Potato cakes

My brother mentioned on Thanksgiving that I have a food blog, and oh maybe I'd like to do something with it sometime soon? He wouldn't take my lack of camera batteries as an excuse, so this is for him. Fried food for you, little brother!

For some reason, I thought that 3 pounds of potatoes for 5 people on Thanksgiving sounded like a reasonable amount. And it might have been, if I only served mashed potatoes. But I went and loaded the menu up with 64 different carbs, rendering the mashed potatoes an overkill. A delicious overkill, but overkill nonetheless.

And because my mashed potatoes are not unhealthy enough - hello butter and half-and-half, loves of my life - I decided to fry the leftovers. Hello clogged arteries!

These were really good, though. Possibly even worth the inevitable heart attack. I got 10 little cakes out of this recipe

2 cups cold mashed potatoes
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup shredded cheese
2 Tbsp flour, + dredging
butter/oil for frying
salt

Heat your butter and/or oil in a skillet over medium high heat.

Put the potatoes, egg, cheese and 2 Tbsp flour in a bowl and mix until combined.

Form into small cakes - about the size of a sausage patty.

Dredge the cakes lightly in flour and put them into the hot oil. Cook until browned, then flip - about 4-5 minutes per side.

Drain on a towel, and sprinkle with salt while hot.

And just for my little brother, here's a Crappy Cell Phone snap of the little wonders:



Notes: The potatoes need to be cold or the cakes won't hold together very well.
Use butter or oil or mix it up. I used half butter and half canola oil.
If you make these too big, they'll fall apart when you flip them.
I think adding a little hot sauce would be awesome, but then The Professor would accuse me of trying to kill him. So I skipped the hot sauce.

Spanish Rice, Easy or EASIEST - Your Choice

Two for one special this time, Kittens! I've got this Spanish Rice recipe that I love, love, love (cumin + chili powder = lovex3). I make it for the now-annual Superbowl Taco Party. The first time I made it for the party I was time crunched and I wondered if there was a way to make the easy recipe even easier, and guess what - there is! And better yet, it only has one step. Even better yet, it still tastes awesome. My only problem tonight is that I'm out of cheese. And cheese makes everything Better than Best.

This is pretty forgiving - I've used no stock and all water without much flavor difference. Regular paprika works well too, although I'm partial to the smoked variety. And some hot sauce tossed in can kick it up a notch or five.



Easy Spanish Rice 1 tbsp canola oil
1 small onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup rice
3/4 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika


Saute the onion, pepper and cloves in the canola oil until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, rice, stock, water, cumin & paprika. Bring to a rapid boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, or until rice is done.


Easiest Spanish Rice:

Omit oil, onion, bell pepper & Garlic. Add the remaining ingredients to a pot along with a teaspoon of garlic powder and a half teaspoon of onion powder. Bring to a rapid boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, or until rice
is done.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Spaghetti squash is one vegetable-type-substance that I can get The Professor to eat with wild abandon. Possibly because it has the word "spaghetti" in it, but that's neither here nor there: I'm getting him to eat a vegetable! Let me enjoy my triumph.

The added benefit of this meal is that there's no meat. But we almost didn't miss it. Ok, ok, he might have made one comment along the lines of "This would be great with some meat in it", but I really think that's just habit at this point; his way of making sure I'm not going to turn into a vegetarian. As if that could happen while there is still lamb and bacon in this world!

This is another "throw together whatever is languishing in my vegetable drawer" type of dish, which makes it very non-stressful. Which is also something I actively seek out in my life.

And when all was said and done, I was the one who opined "This would be three times more awesome with some Italian sausage".

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 2 small yellow onions (or 1 large), diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 zucchini, cut up
• 8 oz button mushrooms, cut up
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained (I highly recommend the Muir Glen Fire Roasted No Salt Added variety)
• Basil and/or Oregano and/or Thyme - as much as you like. I used all 3
• 1/2 cup+ shredded mozzarella cheese (I wanted Parmesan, but was out!??)

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and remove the pulp and seeds. Put it in a dish and microwave for 25 minutes (or until it's done).

While that's cooking, cut up your veggies.

Yes, I know the mushrooms are missing.

In a large - and I mean large - skillet, heat about a tbsp of olive oil. Saute the onions over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until they're transparent.

Add the rest of the veggies and the garlic, stir them around and then let them be while you deal with the squash.

Mmmmm....garlic...Can you smell it too?

When the squash is done, remove the strands with a fork. I just put them back in the same casserole I had cooked them in (after I removed the water).

This was a small squash, but it still covered the bottom of the dish.

Move the veggies around a few times to make sure they're cooking evenly. I sauteed them for about 17 minutes.


Add the can of drained tomatoes and herbs and stir it all up. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Yes, the steam gets in the way of good photos.

Add the veggies to the squash and mix gently (the veggies are pretty soft by this point).

Almost there...

Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and pop under the broiler for about 5 minutes.

Melted Cheese. How my heart sings.

So, lessons learned:

1. Parmesan would have been much better than Mozzarella, but at least I had cheese.
2. I must try this again with Italian Sausage. The thought is now consuming my mind.
   

I Played A Trick On My Mom Last Night . A Tabbouleh Trick.

See, my dear mother isn’t one to be adventurous when it comes to ethnic foods. Give her a bratwurst dripping in sauerkraut, and she’s a happy German lady. Give her a choice of lamb korma or pad Thai, and she chooses a glass of water, with a cracker on the side. It’s one of my dad’s jokes that my mom isn’t particularly daring when it comes to other-country foods.

Still, I had two recipes that I thought she’d like, if not love. Souvlaki – a Greek dish – is just a fancy way to say “marinated meat”. Some olive oil, some lemon juice, a little oregano and garlic…a few pieces of chicken breasts and voila! I thought she'd enjoy that one.

But I was totally unprepared for her reaction to my not-quite-authentic couscous tabbouleh.

I didn’t try to scam this one past her. I told her straight up what the name of it was, and when she asked “what is it?” I may have left off the “Lebanese salad” part of the description and jumped right into a list of ingredients. See, I know a few things about what my mom likes to eat, and I really, really, had a good feeling that she’d like everything in this: A few raw veggies (including one of her beloved red bell peppers), a little lemon juice, a sprinkling of completely non-authentic Parmesan cheese. And how can you actually dislike couscous?

What completely blew me away, however, is that I watched her take thirds (and possibly fourths when my back was turned) of the tabbouleh. I bit my tongue. I wanted to burst out “But Mama! That’s a Mediterranean dish!” And finally, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. When she spooned up just a wee bit more of the stuff (And I will admit, it was dang good) on her plate, I had to tell her. I can’t trick my mom for long before I feel guilty.

My dad (who – like me – will eat just about anything that gets in his mouth) told me it was a good thing I hadn’t told her first. But now? I’m not so sure. My mom’s starting to rock out with the adventures these days.

Maybe tomorrow night I’ll fix that lamb korma after all.

And to make matters even more fun, my maternal experimentation is being thrown into the ring for Presto Pasta Nights. Double fun!

Couscous Tabbouleh

• 1 box Parmesan flavored Couscous(I used Near East. I’ve never seen un-instant couscous around here)
• 1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3-4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Roma Tomatoes, diced small
• 2/3 of a large cucumber, diced small
• ½ of a large red bell pepper, diced small
• 4-5 scallions, finely copped
• 2 oz pine nuts
• ½ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup chopped parsley

Directions

Cook couscous according to package directions. Then get busy chopping up your veggies.

Drizzle 1 Tbsp EVOO and 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice over the couscous and fluff with a fork.

Add your veggies, pine nuts and cheese, and fluff again.

Toss in your parsley.

Fluff-ernate again.

Now take a taste and add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and /or pepper as your heart desires.

Chill for at least 30 minutes. This stuff just gets better over time.

Update: Squash Casserole

Hey, remember this recipe? Squash Casserole?

This week, I was hit with inspiration. Inspiration in my new cure-for-all-ills: ricotta cheese. Lately, I have been addicted to the stuff. You wouldn't know that from my blog, but that's called "my real life".

This week, I decided to try another squash casserole. I wanted something that would hold together a little better than my last attempt. I decided I needed something a little more cohesion-building than sour cream - and the ricotta was just sitting there on my refrigerator shelf.

I think I have a winner here. The spice blend could be changed up in a quadrillion ways. Fresh herbs would be a wonderful substitute. I keep hoping McCormick's will send me a case of free seasoning, so I'm gonna blog about that option.

Squash Casserole

Ingredients:
Olive Oil cooking spray
1 pound yellow squash (4 small), cut small
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp McCormick's Roasted Garlic & Herb blend
1 cup? Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray a medium skillet with Olive Oil cooking spray. Put the squash and onion in the pan, and then spray them with it, too. "Spread the Spray" could be my new motto.

I think I put a little salt and fresh ground pepper in there too.

Cook about 10 minutes, until veggies are soft.
In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, sour cream and seasoning.

This is my new seasoning love:


And this is the yummy goodness that will hold the squash together:



Toss mixture with veggies.

Spray a 2 quart cooking dish with more of the "Spread the Spray" love. Pour in the squash mixture.

Hmmm...that needs something.

Look at the squash casserole, and decide it needs some more seasoning. I know! More Roasted Garlic and Herb Blend!

It'll look better in a little while. I promise.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Getting Warmer...

In a small bowl, mix together cheese and bread crumbs.

Mmmmm....cheese and bread crumbs...

Spread cheese-bread-crumbs mixture over casserole.




Bake for another 15 minutes, or until casserole is bubbling around the crust.

Ohh Baby

Portion out for your next 3 lunches before you inhale the whole delicious creation.

Carrot Souffle

It's badly kept secret that The Professor doesn't much care for things of a vegetable nature. Pretty much any plate of food I give him is met with a "You just had to put the vegetables in there, didn't you?".

One of the few exceptions to this - if it's even an exception - is sweet potato casserole. With a maximum of butter, brown sugar and cloves. Two of those three pretty much negate the benefits of giving him vegetables in the first place...but it's better than nothing. Right? RIGHT?!?

So when I fixed a carrot souffle for a small dinner party a few weeks ago, he immediately thought he was getting sweet potatoes. I didn't disillusion him until he'd taken a few bites, and then he had stopped listening. I *think* he heard the word "Carrots"...but sometimes it's hard to tell when he's paying attention.

The comments on Recipezaar - from whence this recipe comes - mentioned that even carrot-haters love this dish. Which means I'm going to have to make The Best Friend eat it at some point, just to see if it's true. Even if I have to trick her into trying it.




* 1 1/2 lbs carrots, sliced
* 1/2 cup butter (I used Smart Balance)
* 3 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 1/2 cups sugar (I used Splenda)
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or to taste - I definitely used more, but didn't measure)

• Add carrots to a saucepan; add water to cover; bring to a boil; cook 20-25 minutes or until tender; drain.
  
• Add carrots, butter, and the rest of the ingredients to a food processor.
• Process until mixture is smooth.
• Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 1 1/2 quart souffle dish.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set.
  

Note: Remember how I didn't have a food processor? Well, that hole in my heart has been plugged. The Bestest Friend gave me one for Christmas! And this was the first thing I made with it.

Squash Casserole: Work In Progress

Thing the First: I am unworthy. I cooked a meal with no fewer than four dishes to blog about - and I was so excited to be with my parents that I forgot to take any pictures!

Thing the Second: I love squash casserole made with cream of mushroom soup. But in my new found quest to use fewer processed foods (I just started reading this book), I decided to experiment with the recipe.

Thing the Third: This recipe needs work. It was too...tangy? Herby? It tasted pretty good, but it's not there yet. Wherever "there" is.

Thing the Fourth: Your assignment: Suggest improvements. I'll be trying this again soon since it's squash season.

Squash Casserole

2 yellow squash, cut in 1" chunks
1/2 yellow onion
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded Colby-Jack cheese
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375F.

Saute squash and onion over medium heat for 6-7 minutes, until the squash begins to soften.

In a bowl, mix sour cream, Colby-Jack cheese, basil and garlic powder.

Stir in squash and onions.

Pour into 2 quart casserole.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Mix Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Spread over the top of the casserole. Put in the oven for another 10 minutes - OR turn on the broiler and let the top slightly brown.

Fried Zucchini

My in-laws are in town for a few days of Fun In The South (they're from That Heathen North). And one of the great things about these visits is all the food. I love to cook and they love to eat. They love to cook and I love to eat. So over the course of a few days, we take turns in the kitchen. Yesterday was their turn.

In addition to their signature Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce (Which has to be eaten to be believed), my father-in-law pounced on the zucchini in my vegetable drawer. A few eggs and some bread crumbs later, we had a side dish.

And all I had to do was eat - which explains the fuzzy picture. It's kinda hard to snap a decent pic when you're stealing pieces of fried goodness out of the frying pan.



Fried Zucchini

Some zucchini
an egg or two, beaten
a pile of seasoned bread crumbs (these were the italian flavor)
canola oil, as needed

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then again.

Dip into egg;
Dredge into bread crumbs;

In a large skillet, heat about an inch of canola oil until it's piping hot. Drop zucchini in - and try to move it as little as possible. Cook for five minutes. Cool on paper towels.

In theory these make a great side dish with pasta and sauce. In practice...they were great appetizers as we opened the wine.

Heavn In Red

In the past week, I've gotten two tomatoes off my plants. It's obviously just the beginning of the season, but I decided to enjoy the first fruit of my labor very simply.

I sliced the tomato, sprinkled some kosher salt over it and then ground some peppercorns over it. The Bestest Friend enjoyed hers with a wee bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Heaven In Red

Parmesan Crusted Potato Wedges

Remember the Great Potato Pile of 2007?

Well, I didn’t. Until I came home with 5 pounds of potatoes last week and started thinking up things to do with them. And I can’t do potato soup, or potato casserole, and really – is there a need to post about a baked potato? So I came up with a sister recipe to the Sweet Potato Fries, which is really nothing like the Sweet Potato Fries at ALL now that I’m done with it.

Luckily, potatoes are pretty low-maintenance. They’re the low-key member of the vegetable kingdom. You don’t have to plan menus around them; you don’t have to woo them with soft music and pretty flowers. They’re easy that way. You don’t have to even really think about them. I’m pretty sure you could half-way cook a potato, change your mind about what you want to do with it, and then continue on your way with the new recipe, and it would all work out in the end. If they could speak, Potatoes would sound like Leo from That 70’s Show just after he inhaled. “Whatever, Dude, I’m cool with that”.

Before I go any farther with that, I think it’s time for a recipe. You?



Parmesan Crusted Potato Wedge

3 russet Potatoes, cut into wedges*
½ cup butter or margarine, melted**
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp dried basil
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup Italian flavored bread crumbs

Preheat your oven to 425F.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

In a bowl, combine garlic powder, dried basil, parmesan and bread crumbs.

Working a few at a time, toss the potato wedges in the butter, then the bread crumb/Parmesan mixture. Make sure to get them thoroughly coated!

Lay the wedges in the bottom of the dish.

If there are bread crumbs left over, sprinkle them on the potatoes.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes, turning one halfway through cooking. If they’re not done enough for you, leave them in another five minutes. Or until they’re done.

Notes:
*I left the skin on mine, and cut them (lengthwise) into eighths.
**If you want to do an experiment for me, use butter-flavored cooking spray instead. I’ve read that if you’re trying to cut out fat/calories, it works – but I’ve never tried it. And if The Professor saw me spraying his dinner with butter-flavored non-stick cooking-spray, I would NEVER hear the end of it.

Cucumbers in Butter and Cream

When I got married a few years ago, my mom gave me a copy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I love this book. It's got a ton of recipes, but it's also got tons of great information for foodies. It's not just a cook book. I pick it up and randomly flip through sections - especially the vegetables - when I'm looking for something new or just for general information.

These cucumbers have been on my list of things to try since I got the book. But it took me awhile to work up to it. It's not hard, but The Professor is of the firm opinion that cucumbers aren't really something worth eating anyway, much less cooking.

I finally took the plunge last month. After all, anything cooked in butter, cream and dill has to be great.

And...I was disappointed. I wanted it to be awesome - how many people cook cucumbers? When was the last time you ate a cooked cucumber? I wanted to be unique even more unique than I already am.

The sauce was awesome. But then...butter+cream+dill has to equal awesome, or else there would be no balance to the universe. So the sauce will probably find it's way onto some pasta. And as I typed that, I thought "Hmm...cucumbers in a pasta dish?" I might give these another try after all.

Cucumbers in Butter and Cream (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)

About 1 pound cucumbers
1 Tbsp salt (if cucumbers are not firm)
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup sweat (heavy) cream, or sour cream, or yogurt
Lots of freshly snipped dill (I used dried)

Peel the cucumbers if waxed. Cut them in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Cut the into 3/4-inch chunks. If the cucumbers are not super-firm, place the chunks in a colander and sprinkle them with the salt. Shake to distribute the salt and let them drain for about 20 minutes. Rinse and dry. If the cucumbers are already firm, proceed with the recipe.

Place the butter in a medium to large skillet over medium heat. When it melts, ad the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Do not let the onion brown. Add the cucumbers and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the cucumbers are just tender. Add pepper and, if you did not salt the cucumbers earlier, some salt.

Turn the heat to low, then stir in the cream or yogurt and a good handful of dill. Stir until well blended, then serve, garnished with more dill.

Cooking with Mama: Mac N Cheese

I'm at my parents house, and tonight's dinner was awesome, if I - the sous chef and pâtissier - do say so myself.

So in a quick-as-lighting update, here's a recipe we pulled out of the air.

Well, Mom looked around and gave me a ratio for cheese to macaroni. Then she told me what kinds of cheeses she had. Then she told me to use 5 cups of macaroni. Then she told me to mop the floors, polish the silver and dust the chandaliers.

Ok, ok. Not really on the mopping, polishing and dusting. And she boiled the macaroni for me, and preheated the oven. And gave me beer. And cooked the rest of dinner. And not only bought me Diet Mt Dew, but also had it chilled beside the beer.

Hmm..Maybe I should go get the dust rag.





Nothing-Fancy But Oh-So-Yummy Macaroni & Cheese

5 cups macaroni, uncooked
2 tbsp margerine
About 4 1/2 cups shredded cheeses (see notes); divided
About 1/4-1/2 cup milk
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp paprika

Call your mom, and have her boil your macaroni. Or boil it yourself.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Spray a 4 quart casserole with non-stick spray.

Drain macarni.

Stir in margerine and 1/4 cup milk until margerine is melted.

Stir in 2 cups of shredded cheese thoroughly. It'll probably melt immediately.
Stir in 2 more cups of cheese and pour in casserole.

Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Put into oven, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. If you like the browned-top look, turn on your broiler for the last 5 minutes.

Notes:
We had several different kinds of cheese to choose from. For the first two cups, I used mozzarella, because I knew it would melt, and it melts pretty smoothly. For the second two cups, I chose cheddar to give it some bite. My mom also had a little chipotle cheddar - a very little, around 1/4 cup - that I mixed in with the cheddar. The extra 1/2 cup on top was all cheddar.

Quick and Dirty Zuchhini

Ok, here I go with my love affair for my favorite little seasoning blend again. I made some zucchini to go with the Italian chicken the other night. And I wanted something easy, but yummy. Which really isn't hard to do - zucchini is very forgiving, any flavor at all goes with it, and as long as you can cut it, you can cook it, so I don't know why I'm feeling all smarty-McProudy pants. (And the cutting may be optional, but I haven't experimented yet. I'll let you know).

Also - the zucchini wasn't dirty. I washed it.




Quick Baked Zucchini

1 large zucchini, in slices about 3/4 inch thick.
1 tbsp (or less) olive oil
About 3 good shakes of McCormick Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper seasoning

Heat oven to 375F.

Mix all thee items together in a bowl; put in a shallow baking dish.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes.
Eat.

Notes:
I didn't measure the olive oil, but I know I used too much. You might even be able to get away without using any at all, which would make this even healthier.

After the zucchini has been dished up, it is perfectly acceptable to run your fingers around the bowl to get any stray bits of seasoning that didn't get served up and then lick said fingers clean. I think that may be standard etiquette in some country somewhere.

After you type "zucchini" six times in 10 minutes, it starts to look wrong. Very wrong. Try it.

Sweet Potato Fries: A New Love

Sweet Potatoes were on sale last week, so I bought one mammoth one and one probably-regular-sized-one-but-looked-like-a-pygmy-version-next-to-the-mammoth-one.

Then they sat on my counter for a few days.

Then I remembered that they should be in a cool, dark place. So I moved them to a cool, dark place

Definition of a "cool, dark place": Somewhere out of line of sight.

So I forgot about them for a few more days.

But that's ok. Because I am now convinved that the reason I forgot about them was so that I'd have time to remember that I wanted to try Kalyn's recipe for baked sweet potato fries.

And then I realized that I didn't have the right spices. So I had to make up my own. My brain finally kicked in, and I actually wrote down what I used people.

That's right people, I'm genius. I wrote down a recipe. I should get a PhD or something.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp coriander seeds

1 Tbsp whole cumin

1 Tbsp mustard seeds

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp Kosher salt, plus more to taste

In a spice grinder, combine coriander, cumin, mustard, and celery salt and grind until...ground. Stir in 1 tsp kosher salt. Divide in half.

Toss potato wedges with olive oil until coated. Sprinkle 1/4 of spice blend over vegetables and toss. Sprinkle another 1/4 of the spice blend over it and toss some more. Tossing is fun.

Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray (I used the olive oil flavored kind). Spread wedges on sheet, and bake for 35-45 minutes, turning every 10-15 minutes or so.

Sprinkle fries with kosher salt to taste. Feel free to sprinkle the remaining spice blend on them, too - or save for more fries later.

Notes: I know that the pre-ground spices would work just as well, I just don't have a clue how to translate the whole stuff into ground terms. These were so good, though - as in, can't-stop-eating-them good, that I hope - nay, I beg - you to try them.

Wilted Spinach: The Vegetable of Champions

When I was a kid, my only exposure to spinach was via Popeye's cold-canned, spur-of-the-moment, puke-inspiring chug-a-lug method of eating the stuff.

This did not inspire me to eat it.

Now? I love spinach in many forms. I'm not sure how I roused the courage to eat it; there was no shining-light moment of truth or slew of green epiphanies. One day I was spinach-avoider, the next I was a rabid spinach-convert.

This is my favorite method of cooking spinach; due to The Bestest Friend's conversion to vegetarianism, I frequently make it sans bacon. But in my heart, I am secretly yearning for the dash of saltiness it adds.

I made this as a side dish with the veal saltimbocca experiment for Valentine's Day, so I got to be extra fancy-pants and use prosciutto. Holy Bacon Fat, Batman, was that a mind-blowing experience.




Wilted Spinach

3 cups fresh spinach (the bagged stuff works great, the loose stuff is much cheaper)
3-4 slices of bacon (or about 3 oz Prosciutto)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 small onion, diced
Parmesan Cheese, to taste

In a large sauce pan or a soup pot, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove - leave the fat in the pan! - and drain on a paper towel.

Deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar, scraping up the tasty bits from the bottom.

Add the olive oil, garlic and onion. Cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to darken.

Add the spinach, and using tongs, start tossing/twirling/stirring the leaves to coat them in the hot oil. Spinach takes a few seconds to start softening - but once it gives up the fight, it wilts down FAST. I keep the spinach moving through the entire process with my tongs so that I don't end up with overly-soggy leaves on bottom and partially-cooked leaves on top.

After about 5 minutes, the spinach will have majorly reduced in volume. Feel free to cook it down completely, but I like the leaves to still have a bit of life in them.

Remove the spinach from the pan immediately - the pan's heat will make it keep wilting away - and crumble the bacon over the top.

Garnish with some grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes: Not being a huge vinegar fan, I probably only use about 1/2 tsp. I just kind of dash it in the pan, so if you like vinegar, dash away.

Glazed Carrots For The Carrot-Opposed

Carrots might quite possibly be my favorite vegetable. They go with just about any kind of sauce you can come up with. They can be sweet with brown sugar and honey, or they can be steamed with some fresh basil leaves for a little savory flavor. They can go in cakes, they can go in stews, they can go in bread. They can be eaten as finger food. Here, there or anywhere, carrots are just good.

Unfortunately, The Best Friend hates carrots. And I can already hear her saying “I will not eat them, Sam I Am”. Once, after she insisted that she liked parsnips, I gave her a bite of the ones I had just finished cooking. She immediately accused me of sneaking a carrot into her mouth. She dislikes carrots SO MUCH that even a vegetable that only vaguely has a carrot-taste makes her rinse her mouth with vinegar and water. And then a glass of wine.

But you know what? The Best Friend admitted that she could eat these carrots. IF – and it’s a big IF – they were cut in very small pieces and thoroughly covered in the glaze and a little over-cooked.

If that doesn’t tell you how good these carrots are, then I am out of words.
For now.

Warning: I didn’t measure anything here – this was part of The Original Redhead's b’day dinner, and I didn’t bother to pull out measuring spoons and write my ingredients list down. So the following list is just an estimate. I’m positive about the two pounds of carrots, though, because I bought a 2 pound bag.



Glazed Carrots

2 pounds of carrots, scraped and cut in 2” pieces
1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
2” piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
½ tsp ground ginger
3 tsp balsamic vinegar, divided
2 tsp honey
¼ cup soy sauce (low sodium) + some to taste

Put the olive oil and ginger in a medium skillet. Turn the heat on medium low and heat slowly, letting the ginger flavor the oil. After about 4 or 5 minutes, add the carrots and toss to coat them in the oil. Add half of the vinegar and all of the honey and soy sauce to the middle of the pan and stir to combine. Start stirring in the carrots until they are coated. Turn the heat up to medium, cover the pan and walk away for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle in the ground ginger, give the carrots a stir, cover and walk away for another 10-15 minutes. By then, your carrots will be softening – now you just cook them til they’re as done as you like. The longer you cook, the stickier and glazy-er the sauce will get. I wanted my carrots pretty soft, so when my sauce got too thick, I added the rest of the vinegar to de-glaze it as much as possible, then another few dashes of soy sauce because I like soy sauce.

Notes:
I meant to make these in sesame oil instead of olive oil, but I had left it at home. It would have added soooooo much!

You could easily use baby carrots here, but since I found out that baby carrots are the exact same thing as regular carrots, just cut into small pieces and made to look baby-ish, I stopped buying them. That means a little more prep work to use them, though.

Asian Slaw

When last I left you, I was crowing over how easy it is to eliminate mayo from recipes and basically, over my genius in making that very easy dish. Well, the reason that had to be so simple is because I had to reserve time to cut the vegetables for the Asian Slaw that I had also agreed to bring to our little soiree at work.

I like cutting up vegetables, though. It gives me time to sing songs like “American Pie” all the way through without having to stop to read directions. Although I don’t usually stop singing, I just end up substituting recipe-words for the song-words.

I’m not just a cook. I’m also the floor show.

Asian Slaw
Veggies:

• 1 ½ cups snow peas, julienned
• 1 ½ cups carrot chips, julienned
• 1 yellow bell pepper, julienned

Dressing:

• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1” piece of ginger, grated
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar

Heat the sesame oil in a small sauce pan; add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 min. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients. Stir to combine. When the sugar is melted (takes about 2 seconds), remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Now is a perfect time to cut all those veggies up.

I did this in the recipe the night before our “rib-fest”, and then tossed the veggies with the dressing about 15 minutes before it was served.

The Professor's Burnt Mushrooms

{I simply cannot get a good picture of sauteed mushrooms - all they do is reflect a sheen that does not in any way make them appear appealing.}

After handing over The Best Friend's scrum-diddly-umptious apple crisp recipe the other day, I thought I might as well go ahead and unveil The Professor's dish of choice when he gets to cook something. Anytime I come home with mushrooms, his eyes light up; the hope that I will let him blackify and crispify them in a skillet of butter and wine will never die in his heart.

Surpsingly, these mushrooms don't just taste like charred fungus of an unidentifiable sort. They're almost finger food by the time you're done cooking them.

Alas, this is one of the few things that he tells me I don't know how to cook. Any time I try, I get the same answer: "They're good, but they could have been burned a little more".

File this under: "The Professor, Cute Idiosyncracies".





Burnt Mushrooms, a la El Profesor

• 2 pounds button mushrooms, washed and sliced
• 1 stick of butter (yes, you read that right)
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp ground mustard
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup red wine (that's a complete guess, as I've never tried to measure - or even pay attention to - how much wine he uses)

Put the stick of butter in a large skillet, and turn the heat on medium. When the butter is half melted, add the mushrooms and stir to coat them in butter. They will soak it all up like a sponge, and I have more than a suspicion that The Professor throws some more butter in at some point.

Sprinkle the garlic powder and mustared over the mushrooms and stir to incorporate.

Turn the heat up to medium high and cook mushrooms in butter for about 10-15 minutes, until they've released their water and then are starting to dry out and blacken.

Pour in the wine, and indulge yourself in the steam bath that follows. Stir the mushrooms constantly for a few minutes, using the wine to deglaze the pan.

Turn the heat back to just under medium and keep cooking until all the wine has been soaked up/evaporated. Then cook some more. And when you think you're done, turn the heat down to low and cook for a few more minutes. You don't want the mushrooms to be completely dried and crispy, but you want the edges to definitely be black.

Notes:
This is an acquired taste, so I won't feel bad if you don't rush out to burn up two pounds of mushrooms. We won't tell The Professor, though, ok?

Potato Casserole

Last weekend at the grocery store, I had a moment of semi-craziness. I went past the mounds of potatoes, and was halfway past the bags full of the globes of goodness, when I noticed something odd.

The 10 pound bag was only 20 CENTS more than the 5 pound bag. I was confused. I was bewildered. I looked around, but other than a few people wondering why a crazy red-head was staring so intently at the potatoes, no one seemed to find anything out of place.

Somehow, I came home with 10 POUNDS of potatoes. For two people.

The Professor and I have nothing against potatoes. They’re yummy – especially loaded with butter and cheese. But I couldn’t see up eating 10 pounds of baked potatoes.

The easy answer is potato soup. Which will assuredly be made at some point. 5 or 6 of the things went to the best friend – for some reason, I feel the need to shove food at her at frequent intervals. That still left me with a helluva large number of starches on my kitchen counter.

So, once again, I made the rounds of pantry and refrigerator to find things to throw in a dish that could be lunches for a few days.


Potato Casserole

• 4 large potatoes, cut into 1” cubes
• 1 small onion, cut in thin slices
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
• Spray-on butter

Preheat oven to 350F.
Boil potatoes in salted water until mostly soft. Drain.
Mix potatoes, onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, basil, oregano, garlic and Parmesan. Pour into 2 ½ quart baking dish.
Bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
At this point, I decided it needed something. In my world “something” is usually a direct translation for cheese – so I stirred in the mozzarella.
Bake, covered, for another ten minutes.
Top with Ritz crackers and then spray on as much butter as you want.
Bake, uncovered for 10 more minutes.

Notes:
More Cheese! I think I would put some more cheese on top if I make this again. Calcium, right?
More herbs wouldn’t hurt, but really it was very good like this.

More Roasted Veggies! This time, with couscous

Over at $40 A Week, a challenge was issued. Not being a faint-of-heart type, and being instead an "I have a problem in my over-stocked panty" type, I jumped on it. They want us to clean out our pantries - use the "just in case" supplies that are lurking. And in the process, we get to weed out the stuff we'll never use and give them to a food pantry.

So my box of food to give away is full of cups of ramen noodles, cans of vienna sausages and potted meat and other assorted things that have been lurking in the depths of my pantry for too long. Now? I have some extra shelf space that I get to fill up with things that I might - just might - actually use.

And I came up with three ingredients that I wanted to use in a meal:
Wild mushroom and herb couscous mix
black olives
canned salmon

I used up the bell pepper and onions in my fridge, threw in some tomatoes and a dish was born. I made some salmon patties out of the can of salmon - something I haven't done in years. Simple, but so good!


And once again, I found myself wanting to just pick the roasted vegetables off of the pan. I think I may have a new addiction.



I ended up only using a couple of things out of my pantry, but the recipe was created in the spirit of the thing. Which counts. I hope.




Roasted Veggie Couscous:

1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in halves
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut in strips
1/2 orange bell pepper, cut in strips
1/2 red onion, cut in strips
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
black pepper, to taste
1 box Near East wild mushroom and herb couscous mix
1 can medium black olives, sliced
1/2 cup shredded smoked Gouda

Toss tomatoes, peppers, onion and garlic in olive oil and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and cook at 350F for 30 minutes.

Prepare couscous.

Spread couscous in shallow casserole. Sprinkle the sliced olives on top, and then the roasted vegetables. Sprinkle the cheese over the whole she-bang, and broil for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is as melted and broiled as you like it.

Salmon Patties:

1 14 1/2 oz can of salmon
1/2 cup saltine cracker crumbs
1 egg
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp ground thyme
oil

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. Form into 3 inch patties and cook in oil, about 2-3 minutes per side. Serve with lemon juice.