From the reader’s end of this blog, you probably think I prepare massive meals every night of the week, just about. That I spend every afternoon slaving in the kitchen, poring over recipes, with my DH making endless trips to the grocery store. Really, that’s not true at all. There are days when I have nothing – absolutely nothing – to write about. I go through spells (usually no more than 3-5 days) when I just don’t feel like making anything new. I don’t feel like researching recipes. Or standing in front of my island chopping, mincing, stirring, assembling. Stirring a pot, sautéing something, digging in my cupboards to find obscure herbs, frying, boiling, steaming, mashing garlic, brewing tea. And I truly do have days when I don’t feel like cooking at all! Can you believe that?
Fortunately, those spells don’t last very long, and I’m back to the drawing boards, standing at my island chopping, mincing, creating. If you want to know about the other things (that are already ON my blog) that have been served at my house lately, read on.
Every so often I attend a cooking class, which gives me new recipes to share with you. I don’t post all of them, usually. If I’m not crazy about them, they don’t become fodder for my blog. And believe it or not, there are recipes I try that don’t appear here because they didn’t wow me enough. I made two salad dressings recently that were very ho-hum. I made a vegetable recently that just didn’t pass muster. For all the work that went into it, I was surprised that it was so boring. A recent cole slaw was awful. We threw it out. I made a marinade for fish last weekend that was very pedestrian. None of those recipes will grace these web pages. At the cooking class my friend Cherrie and I attended last week (a Julia Child retrospective) we had two things we didn’t like at all (a quenelle with shrimp and a pork roast) of the four recipes presented. And the other two, although good, may appear here, but it’s doubtful I’ll ever make them. Way too much work! I just hadn’t realized how labor-intensive most of Julia’s recipes really were. Even her Beef Bourguignon is way too much work. I did make that because when the movie came out, everybody was into it and my DH begged me to make it. Probably the first and last time. However, there is one of Julia’s recipes that’s a real favorite of mine – I call them French Hamburgers – they’re sensational and not altogether difficult at all. I keep them in the freezer almost all the time.
Recently we’ve had family visiting, so I’ve been cooking more than usual, but not very many new things. When our older grandkids arrived I asked them what they wanted me to make (sometimes Taylor and Logan like to help). With not a moment’s hesitation they said they wanted my beef and biscuit casserole. So, I thought I’d give you a little rundown on some of the repeat recipes I’ve been making lately. I do cook differently when the grandchildren visit – their taste buds aren’t all that adventuresome. They like ranch dressing, which almost never exists in my kitchen unless they’re here. Even our older daughter’s palate isn’t very tuned into trying new things. She doesn’t complain – she’ll try a bite and move on to eating a large plate of salad. We had a dinner at our house last weekend that just kind of “happened” without a ton of planning. Cherrie brought two of the recipes from the bacon class she and I went to a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, here’s what’s been cooking in my kitchen of late:
Taylor likes to bake. And if it’s cookies, usually Logan wants to be involved. (Mostly I think it’s because they get to eat their fill of the cookie dough or lick the beaters – of whatever we’re making if they’re involved in the making and baking process). Here’s Taylor making the delish Baked Cinnamon Toasts. She made a triple batch – 18 slices of sandwich bread (makes 72 little triangles). By the time she got to the last 20, she was wanting to be “done” with this. Tedious, she thought! But the bag of the baked toasts disappeared in about 24 hours, so what does that tell you?
Here’s the casserole I mentioned above. Taylor and Logan’s favorite. Beef and Biscuit Casserole – a very simple dish with ground beef, ample cheese, with thin round-cut biscuits on the bottom, the ground beef mixture poured in, then more thin biscuits on the top, with added cheese on top. I vary the ingredients sometimes (I used mostly ground turkey this time, and if I have corn, that’s added in as well.
Then, there’s the Garlic Green Beans. I must make these about every 2-3 weeks or so. They are so very addictive. And easy. There’s nothing in them except garlic, salt, olive oil and green beans. How easy does that sound? This is a recipe given me by Meredith, a friend from Ocean City, New Jersey, where my DH was raised. Anyway, the other night I cooked 2 1/2 pounds of Blue Lake green beans (that’s another secret to these – I always use Blue Lake beans, or the thin haricot verts from Costco). You boil them in salted water until they’re almost tender. Then garlic is mashed with salt, briefly sautéed in a big, huge pan, then the beans are added in, along with a rather large amount of olive oil. It’s tossed around, sprinkled with a bit of salt and served. When dinner was done the other night and we were doing dishes in the kitchen, several people were sticking their fingers in the bean bowl to eat up the last few. This, after dessert, mind you!
Cherrie brought over the bacon bark she made. If you read the post I did about the milk chocolate bacon bark, you’ll note it had peanuts in it. Cherrie made it with dark chocolate and macadamia nuts. For me it tasted better, but then I like dark chocolate. In either case, both types were altogether wonderful. She served it alongside the lemon pudding I’d made for our dinner party for 10.
Then there’s the wonderful watermelon feta mint salad. This has become a real staple of my summer repertoire. The flavors in that combination are just wonderful beyond words. I’ve made this three times in the last 3 weeks. And each time the bowl was nearly emptied. I sprinkle all the Feta on the top as it filters down as people serve themselves. People would go back and have more, even after dessert. What does that tell you? Watermelons are pretty darned good already, and we have plenty of mint in our garden. It’s such an easy salad to make – takes about 10-15 minutes and you’re done. I don’t even refer to a recipe – it’s just sliced or cubed watermelon, some crumbled Feta cheese and fresh chopped mint. That’s it. Easy.
Then there’s the potatoes with bacon. Another recipe from the bacon cooking class a couple of weeks ago. Actually, I didn’t make this – Cherrie brought this to the dinner the other night. It’s just so tasty and delicious – actually it’s called Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes with Bacon and Parmesan. But there is a lot of bacon in it – about six slices for a batch that serves 8 people. And then there’s the Parmesan, olive oil too, some garlic as well. And ample Italian parsley sprinkled on top. These completely disappeared.
Ah yes – there’s the BBQ Macaroni Salad that is a summer staple around my house. I never make it for just the two of us – it makes enough to serve 10-12 as a side dish. It came from Cook’s Country. You can probably vary some of the ingredients (mostly it’s red bell pepper and celery) with a mayo-based dressing that contains some bottled barbecue sauce. It’s just such an unlikely combination, but it’s SO good. It does contain some chili powder, so it has a spicy kick to it. It’s a favorite. It’s also very easy. And it will keep for at least a week. What you see in the bowl above is what was left over from last weekend’s dinner – about 2 cups worth.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this salad too. Two pasta salads in a row. Wow. When we don’t want sandwiches with our tuna, this salad is what I make. Called Sicilian Tuna Salad, and it’s nothing but great in my book. I don’t make it but every couple of months, but that’s still pretty often! It’s a bit on the dry side, so I almost always have to drizzle just a bit more olive oil onto it when I serve it a day or so later. The capers are what make it. And there’s no mayo in it.
And I can’t end this post without reminding you to try the chocolate chip cookies I adapted from the recipe found online at another blog, but the chemistry of it comes from the Silver Moon Bakery in NYC. With grandchildren here, once they found the cookie bag in the freezer, these babies slowly just disappeared, although my DH finished them off when he had a low blood sugar a few days ago. I try to limit myself to no more than one of these a day. The little dark chocolate bits from Whole Foods are “the” addition to these cookies. I swear, I may never go back to Nestle’s little teardrop shaped ones. I also add nuts to this recipe, which isn’t authentic to the bakery’s recipe.
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A year ago: Garbanzo Bean, Feta and Cilantro Salad (I feel a craving coming on)
Two years ago: Cajun Fillet Mignon
Three years ago: Classic Brownies, Best Ever
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