Tomato closeup

Can I just say, there is NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING, good about a store-bought tomato when you compare them to homegrown.

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Tomato picture 1

We had about 8 bowlfuls like this of tomatoes this year before we got tired of picking them ... I know , I know .. shame shame 

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tomato

Tomatos fresh from the garden

As the 'Aught-Six' Zucchini Invasion wound down we find ourselves caught up in a Tomato infestation of massive proportions. Going out into the garden we find it overgrown with those luscious red globules.

I admit that early on in the season I was slack about pulling the suckers off the tomato plants. I pretty much just planted them, freshened the compost and then watered them on occasion. Our dear neighbor one day asked if I'd like to borrow some of her 'tomato food' to sprinkle on the plants. I told her no, I was trying to just let them grow , no need to egg them on.

This weekend I went out to the garden and found it overgrown with Tomato vines everywhere. It looked like a jungle out there. The poor basil plants I have put in the same bed were being crowded out, luckily they were planted towards the edge of the bed and get some late afternoon sun.

The names of the bigger tomatoes escape me now, but the grape-tomatoes I planted never bushed and instead went straight to vine and spread all through the interior of the patch. I went out there and could just reach in and pull handfuls of sweet little tomatoes, bright red and bursting with goodness. I stood out there and ate them by the handful, enjoying the warm liquid as I popped each one in my mouth.

Looking out to the garden you can see patches of red everywhere. I picked a large metal bowl full of tomatoes yesterday afternoon. Some were on top, some on the outer edges of the wilderness and some, I had to get down on my knees and carefully stretch out to just barely reach some underneath and towards the center of the garden.

Cub and I sat on the steps going into the house , in the shade and pulled off the stems and tossed them into the grass. I pulled one of the baseball sized fruits out of the bowl and bit into it. The sun-warmed innards of the tomato dripping down my chin, I offered Cub a bite. He shook his head and proclaimed 'no way!' in a way only 5 year olds can. He was willing to plant and to weed, and to pick, but the only way he was going to eat one, was cooked down in a sauce over some linguini or penne pasta.

Technorati Tags: garden, grape-tomato, pasta, sun, tomato, zucchini

Fried Tilapia

Last night I had a taste for a plate of pan-fried flounder. You know the type, thin, breaded, crispy with lots of remoulade on top. hmmm just typing this makes my mouth water.

But, the fish monger at Publix didn't have anygood looking flounder. So I settled instead for some Tilapia. Which is good in its own right for sure.

I ended up pan frying it also, lightly breaded in some canola oil/butter. It's an easy and quick fry. I cracked a couple of eggs in a shallow bowl, poured a bit of milk in there and whisked it together. Took another shallow bowl and filled it with homemade bread crumbs some spices/herbs out of the cabinet.

• 2 cups of bread crumbs
• 2 tblsp of Italian herbs mix
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tblsp garlic powder
• 1 tblsp onion powder

Sprinkled some ground pepper on the fish, dipped it in the egg mix, then coated it in the bread and slid it gently into the pan of hot oil. Let it stay for about two minutes and then flipped it. Let it stay until brown and then off to a rack on some papertowels to wick away any oil waiting on the surface.

Cub really enjoyed the fish and ate a filet and half himself, Thumper preferred the rice. Along with this we also had a nice fresh garden salad and some really yummy baked Christmas rice.

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Danish Economy

My buddy Dave sent me this link to a discussion on the Danish Economy after the Muslim 'boycott' due to the comics that were published in the newspapers.

The net effect on the Danish economy by the Muslim boycott of products from
Denmark: The Post-Postmodernist

Let me just add to this by saying ...


So let me just encourage you all to stop at the local market tonight
and pick up a 6 pack of Tuborg or Carlsberg beer, maybe some Danish
Havarti or Blue cheese, a block of Lurpak butter, and some "Den Gamle
Fabrik" Raspberry preserves, stop in the bakery and get a good loaf of
crusty multigrain bread and have a nice meal.

Often in the mornings (especially on the weekends) the Danes will have
hard rolls or huge slabs of crusty bread, slathered with butter and
then you put a slice of cheese or some preserves on top (or my
favorite way ... BOTH). Drink some nice dark coffee or tea or if it's brunch .. The beer!

wow .. I am salivating .. I think I am most surely going to stop at
Publix on the way home for some fixin's.

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Denmark, Danish, Carlsberg, Tuborg, beer, cheese, Havarti, Lurpak, butter

Saturday Morning Biscuits

Ah! The weekend, and with it comes more opportunities to cook for my family. I try at least one morning during the weekend to make breakfast.

This morning it was biscuits.

Now biscuits are a southern tradition. They are the bread of the south no doubt about it. Every restaurant you go to the main breakfast always ALWAYS comes with biscuits. I love biscuits the savory softness of the dough just makes a day perfect.

My favorite topping for a biscuit? Strawberry Rhubarb preserves , especially this Danish brand.

Biscuit ingredients are simple and putting them together is easy also. For a long time I treated the dough like I would bread dough, and lemme tell you that's wrong.

Instead treat your dough like you would with pie crust. The key is to not work your dough too much.

I mix the dry ingredients with the butter, make sure the butter is incorporated. Only after the mix looks crumbly (like that very top layer of sand down right where the tide has retreated from) do I add the milk.

I give the mixture a few quick stirs to combine it all and then I either pour it out onto my cutting board and pile it all up and press it together (no kneading! Just compression) or I pour it all into a resealable plastic bag squeeze it all down together and let it sit in the fridge for a bit. What this process does is let all the flour hydrate with the milk and what ever tiny little bit of butter has melted.

Give it all about 10 minutes to rest (clean your mixing utensils at this point) and then press it out on the cutting board to the appropriate thickness. I like thick biscuits so I go about an inch thick. Now cut it into rounds and bake.

My favorite biscuit cutter is a mushroom can that I salvaged one night. I cut both ends off (I have one of those can openers that doesn't leave an edge) and it cuts the perfect size biscuit. You know when you cut biscuits, you push straight down no twisting right? When I put the biscuits on the baking sheet I crowd them all together one right up next to each other it helps them rise up higher.

Ingredients -

• 2 cups sifted AP flour


• 1/2 stick butter (or other shortening)


• 1 tablespoon Baking Powder


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 3/4 cup milk (cream .. 2%, whatever)

Preheat oven to 450, bake for 10-12 minutes.

Oh! A little trick on the butter .. The night before, put the butter in the freezer for about 10 minutes and then coarsely grate it. Leave it in the freezer until you are ready to make biscuits.

This helps incorporate the dough much quicker and helps create layers in your biscuit.

Technorati Tags: baking, biscuit, biscuits, bread, breakfast, butter, recipe, southern

Tomato-Meat Sauce

This is one of those tomato sauces that is labor intensive but in the end is worth the time. You'll spend an hour and a half doing nothing but working on the sauce. Once you get to the point of completion you can let it simmer while you get the rest of the dinner prepared.

This turns into a thick meaty sauce, full of flavor and goes great over fettucini, shells, or as a base for a lasagna.

• 1 lb meat (bison, turkey, sausage .. whatever)


• 1 #16 can Peeled Whole Tomatoes


• 1 onion chopped


• 4 garlic cloves


• 2 cups beef broth (you can substitute 1 cup of wine for 1 cup of the broth)


• seasoning to your liking


• Extra Virgin Olive Oil


• Canola Oil

Take your cast iron skillet and put it on the burner on medium heat. Let that skillet do what it's supposed to and absorb the heat.

Meanwhile, coarsely chop the onion and smash the garlic. When the skillet is ready pour a tablespoon of Canola oil in and add the onion. Hold off on the garlic, we don't want that to burn. Stir the onions a few times get them coated in oil. Then just let them go, let them simmer and brown, you want to let them get dark and sweet.

The aroma will queue you to when its done. When your mouth starts watering uncontrollably you'll know the onions are close. At that point add your garlic and add half a cup of broth. Let the broth reduce until its almost gone. Now remove that mixture to a bowl.

Now add the meat, brown it down until its done. Add a half cup of broth and again let it simmer down until its almost gone.

While the meat is browning open the can of tomatoes and drain it. Make sure you save the liquid. Take the drained tomatoes and de-seed them, break them up and get rid of any ugly chunks.

Pull the meat out of pan and de-glaze it with a half cup of broth, add the tomatoes and let them simmer down until they are dark and full of flavor. This is a good spot to add more nutrition, maybe a cup of spinach or grated zucchini. Pull it off the heat and get your handy stick blender out and grind it all down to a nice sauce.

Put it back on the heat and put back in the meat and onions. Pour in the drained tomato liquid and the rest of the broth. Let it all heat up and start bubbling at this point the sauce is ready for use, but can by all means simmer longer until you are ready to go.


Dave

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Zucchini-banana bread

This makes two loaves or however many cupcakes you can fit (haven't actually tried that). Let's say maybe 2 dozen?

The recipe makes a nice dense loaf very moist and it will stay that way, due to the honey in the mix which attracts moisture from the air.

You can of course adjust the spices to your own tastes, the cardamom is just what I had in the cabinet, nutmeg is alway respectable. I love the flavor of cardamom sometimes I drop a pod into my pot of coffee for that extra pop of flavor.

3 cups of AP Flour
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup honey
4 eggs
2 large banana
2 cup grated zucchini
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom


Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Lube your loaf pans.

Cream the butter, add the sugar and the honey slowly until its nice a incorporated.
Add the banana, and then the eggs one at a time until everything is mixed up.

Sift the flour, soda, salt and spices together, fold into the liquid mix.
When its starting to look like a batter then fold in the zucchini and pour into two well greased loaf pans.

Bake for about an hour, until the tops look nice and brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool for bit, then pull the loaves out of the pans and onto a cutting board. I usually put a paper towel underneath to keep them from sticking.

Once they are cool go ahead and wrap one in tinfoil and hide it in the back of the freezer so on Sunday you can pull some out for brunch. Better yet, walk next door and give it to your neighbor. You do know them don't you? If not, what's a better icebreaker than some homemade goodies.

Slice, note the warmth, and the smell of the cake, look at the texture thick dense full of expected flavor. Do you see banana chunks? Note that the zucchini completely disappears.

Can you pick out the spices? No? Then you didn't put in enough. Remember the kids are going to eat it, teach them to enjoy the spice and not accept the bland whitebread that pop culture pushes at them.

Ready for that first bite? It'll never taste as good as this first piece, you can try toasting it and it will be respectable (especially with a slather of soft lucious butter) but nothing like this piece.

This is your piece, the cooks piece.

Do you have big cold glass of milk ready?

enjoy!

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Spoils from the Garden Part Deux

The other part of the meal was the Chicken Scallopini. Again, another dish with an ingredient from the garden. This one was easy and very delicious, Cub ate almost 2 medallions all by himself. This is a great dish with Baked Brown Rice, or Pasta.

I took some thin-cut chicken cutlets and pounded them a bit flatter. Put some fresh ground black pepper on the

cutlet. Then I layered a slice of Proscuitto (you could use a nice thin sliced Hickory smoked ham), a few leaves of garden Sage, another layer of the ham, more pepper and the last layer of chicken. I stuck them together with toothpicks and cut them into medallions.

During the layering process I had the frying pan heating over medium heat. Once the medallions are all prepared I put a bit of Olive Oil and a pat of butter in the pan. When the butter is foamy its time for the medallions to get in the pan. Let them get all golden brown on one side, then flip 'em.

Once You remove the medallions you aren't done yet, it's time to make the sauce. I turn the heat up a bit, and add a 1/2 cup of ... whatever wine you are drinking for dinner. 'Cause this whole thing about white wine with fish, and red wine with beef is for the birds. Whatever kind of wine you like, is the kind of wine you should use.

Anyway, back to the sauce. Add the wine, and deglaze the pan, add a pat of butter and some seasonings to taste. Let it reduce for a minute or so and sauce the food.

Voila! Enjoy

Tags:
recipe, cooking, how-to, proscuitto, sage, chicken

Spoils from the garden

Last night we had our first spoils from this years garden.

We had some pesto, made with basil from our prolific bushes and some Chicken Scaloppini with Sage from our lone sage plant.

I love the smell of fresh Pesto .. don't you? To me it fills the dinner plate with that deep rich scent of green. It makes the tummy grumble and ask for "more NOW!". I always cheat and put a bit on some bread as I am finishing up the meal, just to quiet that inner daemon that makes me want to keep it all to myself.

The Pesto was so easy and so fresh that I could probably have just had pasta and pesto if the Scaloppini didn't smell so good.

To make the pesto is easy, everyone knows how to do that right?

FRESH PESTO -

• 2 big handfuls of Basil (ours are Sweet and Genovese)


• 1/2 cup olive oil


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• Pepper to taste


• 1/4 cup nuts (I use roasted sunflowers this time)

Wash the freshly picked Basil and lightly shake the water off (its ok for them to have a bit of moisture).
Pull out the stems and put them in your compost bucket.
Stuff them in your food processor and pulse until ground.
Add your salt and pepper, begin to pulse again and gently pour in your Olive Oil.
Finally add your nuts and pulse once or twice to break them up (don't grind the nut to a paste)

Voila! Now open the top of your machine. Smells good doesn't it?

Many people add Parmesian or Romano cheese to their pesto, I prefer to add the cheese at the plate.
The pesto mixes better without the cheese and helps coat all the pasta.

When I drain the pasta, I always pour a bit of Olive Oil over the top to help stop sticking. To me, this also helps add a 'base' flavor for the pasta, the oil and the salt. (Salt ... from the water, you do add enough salt right? Add salt to the water, and you won't have to add as much to the final meal.)

Cub loved it so much he had second helpings of the pasta. And even Thumper ate some (one strand at a time).

Eggs once again

Since we are on an egg theme (hey, it's springtime). Here we go with another egg story.

As I have mentioned earlier Cub has been intrigued by the idea of Sunny-Side up eggs.
He tried some at the Waffle House, but he wasn't too excited about it.

I spoke with the guys at work about their cooking theories on eggs. I read a bit online about cooking eggs and Saturday night decided to try cooking my first Sunny-Side Up egg.

I put my 'egg pan' on the burner, on about a 4. Just let it heat up while I got the rest of dinner ready. I put some grits in the microwave, pulled out the toaster. Pulled a few eggs out of the refrigerator.

Then it was time for the eggs. I put a small pat of butter in the bottom of the pan, Just for flavoring not for lubrication.

When the eggs started foaming I broke the first egg into a glass and then carefully poured it into a pan. Tilted the pan about a bit until the egg started to set. Then did the same with another egg. Once they looked a bit set I took 1/2 a shot glass of water, poured it in, and lidded the pan. I left it like that for a few minutes and then (with much trepidation) I pulled the cover.

There the eggs were, staring back at me, we eyed each other for a few seconds and then I announced "It's time to eat boy!"

Cub was ready, he had buttered toast, a pile of cheese grits, and an empty space for an egg.

I slid the egg out of the pan and onto his plate.

He took a bite, I took a bite, we both chewed slowly. I glanced over at the boy and he gave me a thumbs up.

Woo! Victory!

Dave ...

speaking of Eggs

I learned how to make quiche this weekend, its mighty good, and mighty easy. 

We had some steamed broccoli left over in the fridge and guests due to arrive soon. So I perused 'The Internets' compared recipes, and came to the conclusion that I will NEVER buy pre-made quiche again. 

All you need is a standard pie crust (NOT Graham Cracker), some eggs, milk, salt, nutmeg, and your filling of choice. Throw it together and cook in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. VOILA 

Tonight I took the last of the steamed broccoli (it was a BIG head of broccoli) ran it through the food processor. Pulled two eggs and a cup of milk out of the fridge. Grabbed the last few slices of sliced ham lunch meat and diced it. 

Put the chopped broccoli in the bottom of the crust, sprinkled a bit of kosher salt, nutmeg,garlic powder and my favorite addition to eggs Garam Masala. Put the ham next and a handful of shredded cheddar then poured the egg/milk mixture over the top. 

This all went into the oven and baked for about 45 minutes, when it came out it was still a bit jiggly in the middle, but the carryover heat quickly took care of that. 

Thumper was sound asleep, but Cub ate a huge piece and stole my crust. I believe Quiche is a new dinner standard in this house. 


Dave ... 

Sunny-Side Up

There is something about eggs. Most people have very specific ideas on what and how they like their eggs. 

Cub is still trying to figure this out. Because of this he is also very willing to try pretty much any egg you set in front of him. 

This morning Pamela had some errands to run, and for a bribe to get the boys in gear, she promised "Waffle House" for breakfast.  

Of course this is after I am off to work, so I don't get to partake in the experience. Pamela is NOT the person to go to the Waffle House with and decide you want to have an egg Sunny-Side up.  She's one of those people that cook eggs until they weep. She also won't touch grits, she's from the south, and she won't touch grits. I just don't understand. 

So, at lunch when I came home, Cub said he wasn't too impressed with a Sunny-Side up egg. I asked if he had mixed it with the grits, or dipped his toast in the yolk, no to the first, yes to the second. Apparantly instead of grits, his mother ordered Hash-Browns for him. *sigh* 

But he did agree that he would be willing to try them again one day. So i guess for breakfast on Saturday we'll have eggs and grits. With homemade biscuits and some bacon. Woo! I feel the arteries hardening now! hmm, maybe turkey bacon. And only a light bit of butter on the bread. 


Dave ... 

Dinner troubles

Thumper is on his two-year fast. You know the one I am talking about, from 2-4? Where you think all they subside on is air? 

As I was making dinner tonight, he came in the kitchen to investigate. He asked what I was makng and I told him 

"Beans and Rice and Sausage" 
"oh Beans and Rice? My favorite!"
"your favorite?" I asked. 
"My Favorite!" He exclaimed. 

So, I put some in his penguin bowl, put some grapes on the table and some veggies and dip. He took his bowl and proudly went to the table, climbed up in his chair ... and proceded to NOT eat the bean and rice. 

"But Thumper! you said you loved Beans and rice!" 
"uhhhh no, Grapes instead" 

And then he proceeded to eat his fill of grapes. 

*sigh  

If You Are, in fact, the Laziest Parent Evah,

this is the soup recipe for you. I'm ashamed to post it. However, the kids inhale it and there is Actual Food in it and I can make it using only 2% of my brain. How could I not share?

Cook a couple-three chicken breasts however you like to cook them. Me, I dust them with some salt-pepper-garlic-onion-paprika, sear them on each side, and cover them until I no longer fear food poisoning. Cool til you can touch them, and chop 'em up. If you're HORRIBLY lazy, you could sub a bag of pre-cooked pre-chopped chicken bits, but even I have more self respect than that.

Add to: two boxes of chicken broth and a bag of frozen mixed veg. I use the basic carrot-corn-peas combo, but whatever suits you.

Bring to boil. Add somewhere between a half and a whole pound of egg noodles, depending on how noodley your family is and how many uninvited guests have shown up for dinner. Top off with hot tap water until the noodles are well and truly covered, set the timer for whatever the noodle package says (7 minutes, I think).

That's the basic Idiot's Version. But how to make it with More Food in it?
Make your own broth.
Pay more attention to the types of veg.
Add miso.
Use different noodles: spelt, whole wheat, or the new Barilla Plus.
Try seitan or baked tofu diced up instead of the chicken.
Add a handful of kelp flakes, or spinach or kale to wilt in at the end.

Happy Souping!

Blackberry Cobbler

The back fridge apparently is going a bit wonky, so we emptied it out last night. To my surprise I found two bags of blackberries thawed and in the sink when I awoke. So I said to myself.

Hmm... I was going to make Pancakes for breakfast. But instead it shall be Cobbler!

There was much rejoicing and dancing around the kitchen at this point in the game.

So I spent a few minutes perusing the web and realized, cobbler is too darned easy.

I took the blackberries (2 12 oz bags) drained the juice from one, and put them both in a big bowl. I poured 1/2 cup of sugar over the top, 1 tblsp Vanilla and 2 tsp cinnamon. And then gently mixed.

In another bowl, I made a basic dough recipe with 1 1/2 cups AP flour, 1 tblsp baking powder, 1 stick butter and 1 tsp salt. Added 1/2 cup milk, stirred until it was all together in a ball.

Poured the blackberry mix in a round baking dish, and dropped dollops of the dough on top. Maybe in mushed up 1/2 a ping pong ball size. I took 2 tblsp butter, melted it and poured it over the top.

Put it in a 350 degreee oven for 40 minutes and voila!

Things to do different (add more food?) make the dough with some whole wheat flour, add some oatmeal, substitute the sugar for honey, omit the melted butter (gasp! heavens no!)


Dave ...

3 Bowls Oatmeal

One of the presents I got for Christmas (ok, a gift to myself) was 3 Bowls : Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery.

It's full of great recipes and an insightful look at the daily workings of an American Zen Buddhist Monastery. The rituals and practices are thoughtfully written out and explained by the author. The recipes come from the head chef there and are very intimate give great insight. They both weave together a fine tapestry of tastes and flavors that do not leave the tongue or mind empty.

One of our favorite recipes in the book is one of the first ones in the Breakfast section. Oatmeal has been one of my favorite breakfast foods as long as I can remember. It's very versatile and can be a different meal every time depending on your condiments.

Some variations that we use to make it even more food are easy enough to incorporate and add to the meal without changing the structure too much. Substituting the dried fruit with others types is a plus, we always have dates and raisins in our cupboard. And lately I've had bags of dried cherries/cranberries/blueberries in the cupboard (I use those in the Power bars and Rice Krispy treats).

We also substitute Multi-grain Cereal for some (not all) of the Rolled Oats. Interesting about the multi-grain when you look at it up close, you see its mostly Steel Cut Oats with corn meal, wheat germ and something else unidentifiable mixed in.

For toppings we use, of course, milk or cream. We have also added toasted nuts, honey, more dried fruit (so you get two consistency's, one plumped and the other dried). Cinnamon, Fresh Nutmeg and for a really neat taste, add a Cardamom Pod or two during the cooking (make sure to fish them out before serving, OR break them open and just put the seeds in).

This morning we made the recipe with Dried Cranberries and Multi-Grain Substitutions. The boys got heavy cream and brown sugar on top. I just topped it with Milk and a bit of honey.



Here is the recipe from the book.

Oatmeal with Sweet Potato and Apricots

• 2 cups Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats


• 1 Medium Sweet Potato, Peeled and Grated (about 3 cups)


• 4 Dried Apricots, Chopped


• ¾ teaspoon Sea Salt


• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

Bring 5 ½ Cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in the oats, Sweet Potato, Apricots and salt and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the oats are tender and the sweet potato is cooked, about 20 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.