So...whats for dinner?

Leftover Hot Dish from last night.

Need to grocery-shop, so will either pick up a rotisserie chicken, salmon or pork chops. Probably bake a sweet potato and saute some kale (or make a pot of caldo gallego if I have enough chicken stock).

Eric - I went to a Silver Sneakers exercise class today for an hour and then walked a 20 minute mile on the tread mill. You are much faster than I am. But I undid it all with dinner.

So here's the pasta & turnips. I used more butter & less oil and added all of it at the saute step. I cut the turnips in ribbon spirals and I added the garlic & red pepper flakes while simmering/sauteing the turnips. I used 1/2 a bag spinach instead of kale. Would have been better with the whole bag. To top it off I used Farfalle pasta because that's what I had, but I think orecchiette might be better. Next time I'll add some onion. Another recipe called for anchovies, but: a) I didn't have any, and b) I don't care for them. And April is right, I could easily add cooked chicken breast. (Oh yes, and in my mind I see April carefully hand making all those "little ears".

Orecchiette with Caramelized Turnips, Tuscan Kale, and Cracked Pepper from 'The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook'

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 pound orecchiette
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 pound Tuscan kale, stems and center ribs removed, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus extra for garnish

Directions

1. Bring 6 quarts salted water to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving 3/4 cup of the pasta water. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the turnips and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until the turnips are tender and golden, about 6 minutes.
3. Add the kale and cook, stirring often, until the kale is very tender, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring often, 1 minute. Add the reserved pasta water as needed and season with cracked pepper to taste. Add the butter and stir gently until melted.
4. Add the pasta to the kale mixture and toss with tongs until the pasta is well coated. Stir in the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Season with salt and additional cracked pepper to taste.
5. Divide the pasta into warm bowls, sprinkle with additional cheese, if desired, and serve.

Freya, I pretty much only make brown rices. In mine (Instant Pot}, I like the formula of 1 cup rice to 1 1/3 cups liquid. High pressure for 16 minutes with a full natural release. It produces a chewy grain with nutty flavor. White rice is a ratio of 1:1.5, high for 8 minutes.

So, we had white rice 3-4 times a week prior to dx...now maybe once a week or 2...but, have always used this process.  Bring 2 cups water to a boil, add 1.5 cups rice, stir and turn burner to low- cook for 25 minutes...should be nice and fluffy. I usually leave pot on burner after turning it off so rice continues to stay warm prior to plating. Never thought of cooking it in a pressure cooker.  Think that might not be "Southern".  We always cook red rice in a rice cooker.  That is VERY southern 

Our house had a built-in Kitchen Aid when we moved in; not sure how old it was then, but it broke down after 4 years. Bought a GE that broke down w/in a couple of years; its free replacement just made it past warranty, then a Maytag (wanted a Bosch but it wouldn’t fit under the counter due to the previous owners putting the water inlet in the floor rather than on the wall). 6 years ago I bought a Miele, and I love it.

Dinner tonight was from the Whole Foods hot bar: jerk chicken and balsamic-roasted veggies (summer squashes, peppers, onions, mushrooms). Cherry pie for dessert. (Achatz, baked in MI by the family of the chef-owner of Alinea).

auntienance,, I too had the samsung applicances. They came with the house. One by one, except the fridge have broken down. As a retiree from Whirlpool Corp, I have all kitchenaid in my home for now. I get a deep discount. My sister has a bosch dishwasher. She loves it. I was so disappointed with the longevity of the Samsung appliances.

Dinner last night was chicken cutlets, with a mushroom gravy. Jasmine rice and roasted broccoli.

Sandy, I love my gas range too. When we bought this house it had an old electric cooker and a wood stove. The original plan was to live with things for a year to get a feel for what we wanted. I only lasted 3 months before gutting the whole kitchen and starting from scratch.

Val, I have always wanted a kitchen stand mixer. They are so expensive here though, and my old mixer just wont die.

Crossed wires tonight—wanted to make cast iron pan steak (got a gorgeous grass-fed ribeye big enough to feed 3) and called Bob to find out if & when he was coming home. Got his voicemail, so I made myself some instant udon. Just as I finished, he walked in the door. He didn’t hear my call…or 8 others…because his ringer was off. (The LifeProof case he put on his iPhone makes turning the ringer on or off exactly the opposite of how you do it without the case). He didn’t want to wait the 90 minutes it’d take to get the pan up to 500F in the oven, so I’ll either make it tomorrow for Gordy & me (he’ll be working late so he can make the Super Bowl party) or freeze it.

It’s Restaurant Week, and GrubHub is actually featuring a bunch of those eateries. Unfortunately, only one delivers to my neighborhood—so we ordered from Nepal House for Nepali and Indian food (including a goat stew, “North Frontier” tandoori meat assortment, samosas, saag paneer, saffron rice and naan). Should be here a little more than 20 min. from now. Will report back.

Last night was appetizer night for supper.

We ordered a whole pig from a friend who farms. It is grain feed and no antibiotics. When I was first diagnosed, these friends would bring this meat to us. Yes, some friends brought coked casseroles but not many bring meat they raised!

Coach Vicky

My SILS are here for the annual race and we are having some spinach artichoke dip/crackers and a coctail, then grilling ribeyes tonight and having a field greens salad with pecans, goat cheese, red pear and poppy seed dressing, steamed green beans with dill, and baked sweet potatoes. We are finishing the key lime pie we started in on last night along with some fresh strawberries and extra whipped cream. It was a beautiful day today, we went downtown and had a nice lunch by the water - I had fried green tomatoes with lump crab and remoulade sauce and a glass of champagne!

I love the champagne a lunch meals too, but I always have to take a nap later.

Costco has a reasonably decent Boston Clam Chowder, but it's two containers so it's way too much for one. I took one of the cartons to a friend's house this afternoon. He is recuperating from lung cancer & now has prostate cancer. But he sure does make a mean Bloody Mary. I'm not sure when I have been this tipsy. I have plans for dinner and a performance of Time for Three tonight. Even though I have been pounding carbs for two hours, I expect if drove, our path would not be a straight line, so I had to call my friend to drive. I

Sharon is going to be busy this coming week, so I'm working on stuff that can be cooked with near zero effort or is better as a left over.

Tonight I made the Jasmine rice & chicken salad and tomorrow I'm going to make a cream of potato soup. A pot roast (slow cooker) and some marinated chicken (start marinating it the night before and quickly cook it on the grill) will round it out for meals next week.

I'm also going to feed my sourdough starter and make some bread tomorrow--unless I get busy.

I did more house cleaning at mom's house. Sometimes the memories are kind of overwhelming....

And darn Special, that didn't use to be true. Sigh.

Chicken strips with dipping sauces and cheese dip for Bavarian pretzels and nachos. But we don't watch the game (hate football). We just like the food lol!