The Same Old Thing Again? Quoth the Cook, Nevermore

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary
Over many a bottle, box and can; while I nodded, nearly napping
My mind blankly tapping, tapping.
A question arose whose sound I feared...
What to have for dinner? What to have that was not a bore?
Because all I have on hand are the basics, the same old stuff,
Only this and nothing more.

Do I call for pizza? Drive for a burger?
Tell my husband the power's out and have cereal on the kitchen floor?
These are my choices?
Only these and nothing more?

And yet as my thoughts turned,
My stomach within me burned,
I spied a possible solution, there was an answer that was clear.
Why must I pull out the same menu day after day, year after year?
I must alter, change, explore.
I will make something new from the old, I can mix and switch and transform
The same old thing again? Quoth the Cook,
"Nevermore!"

Red Hot Meatloaf and Spicy Spuds

2 lbs. ground beef
1/3 cup ketchup
1 large green pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
3 Ts. oil, divided
1 Ts. chile pepper
1 Ts. cumin
1 ts. hot sauce
1-1 1/2 lbs. new red potatoes, halved
1/2 ts. salt
1/2 ts. pepper
1/4 cup prepared salsa (optional)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped chives

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Coat large roasting pan with 1 Ts. oil
3) In a large bowl, mix meat, ketchup, pepper, celery, onion, chile pepper, cumin, and hot sauce together.
4) Shape into a 9 x 4 inch oval.
5) Place meat loaf in the middle of the roasting pan.
6) In another large bowl, coat the potatoes with the remaining oil.
7) Add minced garlic, salt and pepper.
8) Arrange potatoes around the meatloaf and sprinkle them with the chives.
9) Bake for 65-70 minutes or until the internal temperature on the meatloaf reads 160 degrees and the potatoes are tender.
10) During the last 10-15 minutes of cooking, you could spread the salsa on top of the meatloaf for extra heat.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich and then Some
to serve four

4 slices each, Cheddar, Colby and Pepper Jack cheese
4 slices of deli ham, thinly sliced
8 slices thick sourdough bread
2 medium green onions, sliced
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
8 teaspoons softened butter or margarine

1) Place cheese slices (one of each kind) and the ham slice on 4 slices of bread.
2) Top with evenly divided onion and tomato.
3) Place remaining bread slices on top and spread with 1 ts. of butter over each top slice.
4) Place sandwiches butter side down, in skillet.
5) Spread remaining butter over the top sides of the sandwiches.
6) Cook, over medium heat, for about 5 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.
7) Turn and cook for about 2-4 more minutes or until bottoms are golden brown and cheese is melted.

Baked Macaroni with Four Cheeses

3 cups whole milk
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Romano cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 shredded mozzarella cheese
12 oz. rigatoni, cooked and drained
1/4 cup butter
1 Ts. chopped carrot
1 Ts. chopped celery
1 Ts. chopped onion
1/4 black peppercorns
1/2 ts. hot sauce
dash of nutmeg
1/4 ts. chili powder

1) Combine milk, carrot, celery, onion peppercorns, hot sauce and nutmeg in a large sauce pan.
2) Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
3) Strain and reserve the liquid.
4) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5) melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
6) Stir in the flour.
7) Gradually stir in the reserved liquid.
8) Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.
9) Remove from heat and add the Parmesan and Romano cheeses.
10) Stir until blended.
11) Pour into a large mixing bowl and add rigatoni, tossing to coat.
12) Combine Cheddar and mozzarella cheeses in a medium bowl.
13) place half the rigatoni mixture in greased 2 quart casserole.
14) Sprinkle with cheese mixture.
15) Top with the remaining rigatoni.
16) Sprinkle with chili powder.
17) Bake 25 minutes or until bubbly.
posted by Frodgie at 5:48 PM

 
Vegetables : A Beginner's Guide

A wise man once explained the criteria he uses when deciding which foods to pursue and which to run from. I have dubbed his list the Five Point System. They are : color, consistency, texture, smell and taste. The order of importance may vary depending on the food or dish in question (for instance, split pea soup begins and ends with that horrid color) but taste always comes last every time.

Surprised? My father (for he is the wise man in question) would argue that the taste of a particular piece of food was no longer relevent if you were holding your nose and gagging while you chewed. An excellent point in my humble opinion. Yet on the other side of this culinary conundrum was always my mother, a woman who could happily chew on three bean soup while kicking back a side of plain broccoli. Allow me to repeat. She eats her vegetables plain. She thinks the Five Point System is ridiculous. She likes green food. Where did my father and I go wrong?

Thus I turn to my true topic, which is vegetables. I am sorry, if we were all honest, they just do not pass the Five Point System. Vegetables and I clearly--given my gastric past--do not get along. Nay, we have been enemies of long standing. There have been skirmishes on the front line, there have been pitched battles and surprise assaults. I have generally come out of these wars the victor, stumbling up from the dinner table with my vegetables still untouched upon my plate--but inevitably even I had to ask : just what I was winning?

By pure coincidence, the vegetables that did pass the Five Point System happened to be those of no nutritional value whatsoever. They were also the ones upon which butter and salad dressing were acceptably heaped. I speak of corn and iceburg lettuce of course. Tomatoes and potatoes also held a hallowed place on my list of allowable veggies until some know-it-all informed me that they needed to be re-classified further down my food chain. That was a dark day for me and my personal food pyramid, I will tell you.

And I cannot refer to any future breakthroughs on my part. I am not going into restaurants and substituting steamed asparagus for the french fries the meal comes with. No, no, no. But I am taking some teeny tiny baby steps past the Five Point System--which works out well since those who try to get me to eat some vegetables do refer to me as a big baby.

So what will follow are not just achingly healthy and low fat vegetable dishes. Those perhaps will come later (ever the optomist, I.) These are some recipes for the child within--the one who would live on pizza (hold anything green) if they were allowed. These are vegetables adorned, augmented and often times disguised. I have discovered, again much like the aforementioned babies, that vegetables are easier to take if they are cut into small pieces. I may well be alone with this opinion, but I do urge you to try chopping and see if there is but a bit of method to my madness.

I am boldly going where I have never gone before. Follow me friend. Do not be afraid.

Incognito Broccoli and Cauliflower

1 medium head of cauliflower (broken into pieces)
1 lb. of fresh broccoli (also broken into pieces)
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey or Pepper Jack cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 4 oz. can chopped green chiles
4 Tbs. butter, divided and melted
1 ts. salt
1/2 ts. pepper, red pepper flakes and chile powder
3/4 cup of crushed seasoned, dry bread crumbs

1) In a large sauce pan or Dutch oven, place an inch of water, add vegetables and bring to a boil.
2) Reduce heat; cover and cook for 7 minutes or until tender.
3) Meanwhile, combine chilies, cheese, sour cream, 2 Tbs. of the butter, salt and the peppers.
4) Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees.
5) Drain the vegetables and stir in cheese mixture until they are well coated.
6) Transfer vegetables to a greased 2 1/2 quart baking dish.
7) Toss stuffing and remaining butter together before sprinkling over vegetables.
8) Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

Cabbage and Broccoli Strudel

1 Ts. vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup sliced leeks
1/2 cup sliced button mushrooms (optional)
1/2 cup seeded and chopped plum tomatoes
1/4 head of green cabbage, shredded
1 cup of broccoli florets, steamed
1 ts. dried dill weed
1 ts. dried rosemary
1/2 ts. salt
pepper to taste
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup cooked brown rice
3/4 cup shredded Chddar cheese
6 sheets frozen phyllo pastry, thawed
6-8 Ts. melted butter

1) Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
2) Add onions and leeks, cooking and stirring for 3 minutes.
3) Add (mushrooms) and tomato, cook and stir another 5 minutes.
4) Add cabbage, broccoli and the spices.
5) Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes or until cabbage is wilted.
6) Remove lid and cook another 10 minutes or until cabbage is soft and beginning to brown.
7) Combine the cheeses, egg and rice in a medium bowl.
8) Stir into cabbage mixture until blended.
9) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
10) Unroll phyllo dough, covering unused sheets with plastic wrap and damp kitchen towel to keep ready.
11) On work surface of some kind, brush one phyllo sheet with butter.
12) Top with 2 more sheets, brushing each with butter.
13) Spoon half of cabbage mixture 2 inches from the short end of the phyllo sheets.
14) Spread mixture to cover about half of the sheet.
15) Roll up dough from the short end.
16) Place, seam side down, on a greased cookie sheet.
17) Flatten roll slightly with hands and brush with butter.
18) Repeat steps 10-17 with other remaining sheets and mixture.
19) Sprinkle tops of rols with rosemary before baking 45-50 minutes.
20) Cool 10 minutes before cutting each roll diagonally and serving.

Caramelized Veggies

2 lbs. small red potatoes, cut in 1 inch pieces
1 lb. asparagus, cut in 2 inch pieces
1 medium yellow squash, but in 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 ts. salt, divided
pepper to taste

1) Heat 1 inch of water to boiling in a 3 quart saucepan.
2) Add poatoes and 1/2 ts. salt.
3) Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium.
4) Cover and cook about 12 minutes or until tender.
5) Drain and set aside in large bowl or baking dish.
6) While potatoes are cooking, heat 1 inch of water to boiling in a 2 quart sauce pan.
7) Add asparagus and sqaush and heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium.
8) Cover and cook about 6 minutes or until crisp-tender.
9) Drain and set aside in same bowl / dish as potatoes.
10) While vegetables are all cooking, melt butter in 10 inch skillet over medium to high heat.
11) Cook onion in butter about 5 minutes, stirring occassionally, until golden brown.
12) Stir in vinegar, brown sugar and 1/4 ts. salt.
13) Pour onion mixture over vegetables, stirring until coated.
14) Sprinkle with pepper before serving.

Mexican Veggie Casserole

1 small eggplant, peeled
1 medium zucchini
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped green onions, divided
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of prepared salsa
3/4 cup of shredded Mexican style cheese
2 1/2 cups of shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped (or a large handful of grape tomatoes)
3 Ts. of sour cream
approx. 6 oz. of tortilla chips
non stick cooking spray

1) Slice eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms; set aside.
2) Coat large non-stick skillet with cooking spray.
3) Heat over medium-high heat until hot.
4) Add reserved vegetables, 1/4 cup onions and garlic.
5) Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until tender--stirring occasionally.
6) Stir in salsa and reduce heat to low.
7) Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
8) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9) To make casserole, coat 12x8 baking dish with cooking spray.
10) Arrange half the chips in dish and top with veggie mixture.
11) Cover and bake for 20-30 minutes or until heated through.
12) Coarsely crush remaining chips and sprinkle over mixture.
13) Sprinkle shredded cheese over the crushed chips.
14) Bake, uncovered, 5-10 minutes more or until cheese is melted.
15) To serve, divided lettuce among plates (8 max.) or on serving platter.
16) Spoon casserole over lettuce and sprinkle with chopped tomato and remaining onions.
17) Dollop with sour cream.
posted by Frodgie at 1:09 PM

 
Pizza

I say : Pizza is genius, genius, pizza. That is all ye know of earth and all ye need to know. Is Keats rolling in his grave to realize what I have done to his joyous homage to beauty? Perhaps, perhaps not. He is, after all, buried in Italy, the ancient birth place of the gift that is pizza. We should all be so lucky when we die.

Naples is the titular home of the pizza. It's genesis was as an easy peasant dish, though it has now been vaulted onto the tabletops of royalty and within the menus of restaurants that would never give us regular folk a reservation. Ironic isn't it? Perhaps Keats, ever the enlightened thinker, would enjoy that too.

Its beauty then, is in it's versatility. Pizza can change, it can stretch and grow to accommodate and become whatever you need it to be. It is flat or deep dish. It is round, square or free thrown. It's toppings can range from the red, white and green of Italian patriotism to whatever it is that has been emptied from your'fridge. Pizza, the United Nations of the culinary universe.

You have some left over chicken or chop meat? Some vegetables or salad? Just toss them on top of the sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Any kind of cheese or combination thereof. For a base? Hell, if fresh or frozen dough is not to be had, use a loaf of bread, English muffins or tortilla for a lighter pizza option. With a little planning ahead, you could also have the variety of ready made crusts to choose from. Roll out a tube of crescent dough if you need to. It is all in the creativity anyhow. You already know that with such ingredients, you cannot fail on taste.

What follows below range from the most carefully prepared pizza (read : lots of time and energy) to the simple and speedy. Make time be your guide, along with taste and inclination, as always. Enjoy!

Goat Cheese and Broccoli Pizza

for the dough :
2-21/4 cups flour
1 package dry active yeast
1/8 ts. sugar
about 2/3 cup tepid water
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 ts. salt

for the topping :
1/2 lb. broccoli florets
2 Ts. corn meal
1/2 cup tomato sauce (yours or jarred)
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
12 black olives, pitted
1/4 lb goat cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Ts. olive oil


1) For the dough : combine 3/4 cup of flour, the yeast and the sugar in a food processor.
2) With the motor running, pour in the tepid water.
3) Turn the motor off and add the olive oil, 1 1/4 cups of the remaining flour and the salt.
4) Process until a ball of dough is formed, adding more water, 1 teaspoon at at time, if the dough is too dry, or the remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if it is too wet.
5) Put the dough in an oiled bowl and turn it so the dough is oiled all over.
6) Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about an hour.
Meanwhile...
7) Cook the broccoli florets in boiling, salted water or steam them until just tender, about five minutes.
8) Drain well and set aside.
9) Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
10) Oil a 12 inch round pizza pan and sprinkle with the corn meal.
11) When the dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
12) Punch down the dough to deflate it, and knead it briefly.
13) Roll out the dough to a 12 inch round and lay it in the pan, pressing it down evenly.
14) Spread the tomato sauce evenly onto the pizza base, leaving a rim of dough uncovered, about a 1/2 inch wide.
15) Arrange the broccoli florets, tomatoes, and olives on the tomato sauce and sprinkle with the cheeses. Drizzle olive oil on the top.
16) Bake until the cheese melts and the crust is puffed and browned, about 10-15 minutes.

Chicken Pizza with Potato Crust

1 4 oz. package pre-seasoned chicken breast fillets (lemon pepper, Italian, Cajun)
2 egg whites
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 ts. salt
1/2 ts. chopped fresh of 1/4 dried rosemary
1/8 ts. pepper
1 20 oz. package of shredded hash browns (refrigerated)
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sliced olives (optional)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1) Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
2) Cook chicken as package directions say.
3) Meanwhile, spray 12 inch pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray.
4) In medium bowl, beat egg whites, Parmesan cheese, salt, rosemary and peeper with a fork until well combined and slightly foamy.
5) Add potatoes and mix well.
6) Press potato mixture in pizza pan to form crust.
7) Cut cooked chicken into bite sized pieces.
8) Arrange chicken, tomatoes and olives over crust and sprinkle with mozzarella.
9) Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Quick Sausage Pizza

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough
3/4 lb. hot Italian sausage, casings removed and sausage crumbled
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano, red pepper flakes, basil
1 cup bottled or own marinara sauce
4 oz. Monterey Jack or pepper jack cheese, shredded
3 Ts. grated Parmesan cheese

1) Place oven rack in the lowest position, heating oven to 425 degrees.
2) Unroll crust on greased 15 x 10 x 2 inch baking pan.
3) Bake on lowest rack for ten minutes, until puffed, dry to the touch and lightly golden.
4) Meanwhile, cook sausage in skillet five minutes, until no longer pink.
5) Add onion and seasonings, cooking 2 minutes.
6) Remove from heat.
7) Spread crust with marinara sauce.
8) With slotted spoon, transfer sausage mixture to crust.
9) Top with cheeses.
10) Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is browned.
11) Allow to stand five minutes before serving.


posted by Frodgie at 6:43 AM