them with a colander. While the eggs and potatoes are cooking, I chop up the rest of the veggies and put them in a bowl with the mayo, mustard and herbs. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, I chop them up and add them to the veggies. If I am using dried herbs, I will generally crush the rosemary and thyme as those two are definitely better in small doses. Fresh I just chop them very fine. You probably noticed that I didn't give amounts for the seasonings. Um. I don't usually measure them. Probably around 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of any given one--and the mayo is even trickier, as different kinds of potatoes take different amounts to make them the right texture. Add enough to mix the veggies and eggs, then add more if necessary. I have a squirt type container of mustard, and use two squirts. Stir the herbs, veggies and eggs together and then add the potatoes and stir. This is really good with chicken with barbecue sauce.
Lebanese Burritos
Pita bread
One or two lbs Lamb (or beef, if you don't like lamb) cut into small bite size chunks
Fresh parsley, chopped fine
Tahini sauce (this is sesame seeds that have been ground up and it tastes a little like peanut butter--and in fact you can sub peanut butter--but only the stuff that is just peanuts and salt)
Fresh tomatoes, diced
Fat free Italian Salad Dressing, or a tbl of Italian seasoning and some vinegar, one or two tbl? Maybe three
Take the cut up lamb and put it and the dressing (or seasoning and vinegar) in a zip lock bag and squish it around a bit to mix. Let it marinate for an hour or so. Cook in a frying pan with about a tbl of olive oil until it is dry--I generally will drain the liquid off at least once--and browned.
To eat, take a piece of pita, and you can either open it out or use it like a tortilla (which is my recommendation). Smear some tahini sauce on, add some diced tomato, parsley and lamb, and fold it over the filling. Eat carefully, these tend to drip like tacos.
My daughter loves these. When she was about six, she asked what kind of meat was in them. I did not want to get into it, so tried to put her off. She persisted, so I told her it was lamb. "Cute, little, white fluffy lamb?" she asked, and I told her yes, figuring that I was about to have a vegan on my hands. On the contrary, she announced that it was very yummy and could she have some more. I started to call her my little pragmatist at that point.
So I heard on the radio this morning that Bin Laden, Osama, has been killed. I sincerely hope that this doesn't turn into a hydra type situation, where the head is removed, only to grow into two more heads. Bit worrying, that.
THE Magpie
As to philosophy, I spend a lot of time in my head. I have ADHD, and so sometimes my thoughts get a bit crazy, zinging round my brain like bullet trains in Japan. I think one of my favorite quotes from a movie is from the original "Born Yesterday" with Judy Holliday, when she announces that "last night I got to thinking and I couldn't get to sleep for ten minutes." If only it was only ten minutes.
I am not a vegetarian or a vegan. I eat meat, but I do, on occasion (once or twice a week) cook a vegetarian meal, as it is good for both the body and the planet. I also cook fish at least once a week, and I have some awesome recipes for them as well. I grow a lot of my herbs, and keep trying to grow veggies, but so far with limited success. My husband complained about the time and money that the herb garden tends to suck up, until he came home and I was making chicken soup with fresh herbs--it was really good, actually.
So, recipes. I like to cook, and I like to eat. I make a lot of different things, although I generally leave the baking to my son, who is going to be a better cook than I am (no surprise there, since one of his grandfathers was a chef) but when it comes to main dishes and sides, I rock. Here are a couple of my favorite things to eat, Potato Salad and what I call Lebanese Burritos.
Potato Salad
Eight or ten potatoes
Three or four eggs
Two stalks of celery, sliced
One or two carrots, grated
Two or three slices of onion, diced
Five or six radishes, halved and sliced (optional)
Mayonnaise
Mustard (made up, not powder)
Celery seed
Savory
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Black Pepper
Paprika
Chervil
Directions
Cut potatoes into what seem like ridiculously tiny pieces--If you get a table fork out and cut them a bit narrower than the tines that is perfect. You want to end up with bite size pieces, as they take a lot less time to cook. Put them in a pan with about a tsp. of salt and water to just cover the pieces. Put the eggs into another pan and add water so it is just above the shells--if the air pocket is on one end, and it usually is, they will float up but if the water is above them when you push them down, that is good.
Put both pots on the stove top, and turn on the burners. I have a gas stove, and I really like it because I set the timer to twenty minutes at this point and when it rings the eggs are done, so I drain them and put them into cold water. Then I check the potatoes to see if they are done and if they are, I drain them with a colander. While the eggs and potatoes are cooking, I chop up the rest of the veggies and put them in a bowl with the mayo, mustard and herbs. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, I chop them up and add them to the veggies. If I am using dried herbs, I will generally crush the rosemary and thyme as those two are definitely better in small doses. Fresh I just chop them very fine. You probably noticed that I didn't give amounts for the seasonings. Um. I don't usually measure them. Probably around 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of any given one--and the mayo is even trickier, as different kinds of potatoes take different amounts to make them the right texture. Add enough to mix the veggies and eggs, then add more if necessary. I have a squirt type container of mustard, and use two squirts. Stir the herbs, veggies and eggs together and then add the potatoes and stir. This is really good with chicken with barbecue sauce.
Lebanese Burritos
Pita bread
One or two lbs Lamb (or beef, if you don't like lamb) cut into small bite size chunks
Fresh parsley, chopped fine
Tahini sauce (this is sesame seeds that have been ground up and it tastes a little like peanut butter--and in fact you can sub peanut butter--but only the stuff that is just peanuts and salt)
Fresh tomatoes, diced
Fat free Italian Salad Dressing, or a tbl of Italian seasoning and some vinegar, one or two tbl? Maybe three
Take the cut up lamb and put it and the dressing (or seasoning and vinegar) in a zip lock bag and squish it around a bit to mix. Let it marinate for an hour or so. Cook in a frying pan with about a tbl of olive oil until it is dry--I generally will drain the liquid off at least once--and browned.
To eat, take a piece of pita, and you can either open it out or use it like a tortilla (which is my recommendation). Smear some tahini sauce on, add some diced tomato, parsley and lamb, and fold it over the filling. Eat carefully, these tend to drip like tacos.
My daughter loves these. When she was about six, she asked what kind of meat was in them. I did not want to get into it, so tried to put her off. She persisted, so I told her it was lamb. "Cute, little, white fluffy lamb?" she asked, and I told her yes, figuring that I was about to have a vegan on my hands. On the contrary, she announced that it was very yummy and could she have some more. I started to call her my little pragmatist at that point.
So I heard on the radio this morning that Bin Laden, Osama, has been killed. I sincerely hope that this doesn't turn into a hydra type situation, where the head is removed, only to grow into two more heads. Bit worrying, that.
THE Magpie
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