Tag Archives: Cooking

Creative Cooking

Cooking,

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My method of cooking is rather creative, especially when it comes to vegetables. I rarely have a recipe and often don’t know what I will make when I get started. I begin with a few ingredients, generally whatever is ready in the  garden,  and the dish just sort of takes on a life of its own.

That’s what happened with the dish above that I made for lunch recently. I noticed that some turnips were ready for harvest so that started the base for my dish. I washed off the dirt and peeled a turnip then I chopped it into matchsticks and sliced the greens from the top. The matchsticks went into a nonstick skillet with a little butter. When they were partially cooked, I added the greens and sautéed a little  longer. When this was nearly cooked, I added some leftover corn from a cob and diced up a tomato that was laying around. Add salt,  pepper,  and some garlic powder and voila! A feast fit for a king. Or at least someone with a fine appreciation of vegetables.

Zucchini Dish

Creative concoction number two for the week is seen above. The zucchini are finally ripe! Oh happy day! Get out your aforementioned nonstick skillet and melt the butter. No margarine for us. We do often use olive oil instead of butter but the first harvest of vegetables merits the use of real butter. Wash the zucchini, cut off the ends, and quarter it. Cut the quarters into slices. Of course how you choose to cut the zucchini depends on its size. Mince some fresh garlic and lightly brown it in the butter. Add and saute the zucchini until nearly cooked. Then put in quartered baby Bella mushrooms and saute slightly.  Add previously cooked corn, removed from the cob. Season with salt and pepper. Top with grated Parmesan cheese. Cover with lid and turn off heat. Return to eat in about five minutes when cheese is all melty and delectable.

Cooking can be fun because it is a science, an art, and a way to nourish yourself all rolled into one. I  encourage you to grab some things from your garden, or local farmer’s market, and create something new and satisfying.

The Versatile Grilled Cheese

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I love the many faces of the grilled cheese sandwich. It is such a versatile food that can be prepared in so many ways. Above, you see it on Italian bread made with Muenster cheese and freshly sliced avocado. It was the most delightful thing I had tasted in a long time. And it was only a lowly grilled cheese. But it had been elevated to new heights.

The first consideration in making one of these sandwiches is the bread. Which one to pick? Oh, so many choices. I tend to prefer the “white” breads for this use. Not just your squishy store brand white bread though. I prefer something like a crusty Italian, French, sourdough, olive oil, ciabatta, or some other bread with a nice texture. Wheat bread is not my favorite for grilled cheese but it will do. The texture of the wheat interferes with the overall sandwich for me.

The next decision is what cheese to use. There is always good old American cheese. This is my last choice. One of my favorites is Muenster. It is mild but with good flavor and oh, so creamy. The various cheddars are also good bets. New York White, extra sharp, medium, or mild, excellent choices all. Brick, farmer’s cheese, provolone, mozzarella, these are all good to use. Although I like the taste of smoked cheeses, in my experience, they don’t melt well. If you want to use a smoked cheese, I would add a little of it with another type of cheese. You get the smoked flavor but still have the “meltiness” of the other cheese.

At this point you may have everything that you want in your sandwich. Not me. I like to put in extras. Thinly sliced onion is the most basic choice. Other add-ins that I might use are the afore mentioned avocado, alfalfa sprouts, sliced tomato, or fresh spinach. I also enjoy grilled cheese with jam, a nice raspberry or strawberry is good. I thought this sounded odd the first time I heard of it but it is delicious.

When getting ready to grill the sandwich, melt some butter in a non-stick pan and coat one side of each slice of bread with it. I like to then sprinkle the buttered bread with some garlic powder (except for the jam version) and grill on a medium heat until it turns that beautiful golden brown color.

Plate it up, and then enjoy!

New Food Invention!

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I came up with a new recipe this evening.  I call them Mexican Egg Rolls. They were delicious. Gather the following ingredients.

  • Oil
  • Fresh garlic, minced
  • Onions, diced
  • Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, small amount of thyme
  • Green Cabbage, finely shredded
  • Fresh Spinach, finely shredded
  • Pepper – green, red, orange, or yellow, diced
  • Sharp Cheddar Cheese, finely grated
  • Large burrito wrappers
  • Cut up shrimp, chicken, pork, or bacon

Saute garlic in preheated oil til golden brown (about 30 seconds to one minute). Add the diced pepper and saute one more minute. Add the cabbage and spices and continue cooking until slightly wilted but still crisp. Add the spinach and cook for a minute more. Remove the cabbage mixture from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Put a generous amount of cabbage mixture in a burrito wrapper. Top with minced onion, Cheddar cheese, and your choice of meat. Or leave the meat off for a vegetarian version. Roll like burritos or egg rolls.

Heat a small amount of oil in a  non-stick pan. Place the rolls in the skillet and cook briefly on all four sides until nicely golden brown. The cabbage inside will still be slightly crunchy.

Serve and enjoy. These are good with sour cream.

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Pancakes

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20150301_195602 I love pancakes!

There are so many ways to make them. I always use Bisquick for my pancakes. I find that it produces the best results.  The other similar mixes just don’t measure up.  I alter the basic recipe on the box to whatever suits my taste.

I always add extra liquid so the batter is a little thinner and I can get a bigger, flatter pancake. Not too much liquid though or you will have trouble flipping the pancakes. The liquid can be varied. The recipe calls for milk. I rarely use regular cow’s milk because of lactose issues in our household. Generally I use vanilla almond milk. You can also substitute chocolate almond milk or orange juice. Don’t forget the eggs and oil as per the box recipe. Next the standard recipe calls for vanilla extract. I often use almond extract instead. Any other flavor would work just as well depending on the final product you are going for. I whisk all of the wet ingredients together before adding them to the dry. Sometimes I add in canned pumpkin or mashed bananas. You may have to adjust the liquid depending on the consistency of these. No big deal. If the batter gets too runny, just add a little more of the Bisquick to thicken it up. I like to add cinnamon and nutmeg to the pumpkin and maybe a little molasses to make it like pumpkin pie.

And then you are ready for what I call the “add-ins”. Nearly all of my pancakes include chocolate chips. Other things you could add include:  almonds, pecans, walnuts, chopped cranberries, coconut, sliced strawberries, blueberries, orange zest, lemon zest, raspberries or blackberries, chopped dates. The possibilities are many. I mix these items into the dry Bisquick before adding the liquid. I find that having them coated and dispersed reduces the needed mixing and makes a better quality pancake.

I always use a silver stone, non-stick pan to cook the pancakes in. I add a little cooking spray before the first pancake. Make sure the pan is well heated on medium heat. Then pour in the batter and spread it around a little with a spoon to get the pancake thin enough and as large as you want it. Small bubbles or holes will surface starting at the outside and then toward the center as cooking takes place. Flip the pancake when the bubbles are coming up near the center. I often have trouble flipping the first pancake. It is usually the “sacrificial pancake”. After this I never have any trouble. If there is no chocolate, this is the pancake the dogs get.

I hope you have fun making these pancakes and coming up with different combinations. I always do. My particular favorites that I make over and over are:

  • Pumpkin Chocolate Chip (All time favorite!)
  • Banana Chocolate Chip
  • Orange Chocolate Chip

Other tasty combinations are:

  • Orange Almond Chocolate Chip
  • Banana Pecan
  • Coconut Pecan Chocolate Chip made with Chocolate Almond Milk (like German Chocolate Cake!)
  • Raspberry White Chocolate Chip

So, have fun with this. You are only limited by your imagination!

The Kitchen Challenge

Cooking, Dogs & Other Animals,

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Cooking has its extra challenges around here. Most people just go into the kitchen and cook. Not us. Cooking in our home involves a multi-species audience. Our animals are eternal optimists. They are certain that we will share with them or at the very least that some morsel of food will fall. They are rarely disappointed.

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Even the cats insist on getting their fair share. Above, Lacey waits her turn as Baxter eats his treat. Our animals will eat nearly anything. The cats usually prefer meat or cheese but sometimes will have bread or squash.  The dogs will try anything we give them. Having this many bodies in the kitchen does make for some rather acrobatic moves as we try to maneuver from counter to stove to refrigerator and back.

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Shelby is a very intense beggar. She takes it seriously and sees begging as a job.

At this point in my life I would find cooking alone without these challenges to be boring and lifeless. I love my life as it is with all my furry family members and the challenges and the joys that they bring.

Leek Spinach Potato Soup

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The leek is a wonderful vegetable. Very like its cousin the onion, but so much more. It adds a depth of flavor that is a pleasant surprise. The only fault of the leek is that it often has gritty dirt within its layers. You must carefully wash this away. It is easiest to cut it into slices first and then soak and rinse them.

Ingredients for the soup:

  • Leeks (1 or 2)
  • Spinach
  • Potatoes
  • Broth
  • Salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper
  • Butter, 1 Tablespoon

The amount of the ingredients used is not really important. Just suit your taste. The de-gritted leeks should be sautéed in the butter until soft. Then add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the potatoes are soft. The final step is to blend it all. I used an immersion blender. You can also blend batches in a blender or food processor.

Serve with some crusty bread and enjoy!