It's two for the price of one night. Both involve ground meat, and I've made both twice and they are quite yummy. The second iteration of the Spicy Beef patties was served differently as I didn't get any couscous when I was at the store (and forgot to put it on the list, so...) I think I liked it better as a burger than as a "steak" type food. So.
The Pacific Rim Pork is being put up because a friend loves the movie Pacific Rim, and said his son will be VERY EXCITED to get to make something to eat that purportedly comes from the place the movie is set in.
So on to the recipes!
Pacific Rim Pork, which was originally in "The New Family Cookbook for People with Diabetes" and was published in the Washington Post, with lots of tweaks by yours truly. Because I never met a recipe yet that I couldn't tweak to make it easier/less complicated...
3 (hahaha, make it six or seven and you might be approaching the amount I used) garlic, chopped
1 pound ground pork (I want to try this with ground turkey sometime, or a mix of pork and turkey)
1 tsp crushed red pepper (I admit that I cut back on this, but I keep my crushed red in the fridge, where it doesn't go flat--keep the paprika and chili powder in there too. Stays good way longer that way.)
one smallish bag of spinach--the current trend of steamer bags in the veggie aisle is handy, one of those, roughly two to three cups if you squish it down.
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon (or more) brown sugar
Mix the cornstarch, water, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Heat a largish frying pan on high heat and if you are using ground turkey add a teaspoon of oil. The pork provides plenty of grease all by itself. Put the meat in and break it up some, then add the red pepper flakes and garlic. Fry until the pork is nicely browned. If there is a lot of grease, drain some of it out. Add the spinach and once it isn't overflowing the frying pan add the cornstarch mixture and stir. It will congeal quickly into a goo (and have you ever noticed just how much shrinkage you get with cooked versus raw spinach? I mean, you start with a huge bowl full and end up with a couple tablespoons). I served it over rice. You can also add bok choy or snow peas to the pork as it is cooking, I think I will try that next time.
Recipe the second:
Spicy Beef Patties
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons hot paprika (or 1 1/2 teaspoons regular paprika mixed with 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
1 pound ground beef
i bunch scallions, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Mix yogurt, cilantro, 1 teaspoon of the paprika and a little salt together, set aside. This is sauce for the burgers.
Mix everything else together in a largish bowl with 3/4 teaspoon salt. Form it into patties and fry until done. I served them on hamburger buns with dollops of the sauce. I ended up with five bun size patties from this.
The Magpie
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Creamed salmon on toast
On my eternal quest to like salmon (I don't dislike it in particular, I just got scarred by a dish my mom made called Salmonloaf. Like meatloaf, if meatloaf was as dry as the desert and almost as tasty.
Confession time here. I like creamed chipped beef on toast. My dad was in the airforce, and he always called it s**t on a shingle...but there you are. I like it. Apparently he did too, because he's the one that made it. All of which I state to explain why I would be open to creamed meat on toast.
Anyway, this was really good. It is an adaptation of a recipe I found in a magazine a couple decades back.
Ingredients
1 pound salmon fillet
black pepper
2 cups frozen corn (or canned, or shuck, cook, and cut the cobs if you want--it's probably better that way, but I'm a big fan of do it the easy way)
2 cups whole milk, (1 1/2 cups for the base, 1/2 cup to mix with flour to get the creamy part of this happening)
1 onion, sliced, and halve the slices
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper (as you wish)
1 teaspoon dried dill (the green stuff, not the seeds)
toasted bread (I used a French/Italian loaf, not the long skinny baguette, the fatter loaf that is really good to use for Texas or French toast)
Salt and pepper the salmon fillet, and grill until it flakes easily. It will cook a little more in the sauce stuff.
Put 1 1/2 cups milk and sliced onion into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for about five minutes. Remove the onion slices, and add the corn to the flavored milk, bring to a boil. Mix the flour with the remaining half cup of milk, and add the salt and pepper to it. Pour the mixture into the corn and milk and stir until it is fairly thick, no more than five to ten minutes. Add the flaked salmon and the dill to the pan, stir to incorporate. Serve on toasted bread. I served this with steamed green peas. I think that string beans would also be good with it.
My husband had some of the leftovers for lunch today and says it is very good warmed over.
Confession time here. I like creamed chipped beef on toast. My dad was in the airforce, and he always called it s**t on a shingle...but there you are. I like it. Apparently he did too, because he's the one that made it. All of which I state to explain why I would be open to creamed meat on toast.
Anyway, this was really good. It is an adaptation of a recipe I found in a magazine a couple decades back.
Ingredients
1 pound salmon fillet
black pepper
2 cups frozen corn (or canned, or shuck, cook, and cut the cobs if you want--it's probably better that way, but I'm a big fan of do it the easy way)
2 cups whole milk, (1 1/2 cups for the base, 1/2 cup to mix with flour to get the creamy part of this happening)
1 onion, sliced, and halve the slices
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper (as you wish)
1 teaspoon dried dill (the green stuff, not the seeds)
toasted bread (I used a French/Italian loaf, not the long skinny baguette, the fatter loaf that is really good to use for Texas or French toast)
Salt and pepper the salmon fillet, and grill until it flakes easily. It will cook a little more in the sauce stuff.
Put 1 1/2 cups milk and sliced onion into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for about five minutes. Remove the onion slices, and add the corn to the flavored milk, bring to a boil. Mix the flour with the remaining half cup of milk, and add the salt and pepper to it. Pour the mixture into the corn and milk and stir until it is fairly thick, no more than five to ten minutes. Add the flaked salmon and the dill to the pan, stir to incorporate. Serve on toasted bread. I served this with steamed green peas. I think that string beans would also be good with it.
My husband had some of the leftovers for lunch today and says it is very good warmed over.
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Pork Chops with Plum Sauce
Pork Chops with Plum Sauce, with Buttered Egg Noodles and Steamed Green Beans
Original recipe was from the Washington Post. Adaptations by me.
Ingredients
Vegetable oil
4 pork chops
2 shallots, chopped fine
2 black plums, pitted and cubed
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 package egg noodles
1/4 cup butter
fresh or frozen green beans
Preheat oven to 375. Put a pot of water on to heat for making the egg noodles, this will take around fifteen minutes or so to heat the water and about 5 to 7 minutes to cook the noodles. Heat oil in large frying pan over high heat. Salt and pepper the pork chops and brown in frying pan, takes roughly 4 minutes per side. When both sides are browned, place in a baking pan and finish cooking them in the oven, probably another fifteen minutes or so. Without wiping out the frying pan, add the shallots and cook until they are translucent. Add the plums, cook until they are mushy. Add the vinegar, sugar, and thyme, cook a minute or two longer, until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Melt butter in the microwave. When the noodles are cooked, drain the noodles. Place in bowl and pour butter on top. Mix well, adding salt and pepper to taste.
I usually do steaming in the microwave as it takes less than five minutes (four minutes generally, in a recent--as in, model made within the last five years) and all you need is a glass bowl and a teensy bit of water. Place beans in bowl, sprinkle a teaspoon or so of water over, put a paper plate over the bowl to keep the steam in, and cook on high for four minutes.
I had about half the sauce left over so I have it in the freezer. I'm going to see how it tastes with chicken.
THE Magpie
Original recipe was from the Washington Post. Adaptations by me.
Ingredients
Vegetable oil
4 pork chops
2 shallots, chopped fine
2 black plums, pitted and cubed
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 package egg noodles
1/4 cup butter
fresh or frozen green beans
Preheat oven to 375. Put a pot of water on to heat for making the egg noodles, this will take around fifteen minutes or so to heat the water and about 5 to 7 minutes to cook the noodles. Heat oil in large frying pan over high heat. Salt and pepper the pork chops and brown in frying pan, takes roughly 4 minutes per side. When both sides are browned, place in a baking pan and finish cooking them in the oven, probably another fifteen minutes or so. Without wiping out the frying pan, add the shallots and cook until they are translucent. Add the plums, cook until they are mushy. Add the vinegar, sugar, and thyme, cook a minute or two longer, until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Melt butter in the microwave. When the noodles are cooked, drain the noodles. Place in bowl and pour butter on top. Mix well, adding salt and pepper to taste.
I usually do steaming in the microwave as it takes less than five minutes (four minutes generally, in a recent--as in, model made within the last five years) and all you need is a glass bowl and a teensy bit of water. Place beans in bowl, sprinkle a teaspoon or so of water over, put a paper plate over the bowl to keep the steam in, and cook on high for four minutes.
I had about half the sauce left over so I have it in the freezer. I'm going to see how it tastes with chicken.
THE Magpie
Monday, September 4, 2017
Curried noodles with veggies, tastes just like
Mei Fun. Which I love. This just has veggies, no eggs or meat although I may try doing the triple meat version we get from the local takeaway because YUM!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin (which I don't have any of, so I substitute sherry because--well, because I always do although the senior taste tester looked it up and that is listed as the substitute, if you add some sugar to it)
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar (which is why I just used plain sherry this time)
1 tablespoon water
vermicelli size rice noodles
fresh ginger, peeled and chopped fine
1/4 head of green cabbage sliced very thin
1/2 of a red bell pepper, also sliced very thin
1/2 of a red onion, guess what? Yup, also sliced very thin
1/4 pound of snow peas, trimmed and cut in half on the diagonal
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt
2 teaspoons chile garlic paste (I didn't have any chile garlic paste but I did have Koon Chun Chili sauce and added a teaspoon of garlic powder to it
2 teaspoons curry powder (I used McCormick basic curry powder because I have it. I think when I make this again I'm going to try adding three teaspoons of curry powder)
Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the rice noodles, remove from heat and let sit for three minutes. Then drain.
Stir together soy sauce, mirin (or sherry), sugar, and water, set aside.
Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok on high heat until very hot. Add cabbage, onion, pepper, and snow peas to the oil, sprinkle some salt on it and stir fry until`the cabbage and snow peas are bright green. Add ginger, chili paste (and garlic if using) and curry powder, stir around until all the veggies are coated with the spices. Reduce heat to low, add rice noodles and stir until coated with spices. Add the soy sauce mixture and stir until everything is coated. Serve.
THE Magpie
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin (which I don't have any of, so I substitute sherry because--well, because I always do although the senior taste tester looked it up and that is listed as the substitute, if you add some sugar to it)
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar (which is why I just used plain sherry this time)
1 tablespoon water
vermicelli size rice noodles
fresh ginger, peeled and chopped fine
1/4 head of green cabbage sliced very thin
1/2 of a red bell pepper, also sliced very thin
1/2 of a red onion, guess what? Yup, also sliced very thin
1/4 pound of snow peas, trimmed and cut in half on the diagonal
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt
2 teaspoons chile garlic paste (I didn't have any chile garlic paste but I did have Koon Chun Chili sauce and added a teaspoon of garlic powder to it
2 teaspoons curry powder (I used McCormick basic curry powder because I have it. I think when I make this again I'm going to try adding three teaspoons of curry powder)
Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the rice noodles, remove from heat and let sit for three minutes. Then drain.
Stir together soy sauce, mirin (or sherry), sugar, and water, set aside.
Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok on high heat until very hot. Add cabbage, onion, pepper, and snow peas to the oil, sprinkle some salt on it and stir fry until`the cabbage and snow peas are bright green. Add ginger, chili paste (and garlic if using) and curry powder, stir around until all the veggies are coated with the spices. Reduce heat to low, add rice noodles and stir until coated with spices. Add the soy sauce mixture and stir until everything is coated. Serve.
THE Magpie
Fish Stew
Brazilian style fish stew, to be precise. I thought it was quite delish, although my two taste testers weren't quite as enthralled with it. It is supposed to be served with rice to soak in the broth which I didn't have, so I used bread. It is also quite good the next day as leftovers. I was a bit nervous about this one, because it is quite different from anything else I've made--although I have a Thai recipe book that I hope to crack open and then coconut milk will be taking a starring role in my kitchen.
Anyway, it's been a long few weeks. I had way too many dud recipes, and then a migraine that lasted a week an a half. But I'm back cooking, and I now have two awesome recipes that I'll be putting up.
And on to the stew!
1 lb white fish fillets cut into bite size pieces The recipe called for cod, but our local grocery generally has flounder (frozen, eugh!) tilapia, and catfish. So I went with tilapia as being inoffensive and mild.
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (and if you get the bigger ones, cut into bite size pieces--I usually get whichever size is on sale, this time it was the ginormous shrimp)
lime juice
minced garlic (it called for 1 tablespoon...ha. hahaha...as if I would stint on garlic--there are two pounds of fish in this thing. One tablespoon of garlic for each pound of fish seems quite reasonable...)
2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced thin
1 can of diced tomatoes (or three fresh tomatoes, chopped)
cilantro leaves, whole (optional for those who don't like it, add parsley or spinach instead)
olive oil
one onion, diced
1/2 cube chicken bouillon and 1/2 cup water
1 can coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste
Put fish, shrimp, 1/4 cup lime juice and half the garlic into a bowl, stir with a little salt and pepper. Set aside where the cats can't get at it.
Heat a couple tablespoons oil in a large pan. Saute the onion until transparent. Add peppers and remaining garlic, cook until the peppers are softened. And tomatoes, cilantro, and chicken bouillon cube with water, stir and bring to a boil. If using fresh tomatoes, cook for about five minutes. Add the coconut milk, stir around and bring back to a boil. Once it is boiling, gently place the fish and shrimp into the mixture and stir a little. Put a lid on the pan and cook until fish and shrimp are opaque/cooked through. Serve with rice. I think that Brazilian style black beans would also go well with this.
THE Magpie
Anyway, it's been a long few weeks. I had way too many dud recipes, and then a migraine that lasted a week an a half. But I'm back cooking, and I now have two awesome recipes that I'll be putting up.
And on to the stew!
1 lb white fish fillets cut into bite size pieces The recipe called for cod, but our local grocery generally has flounder (frozen, eugh!) tilapia, and catfish. So I went with tilapia as being inoffensive and mild.
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (and if you get the bigger ones, cut into bite size pieces--I usually get whichever size is on sale, this time it was the ginormous shrimp)
lime juice
minced garlic (it called for 1 tablespoon...ha. hahaha...as if I would stint on garlic--there are two pounds of fish in this thing. One tablespoon of garlic for each pound of fish seems quite reasonable...)
2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced thin
1 can of diced tomatoes (or three fresh tomatoes, chopped)
cilantro leaves, whole (optional for those who don't like it, add parsley or spinach instead)
olive oil
one onion, diced
1/2 cube chicken bouillon and 1/2 cup water
1 can coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste
Put fish, shrimp, 1/4 cup lime juice and half the garlic into a bowl, stir with a little salt and pepper. Set aside where the cats can't get at it.
Heat a couple tablespoons oil in a large pan. Saute the onion until transparent. Add peppers and remaining garlic, cook until the peppers are softened. And tomatoes, cilantro, and chicken bouillon cube with water, stir and bring to a boil. If using fresh tomatoes, cook for about five minutes. Add the coconut milk, stir around and bring back to a boil. Once it is boiling, gently place the fish and shrimp into the mixture and stir a little. Put a lid on the pan and cook until fish and shrimp are opaque/cooked through. Serve with rice. I think that Brazilian style black beans would also go well with this.
THE Magpie
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Chicken with Indian Spiced Sauce
I love "foreign" food. Even if I didn't grow up eating it, I'm game to try it. With a few exceptions. Like, I won't even try calamari. I did try littleneck clams, steamed and dunked in garlic butter. Once. The texture was...well...a nope for me. I mean, there was butter and garlic involved, so the flavor was fine.
Anyway, I discovered Indian cuisine when I was in Great Britain (also where I discovered that fish tastes totally different if it was caught in the same week that it was cooked and eaten. And that if freezing is involved, it changes the flavor of the fish to something I don't like. This is a whole other issue to the salmon thing.
So. I tried Indian cuisine. And I found that the hotter, not the better, although I apparently can tolerate some pretty hot stuff, I also like flavor to be involved. And it is hard to taste anything when your mouth feels like it's on fire. And while restaurants are fun occasionally, I prefer eating at home, and I live in an area that has not got a lot of different cultural food styles anyway (Chinese, Italian, TexMex, and there is a Japanese Steakhouse and YAY, an Indian restaurant again--run by the son of the guy who had the restaurant when we moved here.) So, I got a recipe book and spice collection so I could learn to cook Indian style food. It's not hard, but you do need a plan to assemble everything. This is one of the easier dishes I've made. It has definitely got some Western influences--I mean, there are potatoes and tomato sauce in it, both things that would have not entered the cuisine until after people brought the plants back from the Americas. Here is a link to some fun facts about tomatoes. :)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/tomato-history-and-lore
This dish called for one hot pepper. I used a habanero, but I think it must have been a pretty pathetic pepper as this came out fairly mild. But taste wise, it was over the top. I made it last night and I'm going to have it as leftovers tonight. And probably tomorrow night as well. Also, I'm going to save any sauce left over and use it on chick peas or something. Because, yes, it is THAT GOOD.
Ingredients
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
5 white potatoes, cut in bite size chunks, parboil for about 10 minutes
1 chili pepper, halved, and chopped (I used a habanero, but it is optional. If you don't like the heat, leave it out. The dish will still be quite tasty)
some cilantro, chopped if you are using fresh, I use the already chopped stuff in a tube
6 to 8 chicken thighs cut into smaller pieces (1 1/2 to 2 pounds of chicken. Son asked me to use some breast meat next time as he really doesn't like the dark meat, so I'm going to try that)
1 tablespoon garam masala*
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter cut into chunks
15 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup cream
Naan Bread for eating.
Grease a roasting pan. Add parboiled potatoes, onions, chili pepper, and some of the cilantro. Stir. Put the chicken on top of the potato mixture, sprinkle with garam masala, salt, and pepper. Put the butter chunks on top of this, and then dump the tomato sauce over everything so all the chicken is coated with the sauce. Bake at 350 F for about an hour and a half, I put the pan in a cold oven because I forgot to preheat it, and everything came out fine. If you want the bread heated, put it in about fifteen minutes before the chicken is done. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and add the rest of the cilantro and the cream. Stir to make a creamy sauce.
THE Magpie
*Indian spice blend, you can buy it at the supermarket or blend your own. Here is a recipe I found just now.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/142967/easy-garam-masala/
PS, I'm trying the linking thing for the first time. If it doesn't do the click on it thing, if you cut and paste the addresses are correct.
Anyway, I discovered Indian cuisine when I was in Great Britain (also where I discovered that fish tastes totally different if it was caught in the same week that it was cooked and eaten. And that if freezing is involved, it changes the flavor of the fish to something I don't like. This is a whole other issue to the salmon thing.
So. I tried Indian cuisine. And I found that the hotter, not the better, although I apparently can tolerate some pretty hot stuff, I also like flavor to be involved. And it is hard to taste anything when your mouth feels like it's on fire. And while restaurants are fun occasionally, I prefer eating at home, and I live in an area that has not got a lot of different cultural food styles anyway (Chinese, Italian, TexMex, and there is a Japanese Steakhouse and YAY, an Indian restaurant again--run by the son of the guy who had the restaurant when we moved here.) So, I got a recipe book and spice collection so I could learn to cook Indian style food. It's not hard, but you do need a plan to assemble everything. This is one of the easier dishes I've made. It has definitely got some Western influences--I mean, there are potatoes and tomato sauce in it, both things that would have not entered the cuisine until after people brought the plants back from the Americas. Here is a link to some fun facts about tomatoes. :)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/tomato-history-and-lore
This dish called for one hot pepper. I used a habanero, but I think it must have been a pretty pathetic pepper as this came out fairly mild. But taste wise, it was over the top. I made it last night and I'm going to have it as leftovers tonight. And probably tomorrow night as well. Also, I'm going to save any sauce left over and use it on chick peas or something. Because, yes, it is THAT GOOD.
Ingredients
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
5 white potatoes, cut in bite size chunks, parboil for about 10 minutes
1 chili pepper, halved, and chopped (I used a habanero, but it is optional. If you don't like the heat, leave it out. The dish will still be quite tasty)
some cilantro, chopped if you are using fresh, I use the already chopped stuff in a tube
6 to 8 chicken thighs cut into smaller pieces (1 1/2 to 2 pounds of chicken. Son asked me to use some breast meat next time as he really doesn't like the dark meat, so I'm going to try that)
1 tablespoon garam masala*
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter cut into chunks
15 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup cream
Naan Bread for eating.
Grease a roasting pan. Add parboiled potatoes, onions, chili pepper, and some of the cilantro. Stir. Put the chicken on top of the potato mixture, sprinkle with garam masala, salt, and pepper. Put the butter chunks on top of this, and then dump the tomato sauce over everything so all the chicken is coated with the sauce. Bake at 350 F for about an hour and a half, I put the pan in a cold oven because I forgot to preheat it, and everything came out fine. If you want the bread heated, put it in about fifteen minutes before the chicken is done. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and add the rest of the cilantro and the cream. Stir to make a creamy sauce.
THE Magpie
*Indian spice blend, you can buy it at the supermarket or blend your own. Here is a recipe I found just now.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/142967/easy-garam-masala/
PS, I'm trying the linking thing for the first time. If it doesn't do the click on it thing, if you cut and paste the addresses are correct.
Monday, July 17, 2017
I like Salmon. Who knew?
There is a story here. Because I love Sardines on crackers, and I love tuna salad sandwiches, and Tuna Noodle Casserole. What I don't love is this thing my mom used to make, Salmonloaf. Now, this should have been a good thing. The ingredients, as I remember them, are pretty innocuous. Canned salmon, crushed crackers, egg, salt and pepper, I'm sure there were other things. But somehow this stuff came out of the oven and was so dry that it sucked the moisture from your mouth leaving it hard to swallow. And it tasted funny. Not funny haha, funny "I'm not eating that". I remember we used to douse it with ketchup in an attempt to make it liquid enough to swallow.
So. I'm pretty sure that my salmon dislike is more psychosomatic (side note here, in case you are wondering, the definition of psychosomatic is:
than actual, because when I analyzed it, tuna and sardines both taste very like salmon. So...a quest was born. There was no reason for me to dislike salmon, and it is full of good stuff your body needs, therefore...
Have I mentioned that I am a teensy bit stubborn?
This is the recipe I made last night. I have had salmon I liked before, but this one, the salsa just does something to the flavor that is magical.
Charcoal grilled salmon with salsa
2 jalapeño chilis, halved and seeded
1 red onion, sliced
4 tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1 lime (or some lime juice, about three tablespoons)
enough salmon fillets for everyone to get some
cedar planks, enough to fit all the salmon, soaked for at least 30 minutes
Load grill with charcoal, enough to cover the bottom of the grill, light it up. Once the coals are ready, using a grill pan cook the onion and jalapeños until softened. Remove from grill and bring inside to be chopped up. Chop the onion and peppers into pieces and stir together with the tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and put the plank on the cooking grate. Sprinkle the salmon fillet(s) with salt and pepper. Once the bottom side of the plank is hot, turn it over and put the fillet on the plank. Close the grill hood and wait about 8 minutes. Cut into one of the fillets to see if it is cooked through--the fish should look opaque and with a matte surface. I served this with the thick french bread from Safeway and the salsa was divine. The salmon also tasted good on its own. There may be salsa left over if you only use one fillet. I got some tortilla chips at the grocery today...
The other recipe I tried since the last entry to this blog was meh. It was very similar to the Chicken with potatoes and asparagus, but had an additional couple of ingredients. And I thought the potato and asparagus portion of the recipe would make a very good side dish--asparagus and parmesan cheese together are wonderful.
So. Garlic potatoes with asparagus and parmesan cheese.
4 or 5 potatoes, cut into bite size cubes
about a pound of asparagus, cut into short lengths
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
5 garlic cloves, chopped
olive oil
Preheat oven to 425 F. Put the cubed potato and garlic into a large ziplock bag, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and a half teaspoon of salt. Dump into a large baking pan and put into the oven for about twenty minutes. Remove pan from oven and spread the asparagus over the potatoes. Bake another 15 minutes, remove from the oven. Stir the parmesan and parsley together, sprinkle over the top of the potatoes and asparagus. Bake another 5 to 10 minutes, until the cheese gets melted. I expect this would be good with pretty much any meat. And I want to try it with cauliflower instead of potatoes.
THE Magpie
So. I'm pretty sure that my salmon dislike is more psychosomatic (side note here, in case you are wondering, the definition of psychosomatic is:
- adj. Of or relating to a disorder having physical symptoms but originating from mental or emotional causes.
- adj. Relating to or concerned with the influence of the mind on the body, and the body on the mind, especially with respect to disease: psychosomatic medicine
than actual, because when I analyzed it, tuna and sardines both taste very like salmon. So...a quest was born. There was no reason for me to dislike salmon, and it is full of good stuff your body needs, therefore...
Have I mentioned that I am a teensy bit stubborn?
This is the recipe I made last night. I have had salmon I liked before, but this one, the salsa just does something to the flavor that is magical.
Charcoal grilled salmon with salsa
2 jalapeño chilis, halved and seeded
1 red onion, sliced
4 tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1 lime (or some lime juice, about three tablespoons)
enough salmon fillets for everyone to get some
cedar planks, enough to fit all the salmon, soaked for at least 30 minutes
Load grill with charcoal, enough to cover the bottom of the grill, light it up. Once the coals are ready, using a grill pan cook the onion and jalapeños until softened. Remove from grill and bring inside to be chopped up. Chop the onion and peppers into pieces and stir together with the tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and put the plank on the cooking grate. Sprinkle the salmon fillet(s) with salt and pepper. Once the bottom side of the plank is hot, turn it over and put the fillet on the plank. Close the grill hood and wait about 8 minutes. Cut into one of the fillets to see if it is cooked through--the fish should look opaque and with a matte surface. I served this with the thick french bread from Safeway and the salsa was divine. The salmon also tasted good on its own. There may be salsa left over if you only use one fillet. I got some tortilla chips at the grocery today...
The other recipe I tried since the last entry to this blog was meh. It was very similar to the Chicken with potatoes and asparagus, but had an additional couple of ingredients. And I thought the potato and asparagus portion of the recipe would make a very good side dish--asparagus and parmesan cheese together are wonderful.
So. Garlic potatoes with asparagus and parmesan cheese.
4 or 5 potatoes, cut into bite size cubes
about a pound of asparagus, cut into short lengths
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
5 garlic cloves, chopped
olive oil
Preheat oven to 425 F. Put the cubed potato and garlic into a large ziplock bag, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and a half teaspoon of salt. Dump into a large baking pan and put into the oven for about twenty minutes. Remove pan from oven and spread the asparagus over the potatoes. Bake another 15 minutes, remove from the oven. Stir the parmesan and parsley together, sprinkle over the top of the potatoes and asparagus. Bake another 5 to 10 minutes, until the cheese gets melted. I expect this would be good with pretty much any meat. And I want to try it with cauliflower instead of potatoes.
THE Magpie
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Chicken with potatoes and asparagus
My BFF wanted a recipe with chicken that didn't end up with the chicken all dried out. So. Here is one of the family's favorites.
Bonus, it is gluten free, and so is she. :)
Ingredients
four or five potatoes, sliced into quarter inch slices
butter. 3 tablespoons. Or four. Or however much you want to add. It's butter. Everything tastes better with butter.
salt and pepper to taste
two or three chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 bunch of asparagus. (or two...asparagus is amazingly yummy with butter...) cut in 2 inch pieces.
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
Preheat oven to 475 F. Spray a pan with Pam or smear with some oil on the bottom so the potatoes don't stick to the pan--and they do like to glue themselves permanently to pans--layer sliced potatoes in a pan, cut the butter into chunks and put half of it on the potatoes, season with the salt and pepper. Put pan in preheated oven, cook about 20 minutes. The potatoes should start getting lightly browned. Stir them around about halfway through this step.
Remove pan from oven. Layer the chicken on top of the potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put back into the oven and roast another twenty minutes.
Remove pan from oven again, add asparagus and sprinkle thyme and drizzle lemon juice over everything, put the rest of the cup up butter on top. Put back in the oven and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.
The original recipe was from Martha Stewart. I did a few tweaks to make the prep easier.
THE Magpie
PS, if you parboil green beans, you can use them instead of asparagus. In case anyone doesn't like asparagus. I know you're out there...
PPS, this is for three or four people. I figure 2/3 of the current chicken breast size per person, and around 1 to 1 1/2 potatoes. So if you need more servings, there's a baseline to start from.
Bonus, it is gluten free, and so is she. :)
Ingredients
four or five potatoes, sliced into quarter inch slices
butter. 3 tablespoons. Or four. Or however much you want to add. It's butter. Everything tastes better with butter.
salt and pepper to taste
two or three chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 bunch of asparagus. (or two...asparagus is amazingly yummy with butter...) cut in 2 inch pieces.
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
Preheat oven to 475 F. Spray a pan with Pam or smear with some oil on the bottom so the potatoes don't stick to the pan--and they do like to glue themselves permanently to pans--layer sliced potatoes in a pan, cut the butter into chunks and put half of it on the potatoes, season with the salt and pepper. Put pan in preheated oven, cook about 20 minutes. The potatoes should start getting lightly browned. Stir them around about halfway through this step.
Remove pan from oven. Layer the chicken on top of the potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put back into the oven and roast another twenty minutes.
Remove pan from oven again, add asparagus and sprinkle thyme and drizzle lemon juice over everything, put the rest of the cup up butter on top. Put back in the oven and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.
The original recipe was from Martha Stewart. I did a few tweaks to make the prep easier.
THE Magpie
PS, if you parboil green beans, you can use them instead of asparagus. In case anyone doesn't like asparagus. I know you're out there...
PPS, this is for three or four people. I figure 2/3 of the current chicken breast size per person, and around 1 to 1 1/2 potatoes. So if you need more servings, there's a baseline to start from.
Monday, July 10, 2017
Greek burgers with Feta Aioli
These are really good. I usually make them with ground beef, but that is because ground lamb has to be specially ground. I think they would be really good that way, and taste basically like a gyro. With the beef they taste like a gyro, so...
Aioli
2 oz feta cheese (make sure it is smushed into really fine bits
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain fat free yogurt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, chopped fine (or two. Or three...y'all should know this drill by now...)
Pattys
1 pound ground meat (beef or lamb)
2/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup roasted red peppers from a jar, chopped fine
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons dried
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
10 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 egg
2 (hahahaha) garlic cloves, chopped into tiny pieces
hamburger buns--you want the more dense type, as these tend to be very juicy burgers and soak through regular hamburger buns. Although I've also used pita bread which worked pretty well.
1 red onion, sliced
Either process aioli ingredients in a blender or food processor or just mix by hand. Either way works. Make it a well before you actually eat because the flavors need several hours to blend. The day before works quite well.
If grilling, start the grill heating/light the charcoal. Once the grill is hot, grill the onion slices (or not, either way they are very good). Combine everything else except the buns and mix until everything is completely incorporated.
Form into 5 patties about a half inch thick. Grill until the burgers are well done (Usually takes about 15 minutes for us). Spread aioli on buns, put patties on top of it, add an onion slice and the top of the bun. This is really good with a nice green salad.
Aioli
2 oz feta cheese (make sure it is smushed into really fine bits
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain fat free yogurt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, chopped fine (or two. Or three...y'all should know this drill by now...)
Pattys
1 pound ground meat (beef or lamb)
2/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup roasted red peppers from a jar, chopped fine
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons dried
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
10 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 egg
2 (hahahaha) garlic cloves, chopped into tiny pieces
hamburger buns--you want the more dense type, as these tend to be very juicy burgers and soak through regular hamburger buns. Although I've also used pita bread which worked pretty well.
1 red onion, sliced
Either process aioli ingredients in a blender or food processor or just mix by hand. Either way works. Make it a well before you actually eat because the flavors need several hours to blend. The day before works quite well.
If grilling, start the grill heating/light the charcoal. Once the grill is hot, grill the onion slices (or not, either way they are very good). Combine everything else except the buns and mix until everything is completely incorporated.
Form into 5 patties about a half inch thick. Grill until the burgers are well done (Usually takes about 15 minutes for us). Spread aioli on buns, put patties on top of it, add an onion slice and the top of the bun. This is really good with a nice green salad.
Meal planning and Vegetable stir fry
Wow. This is the third recipe within a week. I am definitely feeling much better.
I was sick for a longish time. I was already starting to be bad off when I first started this blog, and things got really bad for a while. I'm getting better now, and I can see the difference. Mentally, I am much more there than I was even two years ago. I'm solving puzzles again, I'm stitching again (I have a stitch blog too, which hasn't been updated in ages) and I'm once again planning meals a month at a time. Yeah, you heard that right. 31 days, to be precise, although it sometimes takes a little longer than that to go through all of them, because of holidays (eating out), too many leftovers (eating in), and sometimes I am tired and don't feel like cooking (frozen pizza, heat and eat, what I like to call French casual (fruits and crudites, cheese, good loaf of bread), or, yeah, leftovers). But on the whole, I like doing this because it takes the whole "WHAT AM I GONNA MAKE FOR DINNER, OMG IT'S 4PM AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO MAKE!" out of my life. Also, it makes grocery shopping way easier because you just get what you need for the next few meals (and breakfast and lunch and snacks, but...)
So, first, I set up a numerical list. Fish went on four times, beef five, pork and vegetarian/vegan six times each, poultry nine times and lamb once.
Then I went and listed everything so that I didn't make, say, chicken three nights in a row.
This is my lineup.
1 Pork
2 Beef
3 Poultry
4 Fish
5 Pork
6 Beef
7 Poultry
8 Vegetable
9 Fish
10 Poultry
11 Vegetable
12 Pork
13 Poultry
14 Vegetable
15 Beef
16 Poultry
17 Pork
18 Fish
19 Poultry
20 Pork
21 Beef
22 Poultry
23 Vegetable
24 Pork
25 Beef
26 Poultry
27 Vegetable
28 Fish
29 Poultry
30 Vegetable
31 Lamb
This is just a starting point and my personal random assortment. If you decide to do something like this, make your own designations of how many, what, and when.
So, then I went through the thousands (I collected them for years) of recipes I had accumulated, having cut them out of magazines and newspapers. I love to cook. I like good food. I am smart, and am both easily entertained and easily bored. Repetitious tasks are boring. Cooking dinner every evening is about as repetitious as it gets. So. Trying new recipes makes cooking every night way less boring and kind of exciting. Like, yeah, most of the ingredients in this meal are things I like, but some of them are cooked in a way I am unfamiliar with. Or, I like this food cooked this way, but it is really good for you and I want to cook it in healthier ways than the one I like it in. Which brings us to today's recipe. See, I love candied sweet potatoes. At Thanksgiving, the mashed are nice, but the candied are like dessert for a meal. What's not to love about that?
And here is the recipe, so you'll know what I'm talking about.
Candied Sweet Potatoes a la THE Magpie
1 or 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about half inch cubes)
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 to 1/2 cup butter
pinch of salt
Put potatoes in a pot and boil for about ten minutes or until just tender.
Drain. Put the potatoes in a baking dish and dump all the rest of the stuff over it (1 potato, smaller amounts etc...) and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 F. That's pretty much it.
The Washington Post rand a recipe for a vegetable stir fry that used sweet potatoes. So I tried it. It is very good. It almost smells like perfume, and tastes like I always thought perfume should taste...
Hot and Sticky Vegetable Stir Fry
Sauce
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine (Hah, if you've been reading this blog, you KNOW what to do--add at least two more cloves)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped fine
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce (I just use two teaspoons hot sauce and two teaspoons brown sugar for these)
3 tablespoons lime juice
Vegetables
2 carrots
1 sweet potato
1 cup oyster mushrooms (I usually can't get these, so I use either Shiitake or Cremini here)
6 asparagus spears (get the bunch, save six out for this, and steam the rest, let cool, and drizzle with oil and vinegar, sprinkle with salt, and eat with grilled steak and some good bread)
handful of snow peas
1/2 pound shrimp, optional (I usually leave this out as I am going for vegetarian at the least--there is honey, so not vegan)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
Vegetable oil
Combine sauce ingredients.
Cut carrots and sweet potato into quarter inch strips about the length of the snow peas. Slice the mushrooms about the same size, cut the asparagus into pieces the length of the snow peas.
In a largish pan or a wok, heat the oil until it is almost smoking. Toss in the carrots and sweet potatoes, stir until coated and lightly browned (about 2 to 3 minutes). Add the asparagus and mushrooms and stir. Add the snow peas and the sauce mix. Cook until the sauce starts to boil and thicken. If you want to add shrimp, add the shrimp here, cook until they are done, about 4 to 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with parsley or cilantro, and serve. I usually make rice to serve with this, although I think it would also go well with noodles.
And yes. I found a way I like sweet potatoes that isn't exactly candied. :) I have another one that uses less sugar than this one. It'll be coming up in the future.
THE Magpie
I was sick for a longish time. I was already starting to be bad off when I first started this blog, and things got really bad for a while. I'm getting better now, and I can see the difference. Mentally, I am much more there than I was even two years ago. I'm solving puzzles again, I'm stitching again (I have a stitch blog too, which hasn't been updated in ages) and I'm once again planning meals a month at a time. Yeah, you heard that right. 31 days, to be precise, although it sometimes takes a little longer than that to go through all of them, because of holidays (eating out), too many leftovers (eating in), and sometimes I am tired and don't feel like cooking (frozen pizza, heat and eat, what I like to call French casual (fruits and crudites, cheese, good loaf of bread), or, yeah, leftovers). But on the whole, I like doing this because it takes the whole "WHAT AM I GONNA MAKE FOR DINNER, OMG IT'S 4PM AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO MAKE!" out of my life. Also, it makes grocery shopping way easier because you just get what you need for the next few meals (and breakfast and lunch and snacks, but...)
So, first, I set up a numerical list. Fish went on four times, beef five, pork and vegetarian/vegan six times each, poultry nine times and lamb once.
Then I went and listed everything so that I didn't make, say, chicken three nights in a row.
This is my lineup.
1 Pork
2 Beef
3 Poultry
4 Fish
5 Pork
6 Beef
7 Poultry
8 Vegetable
9 Fish
10 Poultry
11 Vegetable
12 Pork
13 Poultry
14 Vegetable
15 Beef
16 Poultry
17 Pork
18 Fish
19 Poultry
20 Pork
21 Beef
22 Poultry
23 Vegetable
24 Pork
25 Beef
26 Poultry
27 Vegetable
28 Fish
29 Poultry
30 Vegetable
31 Lamb
This is just a starting point and my personal random assortment. If you decide to do something like this, make your own designations of how many, what, and when.
So, then I went through the thousands (I collected them for years) of recipes I had accumulated, having cut them out of magazines and newspapers. I love to cook. I like good food. I am smart, and am both easily entertained and easily bored. Repetitious tasks are boring. Cooking dinner every evening is about as repetitious as it gets. So. Trying new recipes makes cooking every night way less boring and kind of exciting. Like, yeah, most of the ingredients in this meal are things I like, but some of them are cooked in a way I am unfamiliar with. Or, I like this food cooked this way, but it is really good for you and I want to cook it in healthier ways than the one I like it in. Which brings us to today's recipe. See, I love candied sweet potatoes. At Thanksgiving, the mashed are nice, but the candied are like dessert for a meal. What's not to love about that?
And here is the recipe, so you'll know what I'm talking about.
Candied Sweet Potatoes a la THE Magpie
1 or 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about half inch cubes)
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 to 1/2 cup butter
pinch of salt
Put potatoes in a pot and boil for about ten minutes or until just tender.
Drain. Put the potatoes in a baking dish and dump all the rest of the stuff over it (1 potato, smaller amounts etc...) and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 F. That's pretty much it.
The Washington Post rand a recipe for a vegetable stir fry that used sweet potatoes. So I tried it. It is very good. It almost smells like perfume, and tastes like I always thought perfume should taste...
Hot and Sticky Vegetable Stir Fry
Sauce
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine (Hah, if you've been reading this blog, you KNOW what to do--add at least two more cloves)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped fine
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce (I just use two teaspoons hot sauce and two teaspoons brown sugar for these)
3 tablespoons lime juice
Vegetables
2 carrots
1 sweet potato
1 cup oyster mushrooms (I usually can't get these, so I use either Shiitake or Cremini here)
6 asparagus spears (get the bunch, save six out for this, and steam the rest, let cool, and drizzle with oil and vinegar, sprinkle with salt, and eat with grilled steak and some good bread)
handful of snow peas
1/2 pound shrimp, optional (I usually leave this out as I am going for vegetarian at the least--there is honey, so not vegan)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
Vegetable oil
Combine sauce ingredients.
Cut carrots and sweet potato into quarter inch strips about the length of the snow peas. Slice the mushrooms about the same size, cut the asparagus into pieces the length of the snow peas.
In a largish pan or a wok, heat the oil until it is almost smoking. Toss in the carrots and sweet potatoes, stir until coated and lightly browned (about 2 to 3 minutes). Add the asparagus and mushrooms and stir. Add the snow peas and the sauce mix. Cook until the sauce starts to boil and thicken. If you want to add shrimp, add the shrimp here, cook until they are done, about 4 to 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with parsley or cilantro, and serve. I usually make rice to serve with this, although I think it would also go well with noodles.
And yes. I found a way I like sweet potatoes that isn't exactly candied. :) I have another one that uses less sugar than this one. It'll be coming up in the future.
THE Magpie
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Chimichurri Meatball Sandwich
These...I totally did not expect these to be as good as they are. And OMG are they good. You can cook the meatballs in a slowcooker or on the rangetop.
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cilantro (or one of those handy dandy little tubes of already chopped stuff, soooo easy!)
1 cup fresh parsley chopped (they sell this in those tubes around here too)
6 (hahaha as if, try 8-10) cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 shallot, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
Hoagie/submarine/long sandwich rolls, split and toasted
10 ounce package of finely shredded cabbage (or you can do this at home, it isn't hard to do. Time consuming though, and this is about a fourth of a normal size cabbage)
1 cup Cotija or Parmesan cheese, shaved
lime wedges (optional)
Add 1/3 of the cilantro and parsley to a bowl with 2-3 cloves of garlic. Add beef, bread crumbs, crushed red pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and beaten egg. Mix well and form into balls. Heat some oil and brown the meatballs. You can then transfer them to a slow cooker if using or to a plate until you finish browning all of them.
Using a blender or food processor, blend remaining cilantro, parsley, garlic, salt, oil, and vinegar together until finely chopped. Take 1/2 cup of this (save the rest, you will be using it), mix with 1/4 cup water. Pour over meatballs in slow cooker, if using and cook for two hours on low, or pour over meatballs in frying pan and cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat, until cooked through.
Remove meatballs from cooking liquid and toss with about 1/4 cup reserved herb mixture. Toss cabbage with the rest of the herb mixture. Brush the cut sides of the rolls with oil and grill or broil.
Layer cabbage onto rolls, add meatballs and cheese. Squeeze lime juice over sandwiches, serve.
I will be making this again soonish. And my tastebuds are totally saying "NOT SOON ENOUGH!)
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cilantro (or one of those handy dandy little tubes of already chopped stuff, soooo easy!)
1 cup fresh parsley chopped (they sell this in those tubes around here too)
6 (hahaha as if, try 8-10) cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 shallot, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
Hoagie/submarine/long sandwich rolls, split and toasted
10 ounce package of finely shredded cabbage (or you can do this at home, it isn't hard to do. Time consuming though, and this is about a fourth of a normal size cabbage)
1 cup Cotija or Parmesan cheese, shaved
lime wedges (optional)
Add 1/3 of the cilantro and parsley to a bowl with 2-3 cloves of garlic. Add beef, bread crumbs, crushed red pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and beaten egg. Mix well and form into balls. Heat some oil and brown the meatballs. You can then transfer them to a slow cooker if using or to a plate until you finish browning all of them.
Using a blender or food processor, blend remaining cilantro, parsley, garlic, salt, oil, and vinegar together until finely chopped. Take 1/2 cup of this (save the rest, you will be using it), mix with 1/4 cup water. Pour over meatballs in slow cooker, if using and cook for two hours on low, or pour over meatballs in frying pan and cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat, until cooked through.
Remove meatballs from cooking liquid and toss with about 1/4 cup reserved herb mixture. Toss cabbage with the rest of the herb mixture. Brush the cut sides of the rolls with oil and grill or broil.
Layer cabbage onto rolls, add meatballs and cheese. Squeeze lime juice over sandwiches, serve.
I will be making this again soonish. And my tastebuds are totally saying "NOT SOON ENOUGH!)
Moroccan Burger Salad
This is a very easy summer meal. The only thing that is cooked is the hamburger and you can either form it into pattys and grill it, or cook it like taco meat, OR make meatballs. I've tried the first two, and I think the next time I make it I will try the meatball option. The flavor is very good. The dressing tastes to me like the classic orange colored French dressing for salads, but with a chili hot kick to it.
On to the recipe.
1 or two pita rounds, cut into wedges and toasted
1 pound ground beef
1 red onion, half sliced, half chopped fine
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons harissa or sriracha
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
tomatoes wedged and halve the wedges
sliced cucumber
chopped fresh cilantro
romaine lettuce cut into bite size pieces
2 ounces of crumbled feta cheese
Toast the pita bread in the oven, or the toaster if it fits.
Combine beef, finely chopped onion, 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and sriracha, and salt and pepper to taste. Knead and either form into patties or meatballs, or just dump the entire bowl into a preheated frying pan. If you do patties, you can grill them, also meatballs if you have a pan they won't fall through, otherwise, cook the meatballs in a frying pan on the stove.
While the meat is cooking chop and slice the rest of the veggies and whisk together 1 tablespoon sriracha, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the lemon juice.
The original recipe had you mix the dressing with the vegetables ahead of time, but everyone I cook for has a different preference vis a vis which veggies they will eat, so I put out bowls of everything. Add whichever veggies you want to your bowl, add dressing, meat, cilantro, and feta (again, all is optional) toss gently, and eat. Have a second serving if you want.
On to the recipe.
1 or two pita rounds, cut into wedges and toasted
1 pound ground beef
1 red onion, half sliced, half chopped fine
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons harissa or sriracha
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
tomatoes wedged and halve the wedges
sliced cucumber
chopped fresh cilantro
romaine lettuce cut into bite size pieces
2 ounces of crumbled feta cheese
Toast the pita bread in the oven, or the toaster if it fits.
Combine beef, finely chopped onion, 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and sriracha, and salt and pepper to taste. Knead and either form into patties or meatballs, or just dump the entire bowl into a preheated frying pan. If you do patties, you can grill them, also meatballs if you have a pan they won't fall through, otherwise, cook the meatballs in a frying pan on the stove.
While the meat is cooking chop and slice the rest of the veggies and whisk together 1 tablespoon sriracha, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the lemon juice.
The original recipe had you mix the dressing with the vegetables ahead of time, but everyone I cook for has a different preference vis a vis which veggies they will eat, so I put out bowls of everything. Add whichever veggies you want to your bowl, add dressing, meat, cilantro, and feta (again, all is optional) toss gently, and eat. Have a second serving if you want.
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Caprese Salad
Caprese Salad with Pasta
Ingredients:
Salad
1 lb box of pasta (we usually use either penne or rotini but elbow would work just fine)
1 lb fresh mozzarella cut into bite size pieces (I use the pasta and cut them about the same size)
1 lb fresh tomatoes, cut into bite size pieces (This is about four plum tomatoes.)
fresh basil, shredded (one of the small bunches from the store, probably 15 or 20 full size leaves)
Dressing
several cloves of garlic, chopped fine (I usually use five or six...but to each their own)
1 tablespoon of capers
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (I use the traditional Italian 7% acid vinegar)
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
A whisk is handy for this, to get the dressing really thick.
Cook the pasta. Stir into a bowl with the shredded basil, chopped tomatoes and mozzarella. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over salad, gently toss to mix it through.
And that's it. I usually start the water for the pasta and then start chopping away. I finish whisking the dressing about the time the pasta finishes cooking, so this is start to table in about 20 minutes.
Ingredients:
Salad
1 lb box of pasta (we usually use either penne or rotini but elbow would work just fine)
1 lb fresh mozzarella cut into bite size pieces (I use the pasta and cut them about the same size)
1 lb fresh tomatoes, cut into bite size pieces (This is about four plum tomatoes.)
fresh basil, shredded (one of the small bunches from the store, probably 15 or 20 full size leaves)
Dressing
several cloves of garlic, chopped fine (I usually use five or six...but to each their own)
1 tablespoon of capers
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (I use the traditional Italian 7% acid vinegar)
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
A whisk is handy for this, to get the dressing really thick.
Cook the pasta. Stir into a bowl with the shredded basil, chopped tomatoes and mozzarella. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over salad, gently toss to mix it through.
And that's it. I usually start the water for the pasta and then start chopping away. I finish whisking the dressing about the time the pasta finishes cooking, so this is start to table in about 20 minutes.
Monday, March 6, 2017
Steaks with caramelized onions and Garlic Wasabi sauce
This is a recipe I started making ages ago. When I got really sick, I stopped cooking fancy stuff and just did the same ?number of meals over and over and over again. I am getting better now, and have been doing my scheduling of new meals. But every few months, I like to revisit recipes we liked. And so I am starting a 31 meal rotation of all meals I've made. Good news for people looking for recipes, this means lots of tried and true stuff.
Tomorrow I'll be making Coq au Vin, and the next day it will be Empanada filling. I made the Empanadas once...And had filling left over which we ate stuffed into pita bread. Which is way easier, so that's how I do it. I will also be making my pico de gallo to eat with it (That recipe is here http://themagpieskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-hate-republicans-and-democrats-and.html ). Ole Mexico! Omnomnom, and on to the recipe...
Garlic Wasabi Sauce
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 beef bouillon cube
3 cups water
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 carrot, you can peel it if you want, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3-8 garlic cloves, chopped
some tomato paste, about half a can (if you don't have a use for the rest of the can, toss the whole can in)
Put all that stuff in a goodish size saucepan and bring to a boil, Put a lid on, turn the burner to low, and simmer for an hour. Then carefully drain the liquid into a bowl, toss the solid stuff, and put the liquid back into the pan. Bring back to a boil and boil it until you have about a cup and a half of liquid.
5 teaspoons wasabi powder
5 teaspoons water.
Mix the powder with water and then stir into your liquid. Continue boiling until the wasabi paste is completely dissolved, then whisk in about 5 to 7 tablespoons of butter.
Set aside.
Caramelized onions.
1 onion, cut in half stem to root, then slice thinly
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
Melt butter in large frying pan on medium heat (you'll be frying the steak in it, so) Add the onion slices and stir around to coat them all with butter. Then, you wait. And stir. And wait. And stir. This is one of the most boring ways to get a yummy food that I know of besides making risotto. Anyway, after about ten minutes, the onion will start to slowly get tan. At that point, to speed things up a smitch, you can add the sugar. You don't have to, eventually the onions will yield up their sugars and go a nice orangy brown, but... Turn up the heat a little bit and stir and watch. Because this is like bacon...the window of perfection is narrow. But doable. Once the onions browned but not black, put them in a bowl.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on the steak. Add a little bit of olive oil to the frying pan you cooked the onions in and heat it a little bit. Add the steak, it should sizzle when you do. Cook it for a while--I used a 1/2 inch thick steak and really left it on too long--it was more well done than even my husband likes. I prefer my steaks scared to death by the thought of being cooked, sear the outside, then toss it on the plate and let me at it. Cut the steak into serving sizes, pass the onions and the sauce, and listen to the sounds of happy people eating...I served this with peas and pasta. The peas were really good in the sauce too.
THE Magpie
Tomorrow I'll be making Coq au Vin, and the next day it will be Empanada filling. I made the Empanadas once...And had filling left over which we ate stuffed into pita bread. Which is way easier, so that's how I do it. I will also be making my pico de gallo to eat with it (That recipe is here http://themagpieskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-hate-republicans-and-democrats-and.html ). Ole Mexico! Omnomnom, and on to the recipe...
Garlic Wasabi Sauce
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 beef bouillon cube
3 cups water
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 carrot, you can peel it if you want, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3-8 garlic cloves, chopped
some tomato paste, about half a can (if you don't have a use for the rest of the can, toss the whole can in)
Put all that stuff in a goodish size saucepan and bring to a boil, Put a lid on, turn the burner to low, and simmer for an hour. Then carefully drain the liquid into a bowl, toss the solid stuff, and put the liquid back into the pan. Bring back to a boil and boil it until you have about a cup and a half of liquid.
5 teaspoons wasabi powder
5 teaspoons water.
Mix the powder with water and then stir into your liquid. Continue boiling until the wasabi paste is completely dissolved, then whisk in about 5 to 7 tablespoons of butter.
Set aside.
Caramelized onions.
1 onion, cut in half stem to root, then slice thinly
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
Melt butter in large frying pan on medium heat (you'll be frying the steak in it, so) Add the onion slices and stir around to coat them all with butter. Then, you wait. And stir. And wait. And stir. This is one of the most boring ways to get a yummy food that I know of besides making risotto. Anyway, after about ten minutes, the onion will start to slowly get tan. At that point, to speed things up a smitch, you can add the sugar. You don't have to, eventually the onions will yield up their sugars and go a nice orangy brown, but... Turn up the heat a little bit and stir and watch. Because this is like bacon...the window of perfection is narrow. But doable. Once the onions browned but not black, put them in a bowl.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on the steak. Add a little bit of olive oil to the frying pan you cooked the onions in and heat it a little bit. Add the steak, it should sizzle when you do. Cook it for a while--I used a 1/2 inch thick steak and really left it on too long--it was more well done than even my husband likes. I prefer my steaks scared to death by the thought of being cooked, sear the outside, then toss it on the plate and let me at it. Cut the steak into serving sizes, pass the onions and the sauce, and listen to the sounds of happy people eating...I served this with peas and pasta. The peas were really good in the sauce too.
THE Magpie
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Grilled Vietnamese Chicken Sandwiches
So. I am back maybe. I have been working on getting Google to let me change the email address on this, and as it turns out, I just had to add my new address as a guest author...Oh Google, you are so silly sometimes.
Anyway, Hi to anyone out there reading. I am back to cooking and creating after a longish illness, so you should totally check out my other blog as well, THE Magpie's Stitches, new and different things are also going to be happening there.
Anywho, on to the recipe.
And these are awesome, by the by. Umami city!
Ingredients
1 cup vinegar (supposed to be rice, but I only have white, red, and balsamic, so white it was)
1/2 cup sugar
salt
piece of ginger about two inches long, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks about a cup
radishes (calls for daikon, but I can't get those so I just used the regular red radishes :( also cut into matchsticks) place carrot and radish into a bowl
several stalks of lemongrass, finely chopped (or just do what I do and get those handy dandy little tubes of already chopped up herbs. They work great and it's a lot less hassle and waste)
1 shallot, sliced thin
3 tablespoons soy sauce
about 1.5 pounds of chicken, boneless and skinless. The original recipe called for thighs, but we get the bulk buy chicken from the big box store so I used breasts. I also cut them into easy to fry pieces, in part to maximize the flavor of the marinade.
1 cup fresh cilantro chopped fine (or one of those handy dandy tubes I mentioned above, if you don't like cilantro, use parsley)
for serving
loaf of good french bread
mayonnaise
thin slices of cucumber
thin slices of jalapeno
Sriracha
Put vinegar, sugar, a teaspoon of salt, half a cup of water and the ginger into a saucepan. Stir and heat until boiling, continue at a simmer until the sugar has all dissolved. Pour half of it onto the carrots and radishes and let sit for a couple hours.
Pour the rest of the vinegar solution into another bowl and add lemon grass, shallot, and soy sauce and stir. Put chicken into the bowl and stir around. Cover and put in the fridge for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.
When it is about time to eat, preheat a frying pan, add some olive or vegetable oil, drain the chicken and put into the pan. While the chicken is cooking, drain the carrot/radish mixture and stir in the cilantro (or parsley). Cut the bread into sandwich size chunks, cut them in half lengthwise and toast them. Smear mayonnaise over the cut sides, and layer cucumber, jalapeno, carrot/radish mix, and the chicken. Add Sriracha if you want. Put the top piece of bread on and smush it flattish.
Enjoy!
Anyway, Hi to anyone out there reading. I am back to cooking and creating after a longish illness, so you should totally check out my other blog as well, THE Magpie's Stitches, new and different things are also going to be happening there.
Anywho, on to the recipe.
And these are awesome, by the by. Umami city!
Ingredients
1 cup vinegar (supposed to be rice, but I only have white, red, and balsamic, so white it was)
1/2 cup sugar
salt
piece of ginger about two inches long, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks about a cup
radishes (calls for daikon, but I can't get those so I just used the regular red radishes :( also cut into matchsticks) place carrot and radish into a bowl
several stalks of lemongrass, finely chopped (or just do what I do and get those handy dandy little tubes of already chopped up herbs. They work great and it's a lot less hassle and waste)
1 shallot, sliced thin
3 tablespoons soy sauce
about 1.5 pounds of chicken, boneless and skinless. The original recipe called for thighs, but we get the bulk buy chicken from the big box store so I used breasts. I also cut them into easy to fry pieces, in part to maximize the flavor of the marinade.
1 cup fresh cilantro chopped fine (or one of those handy dandy tubes I mentioned above, if you don't like cilantro, use parsley)
for serving
loaf of good french bread
mayonnaise
thin slices of cucumber
thin slices of jalapeno
Sriracha
Put vinegar, sugar, a teaspoon of salt, half a cup of water and the ginger into a saucepan. Stir and heat until boiling, continue at a simmer until the sugar has all dissolved. Pour half of it onto the carrots and radishes and let sit for a couple hours.
Pour the rest of the vinegar solution into another bowl and add lemon grass, shallot, and soy sauce and stir. Put chicken into the bowl and stir around. Cover and put in the fridge for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.
When it is about time to eat, preheat a frying pan, add some olive or vegetable oil, drain the chicken and put into the pan. While the chicken is cooking, drain the carrot/radish mixture and stir in the cilantro (or parsley). Cut the bread into sandwich size chunks, cut them in half lengthwise and toast them. Smear mayonnaise over the cut sides, and layer cucumber, jalapeno, carrot/radish mix, and the chicken. Add Sriracha if you want. Put the top piece of bread on and smush it flattish.
Enjoy!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Eat Drink and be Merry with Applejack turkey
Eat Drink and Be Merry, for tomorrow we die. I have been wondering about why this is such a bad way to live. Seems like it would be a fairly harmless lifestyle, keeping many people employed.
I guess that for some, the party would be only for them. So would they be eating and drinking more than they need, and others might have nothing?
The longer I hang about on earth, the less I think of people who like to do without, who make a big deal over having nothing. I like my stuff. It makes me happy in ways that are well beyond the cost of it. But then, the stuff that makes me happiest tends to be stuff I can do things with--crafting stuff, cooking stuff, reading stuff.
Ezekiel 16:49 (NASB)
"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
So I'm guessing that in Sodom, the people ate, drank and were merry? So perhaps taking care that everyone can join in the fun is what is necessary? In which case, party on dudes.
On to the turkey.
Ingredients
1 turkey. I usually get a 20+ pounder, on account of my family really likes turkey, and they love the ways I use the leftovers in new dishes. Those will be other postings.
Applejack (apple brandy) You can use the one called Calvados, but that stuff is expensive. I just use the least expensive one I can find.
4 ozs. butter softened
apple cider
onion, chopped
salt and pepper
other stuff
Very Large Roasting Pan
Dump chopped onion into the bottom of the VLRP. Put unwrapped and eviscerated turkey in VLRP. Pour apple cider and Applejack over it-note here, I do not measure anything, but I do try to get at least a half inch of liquid in the bottom of the roaster. I occasionally supplement with some white wine. Smear the butter over the breast and tops of turkey legs. Sprinkle salt and pepper over turkey. I put the organs into the VLRP on the bottom, but no one likes them to eat except the cats, so they get them for their dinner. Cook in 350 F oven for 1 hour/4lbs of turkey--this is approximate, and you can cut into the turkey to determine if it is done. I have also done it in a 450 F oven for considerably less time, but covered the legs in foil to keep them from burning. This can get the thing dried out horribly, which is why the liquid accumulation in the pan.
Remove turkey and organ meat from roaster, put on range top, turn on and heat up liquid to boiling. Add some water and flour mixed together (tupperware does an awesome shaker thing that mixes flour and water wonderfully--I just picked up two more for when the kids move out) and stir well.
Cut meat off carcass. Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy. Yum.
Okay, here is my husbands recipe for turkey salad
Leftover turkey diced into small pieces.
mayonaise
dried thyme
dried rosemary
salt and pepper
chopped shallot
Mix ingredients, adding enough mayo to hold everything together. I like this on nice crusty french rolls.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I guess that for some, the party would be only for them. So would they be eating and drinking more than they need, and others might have nothing?
The longer I hang about on earth, the less I think of people who like to do without, who make a big deal over having nothing. I like my stuff. It makes me happy in ways that are well beyond the cost of it. But then, the stuff that makes me happiest tends to be stuff I can do things with--crafting stuff, cooking stuff, reading stuff.
Ezekiel 16:49 (NASB)
"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
So I'm guessing that in Sodom, the people ate, drank and were merry? So perhaps taking care that everyone can join in the fun is what is necessary? In which case, party on dudes.
On to the turkey.
Ingredients
1 turkey. I usually get a 20+ pounder, on account of my family really likes turkey, and they love the ways I use the leftovers in new dishes. Those will be other postings.
Applejack (apple brandy) You can use the one called Calvados, but that stuff is expensive. I just use the least expensive one I can find.
4 ozs. butter softened
apple cider
onion, chopped
salt and pepper
other stuff
Very Large Roasting Pan
Dump chopped onion into the bottom of the VLRP. Put unwrapped and eviscerated turkey in VLRP. Pour apple cider and Applejack over it-note here, I do not measure anything, but I do try to get at least a half inch of liquid in the bottom of the roaster. I occasionally supplement with some white wine. Smear the butter over the breast and tops of turkey legs. Sprinkle salt and pepper over turkey. I put the organs into the VLRP on the bottom, but no one likes them to eat except the cats, so they get them for their dinner. Cook in 350 F oven for 1 hour/4lbs of turkey--this is approximate, and you can cut into the turkey to determine if it is done. I have also done it in a 450 F oven for considerably less time, but covered the legs in foil to keep them from burning. This can get the thing dried out horribly, which is why the liquid accumulation in the pan.
Remove turkey and organ meat from roaster, put on range top, turn on and heat up liquid to boiling. Add some water and flour mixed together (tupperware does an awesome shaker thing that mixes flour and water wonderfully--I just picked up two more for when the kids move out) and stir well.
Cut meat off carcass. Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy. Yum.
Okay, here is my husbands recipe for turkey salad
Leftover turkey diced into small pieces.
mayonaise
dried thyme
dried rosemary
salt and pepper
chopped shallot
Mix ingredients, adding enough mayo to hold everything together. I like this on nice crusty french rolls.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
I hate the Republicans. And the Democrats. And the other parties. But I love, love, love Pico de Gallo
Okay, not really, except I really do love pico de gallo. I just hate the intransigence of people who can't seem to get their acts together. Whether it is the Executive office butting heads with the Legislative, in some kind of pissing contest as to who is the smarter person, or the lobbyists and their attempts to buy the government (note to self, I think they are succeeding), the stupidity of the activities they get caught in, namely, the Weiner weiner scandal, I don't know.
Then there are the smallish subsets of Muslims and Christians who like to destroy buildings and people... well, I think any aliens who may have thought about landing here have had second thoughts and steered clear, as humanity in general seems to be about as sane as a deer in November.
I read in the papers about the guy in Norway who blew up a building and then shot 80+ young adults. And I heard about the reason he did it. My thoughts ran something like this, "I don't think I could worship a God who tells his followers to go out and kill them as don't follow him, and I wouldn't care what he was called. Such a personage is not worth following."
I'm tired. Of stupidity, of brinkmanship, of lunacy.
So here is a recipe for pico de gallo. My kids love it, and I usually have to fight them for the chance to eat a little bit. Which is, if you ask me, a good reason to head out to the store and get more of the ingredients, so as to make more. No more fighting, okay?
Pico de Gallo
Very, very large bowl (I use one that holds three quarts)
20-30 fresh tomatoes diced (Fill the bowl. Trust me. You won't be sorry later you made too much, but you will if you make too little)
1 onion, diced
1 head of garlic, chopped fine
1 bunch of cilantro leaves, chopped (about 1/2 cup after chopping)
1 lime, juiced (just use the juice)
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped fine (seeded if you are not into really hot things, and adjust the number/amount for that as well, or they can be left out entirely, or you can substitute bell pepper)
salt to taste
Stir everything except the salt together in a large bowl. Taste and add salt. Cover and refrigerate until the next meal/you can't stand waiting any longer. Eat with tortilla chips. Leave some for everyone else. Go out the next day and get all the ingredients and make again.
Then there are the smallish subsets of Muslims and Christians who like to destroy buildings and people... well, I think any aliens who may have thought about landing here have had second thoughts and steered clear, as humanity in general seems to be about as sane as a deer in November.
I read in the papers about the guy in Norway who blew up a building and then shot 80+ young adults. And I heard about the reason he did it. My thoughts ran something like this, "I don't think I could worship a God who tells his followers to go out and kill them as don't follow him, and I wouldn't care what he was called. Such a personage is not worth following."
I'm tired. Of stupidity, of brinkmanship, of lunacy.
So here is a recipe for pico de gallo. My kids love it, and I usually have to fight them for the chance to eat a little bit. Which is, if you ask me, a good reason to head out to the store and get more of the ingredients, so as to make more. No more fighting, okay?
Pico de Gallo
Very, very large bowl (I use one that holds three quarts)
20-30 fresh tomatoes diced (Fill the bowl. Trust me. You won't be sorry later you made too much, but you will if you make too little)
1 onion, diced
1 head of garlic, chopped fine
1 bunch of cilantro leaves, chopped (about 1/2 cup after chopping)
1 lime, juiced (just use the juice)
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped fine (seeded if you are not into really hot things, and adjust the number/amount for that as well, or they can be left out entirely, or you can substitute bell pepper)
salt to taste
Stir everything except the salt together in a large bowl. Taste and add salt. Cover and refrigerate until the next meal/you can't stand waiting any longer. Eat with tortilla chips. Leave some for everyone else. Go out the next day and get all the ingredients and make again.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Success revisited. What is it, Really? and taco/chili seasoning mix
I've been reading a book lately, by the late Peter J. Gomes. I really like what he has to say about success, and being successful. Also about being happy.
First, to do justly. To me, that means to do what is right. So then, I have to figure out what that is. Because it isn't a case of a list of stuff to do and there you are, it changes based on what is needed. I mean, there are some things that seem obvious, like no murdering your neighbors, not taking other peoples stuff, but also things like finding out what people need and getting it to them in a way that does not make them feel small. Here Mr. Gomes had some interesting things to say, about obligations and how we as human beings hate being obligated to other people. He mentioned a common habit humans have of deflecting compliments. I have encountered this in churches with the "wow, you did a good job singing" and the usual response is that "not me, but God did it". I think there is a good possibility that I put people off when I acknowledge that I am a good embroiderer. I have worked hard at getting better at something I had talent in doing. For that reason, when I am complimented on a piece I have done, I thank them for their kind words. We'll get back to this when we discuss humility/humbleness.
Love mercy. We all love mercy... when it is directed at us particularly. Not so much when it is someone else, especially someone to whom we deem no mercy is due. Nevertheless, we are to love mercy. I am raising my children to believe in a God of infinite mercy, one who can forgive even those who display the worst behaviour. People like Osama bin Laden, or the hijackers who flew planes into buildings and killed many people in the name of their God, and going further back, Adolf Hitler and Stalin and Mussolini, whose actions are demonstrably evil. So many people fall short of what I consider to be just actions. And, if I am honest, so do I. And if I feel that I deserve mercy, how can I deny it to anyone?
Walking humbly. To not think of yourself as better than you are. But I also think it means to not think of yourself as worse than you are. Compare yourself only to what you have done in the past. No one else matters in this instance. What other people do is up to them. There is only one person whose behavior you can control. This is something I point out often to my children, especially the oldest, who tries to rule how the others behave. It is a hard thing to do, not to compare yourself with others, and not to try to force them to do what you think they ought.
So, I can't force you to mix this seasoning mix the way I do, but I really like it, and so do my kids and husband.
Taco/Chili seasoning mix
1/2 cup chili powder (this is a mix available in the US, mostly paprika with some other stuff in it. If you don't have it, use 3 tbl of paprika as a substitute)
3 tbl cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1 tsp cayenne powder (depending on how hot you want the stuff to be)
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp fenugreek (this is a spice used in Indian food a lot. It is also used as flavoring, imitation maple, and indeed smells a lot like it. I find that it has a slight oniony aftertaste, so prefer the real thing, but that may be just me)
Mix. I use the entire amount with a lb of ground beef sauteed with one chopped onion for both taco meat and chili. For chili I then add
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans of beans (kidney is traditional, but I have used black beans and garbanzos as well, still good)
1 can corn
1/2 to 3/4 cups water
Bring to a boil and simmer until sauce is thickened. I serve it over rice, but it is also good with cornbread, and one of my children likes to roll it in a flour tortilla and eat it as a sandwich.
THE Magpie
- He has shown you, oh Man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you. To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
First, to do justly. To me, that means to do what is right. So then, I have to figure out what that is. Because it isn't a case of a list of stuff to do and there you are, it changes based on what is needed. I mean, there are some things that seem obvious, like no murdering your neighbors, not taking other peoples stuff, but also things like finding out what people need and getting it to them in a way that does not make them feel small. Here Mr. Gomes had some interesting things to say, about obligations and how we as human beings hate being obligated to other people. He mentioned a common habit humans have of deflecting compliments. I have encountered this in churches with the "wow, you did a good job singing" and the usual response is that "not me, but God did it". I think there is a good possibility that I put people off when I acknowledge that I am a good embroiderer. I have worked hard at getting better at something I had talent in doing. For that reason, when I am complimented on a piece I have done, I thank them for their kind words. We'll get back to this when we discuss humility/humbleness.
Love mercy. We all love mercy... when it is directed at us particularly. Not so much when it is someone else, especially someone to whom we deem no mercy is due. Nevertheless, we are to love mercy. I am raising my children to believe in a God of infinite mercy, one who can forgive even those who display the worst behaviour. People like Osama bin Laden, or the hijackers who flew planes into buildings and killed many people in the name of their God, and going further back, Adolf Hitler and Stalin and Mussolini, whose actions are demonstrably evil. So many people fall short of what I consider to be just actions. And, if I am honest, so do I. And if I feel that I deserve mercy, how can I deny it to anyone?
Walking humbly. To not think of yourself as better than you are. But I also think it means to not think of yourself as worse than you are. Compare yourself only to what you have done in the past. No one else matters in this instance. What other people do is up to them. There is only one person whose behavior you can control. This is something I point out often to my children, especially the oldest, who tries to rule how the others behave. It is a hard thing to do, not to compare yourself with others, and not to try to force them to do what you think they ought.
So, I can't force you to mix this seasoning mix the way I do, but I really like it, and so do my kids and husband.
Taco/Chili seasoning mix
1/2 cup chili powder (this is a mix available in the US, mostly paprika with some other stuff in it. If you don't have it, use 3 tbl of paprika as a substitute)
3 tbl cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1 tsp cayenne powder (depending on how hot you want the stuff to be)
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp fenugreek (this is a spice used in Indian food a lot. It is also used as flavoring, imitation maple, and indeed smells a lot like it. I find that it has a slight oniony aftertaste, so prefer the real thing, but that may be just me)
Mix. I use the entire amount with a lb of ground beef sauteed with one chopped onion for both taco meat and chili. For chili I then add
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans of beans (kidney is traditional, but I have used black beans and garbanzos as well, still good)
1 can corn
1/2 to 3/4 cups water
Bring to a boil and simmer until sauce is thickened. I serve it over rice, but it is also good with cornbread, and one of my children likes to roll it in a flour tortilla and eat it as a sandwich.
THE Magpie
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Success, Failure, and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Interim reports came out on Monday, and my daughter is in danger of failing one of her courses. My husband yelled at her, and in the course of his lecture stated that getting bad grades could negatively impact her ability to get into college, which could negatively impact her desire to be a veterinarian, which could lead to her being a failure and having to work as a clerk in Safeway.
This all led me to thinking about success and failure, because I am pretty sure that the people who work at Safeway do not think of themselves as failures.
So, what is success? We will be able to pay for our kids to get their college degrees, albeit not at an Ivy League college. We own a house, two cars, and have a bit in the bank, and we can afford to help people out when they need it. Now, we aren't in the Warren Buffett/Bill Gates leagues but we are okay. Is that financial success?
I did a piece of stitchery. It is a technique called goldwork, and I wanted to try it, so got a kit that was fairly simple, for beginners. I did it, and am in the process of turning it into a jewelry box. I belong to a group called Embroiderer's Guild of America, EGA for short, and I brought the box to a meeting to show it off. Most of the group were complimentary. One person decided to explain where she thought I had done something wrong. I may have, but the end result was very pretty, so I was not terribly worried about whether I had done it properly, because it looked right to me. Now, I am not against analyzing something to decide whether it is done correctly, but there is a time and a place for it. This was not the place or the time. (No prize, no judging, that's my motto, along with, I do this for fun, not for profit. If it isn't perfect, it is okay.) In any case, I was pleased with the result, so was the project successful?
Anyway, these cookies are a success. Several of my kid's teachers raved about them, and yes, I did give them copies of the recipe.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
4 oz. butter
4 oz oleo/margarine
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbl vanilla (yes. that much. Trust me, you will thank me later)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
2 1/2 cups chocolate chips (this is a compromise, because I like cookies that are basically chocolate chips pasted together with a little dough, and the husband likes cookies that are accented with a few chocolate chips. I don't get as many as I want, he gets more than he wants.)
Warm the butter and margarine to room temperature. Mix in the sugar, and beat well. Add eggs and beat again. Add the vanilla, salt, and baking soda, stir well. Add flour and oats, mix just until you don't see any loose flour. Add chips, and stir until they are all stuck to globs of dough.
Um. You know, I have heard the thing about not eating raw eggs. So far, so good, and I haven't gotten sick from eating this dough raw, and it is really yummy. Probably I shouldn't, just to be on the safe side, but hey, I don't use drugs, I don't speed (much) and I don't drink and drive. So yeah, I do have a spoonful of the dough here.
Oh, and FYI, these are really good if you want to get some fiber into your diet. Remember the oats?
Scuse me, but the tub of dough is calling me... can you hear it?
'Kay, I'm back. Bake at 350 F. for 20 minutes, or until the cookie dough is solid, if you want them to be fairly gooey, or an additional 5 to 10 minutes and until the cookie is darkish brown if you want them to be crispy. Oh, that is the other compromise--husband likes gooey, I like crispy. Exactly the opposite of our toasted bread preferences, actually. If you do cook them until they are crispy, they almost caramelize on the outside, and they are to die for (My opinion). We both agree that fresh baked is the best, so I keep a tub of dough in the fridge so we can bake as wanted.
THE Magpie
This all led me to thinking about success and failure, because I am pretty sure that the people who work at Safeway do not think of themselves as failures.
So, what is success? We will be able to pay for our kids to get their college degrees, albeit not at an Ivy League college. We own a house, two cars, and have a bit in the bank, and we can afford to help people out when they need it. Now, we aren't in the Warren Buffett/Bill Gates leagues but we are okay. Is that financial success?
I did a piece of stitchery. It is a technique called goldwork, and I wanted to try it, so got a kit that was fairly simple, for beginners. I did it, and am in the process of turning it into a jewelry box. I belong to a group called Embroiderer's Guild of America, EGA for short, and I brought the box to a meeting to show it off. Most of the group were complimentary. One person decided to explain where she thought I had done something wrong. I may have, but the end result was very pretty, so I was not terribly worried about whether I had done it properly, because it looked right to me. Now, I am not against analyzing something to decide whether it is done correctly, but there is a time and a place for it. This was not the place or the time. (No prize, no judging, that's my motto, along with, I do this for fun, not for profit. If it isn't perfect, it is okay.) In any case, I was pleased with the result, so was the project successful?
Anyway, these cookies are a success. Several of my kid's teachers raved about them, and yes, I did give them copies of the recipe.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
4 oz. butter
4 oz oleo/margarine
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbl vanilla (yes. that much. Trust me, you will thank me later)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
2 1/2 cups chocolate chips (this is a compromise, because I like cookies that are basically chocolate chips pasted together with a little dough, and the husband likes cookies that are accented with a few chocolate chips. I don't get as many as I want, he gets more than he wants.)
Warm the butter and margarine to room temperature. Mix in the sugar, and beat well. Add eggs and beat again. Add the vanilla, salt, and baking soda, stir well. Add flour and oats, mix just until you don't see any loose flour. Add chips, and stir until they are all stuck to globs of dough.
Um. You know, I have heard the thing about not eating raw eggs. So far, so good, and I haven't gotten sick from eating this dough raw, and it is really yummy. Probably I shouldn't, just to be on the safe side, but hey, I don't use drugs, I don't speed (much) and I don't drink and drive. So yeah, I do have a spoonful of the dough here.
Oh, and FYI, these are really good if you want to get some fiber into your diet. Remember the oats?
Scuse me, but the tub of dough is calling me... can you hear it?
'Kay, I'm back. Bake at 350 F. for 20 minutes, or until the cookie dough is solid, if you want them to be fairly gooey, or an additional 5 to 10 minutes and until the cookie is darkish brown if you want them to be crispy. Oh, that is the other compromise--husband likes gooey, I like crispy. Exactly the opposite of our toasted bread preferences, actually. If you do cook them until they are crispy, they almost caramelize on the outside, and they are to die for (My opinion). We both agree that fresh baked is the best, so I keep a tub of dough in the fridge so we can bake as wanted.
THE Magpie
Friday, May 6, 2011
Life, and Death, and Heaven and Hell and Shrimp Salad sandwiches
I have been hearing about a new book by a pastor named Rob Bell. Titled "Love Wins" it is garnering a lot of attention. His premise is apparently that Christians have gotten a major theological point wrong, and that there is no hell in which people will suffer for eternity. I have not yet read this book, although it is on my to read list.
Honestly, I had come to this conclusion a while ago. I am not a Catholic, nevertheless I do believe in a purgatory of sorts. But I do not believe there is a hell/lake of fire/pick your favorite Medieval/Renaissance painting of souls being tormented here.
The 139th Psalm says it best for me. I have been told that hell is a place where God is not present. Yet the Psalmist wrote,
God is, according to the psalmist, in hell as in heaven. Now, I realize this can be taken as artistic license. And yet...
In Jesus words, or at least, words attributed to Jesus, he says,
Even more proactive on the part of God, and requiring even less action on our part, he added:
Hey, we already attained it. Now it is just a matter of being who we are already. I can do that--most of the time.
So how about that recipe for Shrimp Salad Sandwiches? These have been proclaimed Absolutely Fabulous by everyone who has tried them. I got the recipe out of the Washington Post, who keep all their recipes on their website, isn't that nice of them? with a few changes made by yours truly, cause if I didn't tweak it, I wouldn't be me.
For plenty of leftover filling, so you can have these more than once, I start with 2 lbs of shrimp
Shrimp Salad for sandwiches
2 lb raw shrimp, defrosted and peeled--this is easy, as the shells slip right off
2 stalks of celery, diced
6 to 12 green onions, washed, and sliced, I use about six inches of the green stems and discard the rest
Mayonnaise to taste. I think for the amount of shrimp I use about 3/4 cup, maybe a cup. I just scoop it out until it looks right
salt and pepper
ground fennel seed, or chopped fresh tarragon (both taste of licorice, and can be subbed for each other in some things, like this. Fennel seed is easier to keep in the house though, just saying.
grated lemon peel
olive oil
Put 1 to 3 tsp olive oil in large frying pan and heat til it is very hot, dump in the lemon peel and the shrimp. Stir it around until all the shrimp are pink (Probably take five minutes or so). Drain the shrimp and put into a good size bowl with everything not mentioned heretofore. Stir well, and serve on a nice crusty french type baguette or roll. Save any that is left (about half of it with a family of four, assuming no teenage males going through a growth spurt) for lunches later.
THE Magpie
Honestly, I had come to this conclusion a while ago. I am not a Catholic, nevertheless I do believe in a purgatory of sorts. But I do not believe there is a hell/lake of fire/pick your favorite Medieval/Renaissance painting of souls being tormented here.
The 139th Psalm says it best for me. I have been told that hell is a place where God is not present. Yet the Psalmist wrote,
- 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
God is, according to the psalmist, in hell as in heaven. Now, I realize this can be taken as artistic license. And yet...
In Jesus words, or at least, words attributed to Jesus, he says,
- 4"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5"When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6"And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' 7"I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Even more proactive on the part of God, and requiring even less action on our part, he added:
- 8"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9"When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' 10"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
- 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, 14 I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Hey, we already attained it. Now it is just a matter of being who we are already. I can do that--most of the time.
So how about that recipe for Shrimp Salad Sandwiches? These have been proclaimed Absolutely Fabulous by everyone who has tried them. I got the recipe out of the Washington Post, who keep all their recipes on their website, isn't that nice of them? with a few changes made by yours truly, cause if I didn't tweak it, I wouldn't be me.
For plenty of leftover filling, so you can have these more than once, I start with 2 lbs of shrimp
Shrimp Salad for sandwiches
2 lb raw shrimp, defrosted and peeled--this is easy, as the shells slip right off
2 stalks of celery, diced
6 to 12 green onions, washed, and sliced, I use about six inches of the green stems and discard the rest
Mayonnaise to taste. I think for the amount of shrimp I use about 3/4 cup, maybe a cup. I just scoop it out until it looks right
salt and pepper
ground fennel seed, or chopped fresh tarragon (both taste of licorice, and can be subbed for each other in some things, like this. Fennel seed is easier to keep in the house though, just saying.
grated lemon peel
olive oil
Put 1 to 3 tsp olive oil in large frying pan and heat til it is very hot, dump in the lemon peel and the shrimp. Stir it around until all the shrimp are pink (Probably take five minutes or so). Drain the shrimp and put into a good size bowl with everything not mentioned heretofore. Stir well, and serve on a nice crusty french type baguette or roll. Save any that is left (about half of it with a family of four, assuming no teenage males going through a growth spurt) for lunches later.
THE Magpie
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