So...whats for dinner?
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I made the lentil soup and had a serving for lunch with a splash of white balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of shredded asiago. The soup is very good. I didn't blend it because it thickened on its own with a nice texture.
Nance, do you make your own pita bread? I'm intrigued with the notion of making my own corn tortillas. That would involve buying a press. I could store it with the ricer and food mill that I just had to acquire! I have used the ricer a few times but the food mill not at all.
Luv, that must have been interesting to live in Hawaii. How many years did you live there?
I have bought cookbooks at Good Will but none with notes in them. I have quite a few of those collections published by various churches or organizations. Most of the recipes are from someone's old cookbook or collection of recipes clipped from magazines or newspapers.
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Carole, I sometimes make my own naan but I've never tried making pita. I wonder how much different it would be.
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ooh I love old cookbooks. I buy the local church or community ones whenever we travel. That's how you find out how people really eat! LOL
Supper tonight was finally the smoked pork stew. I added onion, garlic, no celery, I thought I had some, oh well! LOL. Carrots, butternut squash, potatoes and some frozen peas that were in the freezer for who knows how long. It smells pretty good. Just thinking I won't add the kielbasa though. I'll use it for another meal. Need o go rockery shopping. Not much left....
Much love
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Well, Judy Collins gave a beautiful performance tonight. Of course the town hall performance center (with probably 400+ attendees) was filled with people our age...it felt like I was at a very large fast forwarded PTO meeting at my sons' former schools. Kind of humbling to look at how much we have all aged. DH initially commented on how he didn't see anyone he knew aside from our current friends. I suggested he try to picture people he used to know thru the lens of 26 years later.....all of a sudden, with the help of that perspective he recognized lots of folks! It was a joy to see one of our very favorite singers perform right up the street from our house!
We had dinner at a restaurant in our town center, where we had the most hilarious young waitress. I made the mistake of asking what the "greens" were in a certain dish, since i wanted to be sure no dandelion greens were included since I'm also allergic to them! Well, I have learned my lesson not to mention allergy at that restaurant. Ever. Again! This little extremely conscientious and loud waitress came back to our table eight different times to clarify allergy concerns with me....even bringing me the unsolicited label from the bread they use for me to check the ingredients. Oy!! I was fine as soon as I learned about the absence of dandelion greens in the entree I was getting, but they were like dogs with a bone about my allergies, asking me to name every last one for fear of "cross contamination". Yikes! Do you suppose they have an ongoing law suit?? This went on and on and the Saturday Night Live factor was that the young gal had an extremely loud and grating voice, and DH was sitting in the seat closest to her every "attack". It was hysterical after a while, since he would almost jump at the sound of her screeching approach. A total riot! But the meal was fine and I was not rushed to the urgent care. LOL Seriously, I appreciate that they are attentive to allergies, but the waitress may need some social skill lessons in her customer interaction training.
I also enjoy old cookbooks, and have scored some interesting regional ones when visiting other cities....find them in reduced book bins at gift stores or book stores. I love that you find the notes and margin scratchings, Eric. Personal touches and preferences do give the reader a view to the person using the recipe, which is right up my alley as a social work clinician who has always worked with people's stories to help them move along in their journey.
Carole, what kind of lentil soup did you make? I have lots of lentils here and need to put them to some use. I bet your young relatives enjoyed their meal out with you.
Somehow, I suspect we will soonbe hearing from a pita-making Nancy! Can't imagine it is much different from making naan.
Lovely, if sad references to Apple and Michelle. They've been gone way too long already!
. I always thought of Michelle as being the "salt of the earth", and Apple "the spice"! We were lucky to "know" them.....Tomorrow DH is doing his prep fast for his colonoscopy Monday. I insisted he have some cheese and crackers before he went to bed since I know he will feel like he's starving in the AM. Have the jello made, need to get some juice....have the bouillion at the ready. I get to do this on Tuesday for a Wed. appt. We couldn't do it on the same day since we needed a driver and our neighbors will be away. So...maybe some enforced weight loss this week since we will be in odd eating form from Sun thru Wed.
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Made some tandoori chicken, lentils and rice last night for dinner. Cold grilling weather, but the chicken tastes so much better when fire is involved. I have been making pita breads for years. I make two different recipes. For the thin style that puffs I use this recipe which I have tweaked over the years: http://www.pepperplate.com/sharedrecipe.aspx?id=e3...
I very often use Atta flour which is a very finely ground Indian wheat flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is a close substitute, but regular whole wheat works well too. The trick is to knead the bread until it is very soft and doesn't tear at all.
For the thicker pita that you roll around sandwich fillings, I made this. http://www.pepperplate.com/sharedrecipe.aspx?id=28...
Both are very reliable recipes.
My laptop is back from the mothership with a new logic board. Need to re-organize my desk, re-route some cords, and get to work!
*susan*
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So Susan, do you also make naan? And is making that very different from making pita? Glad to hear you are back in business!
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I think pita is SO much easier than making naan. The amount of stretch is not as important, and the dough is far more forgiving. I used to make naan until Costco started selling some really excellent naan bread. We stuff it in the freezer and grill it when we are ready to eat some. Simplifies my Indian dinners so I can make a chutney or some other pickle factor. Though lately, I have been too lazy to do even that. I do need to make some date-tamarind chutney though. Tons of samosa meat in the freezer and no one will eat it without the date-tamarind chutney. Ungrateful people! [ :-) ]
*susan*
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I'm anxious to try making the pita. I usually buy it in quantities when I go to the global market. They sell some freshly made varieties so I usually stock up and freeze. But last night, i used the last of it (or rather will with lunch) for the gyros. So a perfect opportunity. Thanks for the recipe Susan!
Lacey -- good to know there are perfect strangers looking out for you lol!
Tonight is chicken cacciatore. Been having that craving for a little bit. It's a lovely day here in the 60's but soon to be high in the 30's. Brrrr! I'm not ready! I'll be looking at lentil soup myself!
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Hahaha, Nance! The real story is that when the waitress heard I was allergic to mangoes and cashews, (after she asked) she became deleriously excited because she has that same allergy. I think there was a total boundary loss going on, thus the extreme care taking. LOL I really did feel like We were auditioning for SNL.
Am totally mired in filling out medical forms....the one for the colonoscopy on Wed, and another long family history form for my genetic counseling session in a few weeks. Sadly, I do not know a lot of my mother's family members' medical conditions and not even many specifics about the ones who had bc. That generation in my family didn't share much....especially with the neice who chose grad school in New England....and stayed! Sort of like being a traitor to Philly Italian-Americans. Am about to call my sister (another traitor, but who was much closer to our mother and one of our many, many cousins) who probably has some data for me. We'll see. Fingers crossed!
For dinner, I will be preparing some more bouillion and jello for DH and in "relative" solidarity, I will have some too, along with a nice pan of sauteed kale/onions/peppers/and onions just for me! Not a bad idea after all of our meals out!
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I am not ready for cold weather either. Most of the houseplants at least the big ones are inside. Weather forecast has been bandying about the "s" word for next weekend. It's 76 degrees here today. We might have "s" but don't think it could possibly stick but maybe after most of a week of cold temps.
Carole - I lived in Hawaii from 1961-1963. We moved there when I started 4th grade. Quite an experience. Not sure how my mom was persuaded to go as I remember there was a chance instead we would move to Los Angeles. We had plenty of experiences, saw every boat, submarine, even aircraft carrier that was open for tours back then. Don't remember beach time much but seem to remember my DF working most Sat. at least 1/2 day. That plus the fact my DM couldn't swim might have been why. Hawaii was just coming into boom time. I have only one bad memory - Christmas must have been 1961 air raid siren blared. No they hit the wrong button - it was a tidal wave warning. We had to drive up into the mountains and wait several hours.
Waiting just a bit to put a pork loin roast in the oven. Hopefully my potatoes are not too far gone. But plenty of onions, carrots and celery. I bought 15 bean soup mix so I think some leftover pork loin will go real well in that. Last night we had soupy taco mix over leftover cornbread.
Thanks Susan for the Pita recipes.
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making an old family favorite: Hot Dish
This is real easy to make its just lb. ground beef, jar of spag. sauce, box of pasta. Cook & drain ground beef, cook pasta until done and drain. Combine cooked ground beef, pasta and spag. sauce in one pan.
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I watched a guest chef on a Julia Child show make pita. I intended to give it a try but never did.
Lacey, I guess I didn't know there are different kinds of lentil soup. The one I made has lots of finely diced veggies (onion, carrot, celery), a small can of diced tomatoes, a lb of brown lentils, and two thick-cut bacon strips cut into smallish pieces. I rendered the fat in the bacon and removed the bacon. Sautéed the veggies in the fat (maybe 2 tsps.) and about 2 tsps. of EVOO. Added two bay leaves. Added the tomatoes and lentils, 3 cups of home-made veg. stock, 3 cups of water, the cooked bacon pieces, s & p and simmered it until the lentils were cooked. DH is warming up a bowl in the microwave as I type!
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My very favorite lentil soup uses red lentils and is a very common soup in Turkey and the Middle East. I have a really "vague" recipe given to me by a Turkish friend but I have not had the time to turn into something reproducible. As you can imagine given the area of the world, there is no pork in this recipe at all. In fact, it is generally vegetarian [actually vegan.] Lacey, nice version can be found at Pasha in Arlington Center [with loads of parking in the back.]
Tonight the turkey met the end of its lifespan. Last night I threw the carcass into a dutch oven with some water and baked overnight. For dinner, I made the stock, leftover meat, and lots of vegetables into a stew served over some leftover rice. It wasn't bad at all. Sunday night is always a lighter meal since our Sunday "brunch" is rather robust. Consequently, there is plenty leftover.
*susan*
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The pork loin roast was very good. Had a packet of Good Seasons Italian dressing dry, extra cumin and leaf oregano. Cut it into thickish slabs and laid them over some celery stalks. Baked it 350 for about 45 minutes (almost 3.5# roast). Then added red pepper, potatoes, onion and carrots seasoned with reserved dressing mix and baked about 45 min more. Froze 2 slabs of pork. Reserved one for dinner tomorrow night with the vegies and one to go in the 15 bean soup mix with the remains of the soupy taco meat. I'm hoping we get turkey somethings on sale this week at our grocer. Usually I get the shopper with the print ad on Sundays as a "preview" but no show yet.
Gosh your making me hungry for pitas. Susan I looked on Amazon at Atta flour. Any particular brand you would recommend? Not sure where I would get it around here. But I for sure have whole wheat flour. Maybe a quick trip to the grocer b4 polar vortex (haha) hits on Tuesday.
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If anyone knows a US Marine, wish them a happy birthday tomorrow. I guarantee it will bring a smile. All marines have two birthdays; their own and November 10..the US Marine Corps birthday.
My dad was, twice, the oldest marine present at the birthday ceremony held in Phoenix.
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Never knew that Eric. Thanks for sharing! I must send my brother that greeting!
This is the first I have heard of atta flour.....always something to learn here.
Was just playing around with my Ipad and disovered that I can actually post photos from my photo stream. Oh dear...you may really be in for it! LOL
A week late....here are my little grands in their pirate and piratess Halloween outfits. She wore that hat everywhere! Such a funny bunny two year old! Next is her first school photo...little miss school.
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Oh, and Carole, thanks so much for your lentil soup recipe!
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probably the rest of last night's dinner and a salad!
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Luv - I liked your idea for cooking the pork loin, and three separate meals. The latest prediction shows possibility of several hours at or below 32 degrees in Houston later this week - so I know you will be COLD.
Lacey - adorable grands.
Eric - I sent my nephew Marine Corps B-day wishes. I did not know this before.
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Lacey, what cuties!
Carole, one of the things I love at the global food market is looking at all the different colors of lentils! And speaking of Apple, on my next trip, I plan to pick up a bottle of pomegranate molasses. She loved the stuff but I have yet to try it.
It's 70 here today, the last nice day before the arctic blast -- into the teens this week, yike! They're even saying the "s" word :-( I'm taking advantage of the warm weather by grilling a tri tip that I've dry rubbed. DH wants a plain old baked potato and we'll have a caesar salad. I'm getting ready to make the garlic croutons now.
Even though I'm not cooking on Thanksgiving day itself, I've started to plan the menu. It will only be four of us but that won't stop me from cooking to excess (love those leftovers!). In addition to the usual suspects like dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc, I'll make baked corn out of the stuff I froze this summer and individual savory sweet potato souffles. Individual only because they cook more quickly than one large one and I can throw them in at the last minute while the turkey is resting. What a carb fest! I came across a recipe for hushpuppies made with leftover stuffing. Since I make a cornbread type dressing, seems like it would be a good idea. We'll see. I'm not that big of a stuffing/dressing person but I like hushpuppies occasionally.
I see that TJ's fearless flyer is advertising the giant brussels sprout stalk again. Now I'll have to work in a trip there AND Costco before the holiday.
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Tonight I spatch-cocked a chicken. It is roasting in the oven. I had planned to try dry-brining but didn't plan far enough ahead. I researched dry brining and read assurances that it doesn't make the meat taste salty. The recommended amt. of salt varied from 1/2 tsp. per lb. to 1 tsp. per lb. Any recommendations?
For sides tonight we'll have left-over peeled baked sweet potatoes, cut in half and browned in small amt. of butter to form a crusty exterior, and steamed broccoli florets. That's my favorite way to eat baked sweet potatoes. My dad used to eat them for breakfast.
Susan and anyone else, I'm looking for a good Middle Eastern food cookbook. Preferably one with some history and discussion of ingredients. Kind of an introduction to traditional dishes. I realize that "Middle Eastern" encompasses different countries and regions.
Fresh Market sells the French lentils but I didn't want to make a special trip there when Winn-Dixie is 5 min. away.
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Carole, my instructions for turkey call for the salt to look like a light snowfall. I suppose"light" is subject to interpretation, but that's what I envision as I'm sprinkling. I hope you like it. Let us know. I love baked sweet potatoes, I think I'll try browning them as you describe, sounds delish. Dh is not a big sweet potato fan, but I bet he'll like those.
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I have a french fry cutter...mom gave it to me...and I'll make french fries from sweet potatoes. A spray of olive oil on a pizza pan, a single layer of "fries" well spread out on the pizza pan and enough time in a hot oven to get them crispy.
The only middle eastern cookbook I have is "The Food and Cooking off the Middle East". ISBN 978-4351-4536-8. From what I can tell it is published for Barns & Noble by Anness Publishing.
The first 40 or so pages are the introduction with information on cooking equipment, cooking techniques and customs surrounding the eating of meals. As for the cookbook, my impression is that this is kind of like a kid's cookbook....lots of pictures and lots of preparation notes....but for me that's what I need.
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I'm impressed with the spatchcocking, Carole! I have yet to venture there, but I assume it does roast better in that shape....yes?
Today DH underwent that nasty screening test, and I promised him a nice dinner since it is a rare (actually unheard of!) thing for him to live on liquids for 24 hours.
I was running around doing a lot of errands while he was in the hospital from early morning, (Boy! Am I glad I am not an early morning person ...hardly any stores were open before 9AM defeating my plan to get a lot done in that time frame), then taxied him home, getting him lunch and settling him in so he could sleep off the "loopy".... then more errands after gym andstretching class. So I had to be creative with "nice dinner". Decided we'd have a summer throwback...made wonderful BLTs on big slices of artisan bread from TJ's, and had a big bowl of newly made kale soup. We were both very happy with the menu! I wanted to fill my tummy well since I start the liquid prep tomorrow. Sadly, Wednesday is the day my neighbor has a tea and food collection event for a Haitian church in Boston. It is one of those times when I get to catch up with lots of folks in town who I only see a couple times a year. After seeing how loopy and tired DH was for a few hours today, I realize that I will not be going anywhere to socialize tomorrow afternoon....but who knows.....:)
Eric, my DB was very happy to receive the birthday greeting. Thanks again!
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I don't have a Middle Eastern cookbook per se, but have one from my DDIL, Persian Cooking for a Healthy Kitchen, by Najmieh Batmanglij. It's also full of pictures that makes it easy to think about making the dishes......they use lots of interesting herbs as well as saffron, pomegranate and rose water for ingredients. Their kebabs are rather similar to those of my Syrian and lebanese neighbors.
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Lacey they are adorable! So cute.
My D H finished his 12 hour days (the outage-refueling). Then was hit with a presentation he has to do for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission starting tomorrow in DC. So he worked all weekend to get ready came home and went to ed directly after supper. We went out he had his BLT and I ate a strawberries and cream crunchy french toast. I just felt like it. It had 3 whole slices of French toast. LOL. I assumed it meant 3 half sliced. LOL I ate 2. It was so good. Not old for me but good. And besides strawberries are fruit! LOL. Ok. I'm cheating, not delusional! LOL
Much love
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Made blueberry pancakes and bacon
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Lacey, my chicken wasn't a success. It hadn't thawed completely and didn't reach temperature in an hour in a hot oven.. It was time to eat so I microwaved half of it, which made it rather rubbery. At least the sweet potatoes were good, and the broccoli was healthy.
Tonight I won't be eating much because I had a heavy lunch today following a round of golf. Confession: I ate dessert, a piece of pecan pie. I'm thawing some home-made spaghetti sauce and will cook some linguine for dh and make him and possibly myself a salad with spinach as the greens. He's always happy with pasta.
I discovered the reason that the saffron I ordered never arrived is that it probably did arrive in a box with the freezer cartons I'd ordered and I threw the box away. Since the seller for the saffron was different from the seller for the freezer cartons, I assumed the saffron would arrive separately. Boo hoo. Now I guess I'll look at Fresh Market, which has a big spice and dried herbs selection.
Eric, your book sounds like what I'm looking for. I'll see if I can find a used copy. Lacey, your book title is so interesting. The combination of words "cooking for a healthy kitchen" is unusual. "Healthy" seems like an odd modifier for "kitchen." I ordered a book from Amazon that sounds very informative. It's an updated version of a cookbook published in 1972. I don't remember the title but I think it has "Lemons" in it. The description sold me on buying the book.
Moon, I heard on the weather news that WI got a lot of snow. So did the area in MN where we go for the summer. Some of the people we know up (including two women) are deer hunting now. When someone kills a deer, that person puts a picture of the dead animal on Facebook!
Nance, did you make pitas? I've never liked pitas very much but I've only had bought ones which are rather tasteless envelopes for fillings. I put white flour tortillas in the same category. I do like the corn tortillas and imagine that the home-made ones are really good.
Lacey, good luck with your procedure.
Eric, that French fry cutter sounds handy. I don't remember seeing one of those.
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Had coffee and milk for breakfast then met a new friend who I spotted at the farmers market playing fiddle when I didn't know her. Asked her to come over at 1 and we played. I still stink. I ate all the cheese and crackers that I made for her as she is lactose intolerant. We both have Moms who grew up in Appalachia, mine in KY, hers in Carolina. It was fun. For dinner the rest of the snacks I made. And beer. I know, I'm bad, but I have two days off and don't have to work tomorrow It would be great to play for tons or organic food at the market instead of cheezits and free tickets
Living scary as I was asked if I wanted this interim job permanently and I said no, I only want to work 4 days a week. Asked if I wanted that with a job there. Said no unless I have a month off in the Winter and a month off in the summer. Haha!. So idiot me will be out of a job mid-Dec . I am trying to juggle possible job offers and work for the old company as needed, or not, with going to Costa Rica for a month.
Love all your stories. I follow the site when I have time and think of you always. xo Having trouble with AIs
Going to make tomato bulgur carrot celery onion soup.
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Bedo, so weird, I was going to ask about you today. So good to hear from you! Sorry about the AIs, I feel your pain. Please report back on Costa Rica if you go.
Carole, I'm sorry about the chicken not turning out, I hope you don't give up on it. I haven't made pitas yet and probably won't until I make gyros again.
Lacey, are you using suprep or another product? If it's suprep, I'd like to know how you fared with it (not detailed of course lol.)
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