Some months ago I attended a cooking class where the chef prepared barbecued short ribs in a pressure cooker. The cooking school didn’t have one for her to use, so she brought her own. The owner of the cooking school recommended the Fagor brand (made in Spain) Duo. And she offhandedly said – you’ve gotta try carrots in the pressure cooker. Really, I thought? Carrots?

I haven’t had a pressure cooker for years. The one I was given in 1962 long ago bit the dust. Since I’m retired, I argued to myself that I really didn’t need one. Until I tasted the results of that recipe (the short ribs) I had kept that interest at bay. Then, my friend Cherrie loaned me her Fagor P.C. for a few weeks. I made three dishes in it and decided I wanted one. I bought mine on eBay – it was a Fagor Duo combi set – it comes with two base pots (a 4-quart and an 8-quart), one pressure cooker lid, a steamer insert, and a glass lid. The one I acquired was NIB (in eBay language that’s New-In-Box). Did I get a bargain? Well, after shipping I saved about $20, I think. I do not have an eBay addiction – in fact I’m not very good at keeping on top of the bid process on the few occasions when I’ve tried to buy something that way. I bought mine as a Buy Now, which bypasses the whole bid thing. Likely my set came from a Fagor outlet store as I discovered a black mark inside the lid. It won’t come off. But who cares?

My next project is to decide which cookbook(s) to buy. Nothing came with the pressure cookers except a tiny minimally informative booklet and a DVD. I did watch the video, though, which helped explain the procedures. I’ve got that down pat.

I went to the web, then, and researched the books. I think I must have two, so am going to add them to my amazon.com wish list (my birthday is coming up). In the interim, though, I went to the internet to find recipes online. There’s one definitive site – Miss Vickie’s – with lots and lots of recipes. I chose one for mixed vegetables (Brussels sprouts, one small potato, onion and several carrots). I sautéed the onions first, then piled into the pot the fresh chopped vegetables (with the potatoes and carrots cut smaller than the Brussels sprouts – otherwise they won’t get done at the same time). I added some chicken broth and a bit of butter, plus some thyme, salt and pepper and it was done. Took 4 minutes. FOUR MINUTES! Meantime I had sautéed some orange roughy, and my dinner was completed. All within about 15 minutes. Love it! And the vegetables? I thought they were terrific. And would you believe the best part was the carrots!

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I’m concerned that a whole generation of children are growing up not knowing there’s anything better out there than the garbage the grocery stores sell as “potato salad.” I mean, that glop is vile. And people EAT IT! A time or two I’ve been served the stuff and ponder how to shove it around my plate to make it look like I’ve eaten some of it. I simply won’t eat it. If I’m going to splurge and have potatoes in a salad, it had better be good stuff.

Over the years I’ve made many a potato salad, too, using different kinds of potatoes, a variety of dressings w/ and w/o mayonnaise, some with eggs, some not. And I keep going back to this one. I really don’t know why, because this salad isn’t all that unusual. Look at the ingredients – it’s the normal potato salad stuff: potatoes, celery, onion, eggs, sour cream, mayo. All I know is that this combination works for me. The recipe comes from the 1970’s, from a lunch gourmet group I was in. I never wrote down the author’s name, so can’t give credit where it’s due. She named it, so I can’t take any credit for that, either. It’s gourmet, I guess, since it’s home made! Just be sure to use Best Foods (Hellman’s) mayo. And full-fat sour cream. If you’re going to go down that high fat trail, you might as well do it with distinction!

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I have a question – did your mother or grandmother can pickles? Both my mother and grandmother made a variety of pickles every year. They made regular whole pickles (sweet type, though), piccalilli, bread and butter pickles and sometimes even pickled watermelon rind. I was never very crazy about the latter (too sweet for me). And my mother would make some kinds of pickle relishes. Not the tiny-minced sweet relish that we can buy in the markets now, but bigger chunks of cucumbers, red peppers and onions. With a delicious sweet and sour flavor going on.

A month or so ago my daughter Dana and family came to visit and she brought with her my mother’s recipe box. I’d forgotten she had it. It’s like this really fun bonanza to re-discover some lost and found thing. Just now I went to the section for pickles and condiments, and pulled out a small stack of recipes. I found: Watermelon Pickle, Zucchini Pickles, Zucchini Relish, Chow Chow, my Dad’s Aunt Rosa’s Bread & Butter Pickles, Dill Crisps from my great, great Aunt Nora, my Grandmother Isis’ Bread & Butter Pickles, and Mustard Pickles.

Here’s a photo of the aging 3×5 cards. The top one is in my grandmother’s handwriting, I think. I’m flooded with memories of visiting my mother’s family, at their farmhouse in Ceres, California. This would have been in the late 1940’s, early 50’s. In the middle of the farming belt of central California. The house was located about half a mile from the railroad. Many a summer night do I remember trying to go to sleep in the attic room (you know how hot attics get in the heat of a San Joaquin summer?), trying not to think how hot and sweaty I was, hearing the whoo-hoo of the trains going by all hours of the night. Growing up within a mile of the bay in San Diego, the only sounds I heard at night were fog horns, so train noises would awaken me. I also remember helping my grandmother a little bit in the kitchen – usually baking something like biscuits. Or helping my grandfather kill a chicken for Sunday supper (I watched until it came time to start plucking the feathers). And of poking my nose into the icebox that sat on the inside back porch. And helping my grandmother feed clothes into the wringer of the round free-standing washing machine that sat out on the outdoor back porch. Of riding on the tractor out in the field on my grandfather’s lap, holding on for dear life, diligently trying to steer the darned thing (very difficult). And playing with the multitude of kittens that always seemed to be around whenever we visited. They always had cats to keep the mouse population in check. I also prowled around in the monstrosity of an old barn, listening intently for mice hiding in the stacks of hay, or scurrying into the bowels of an old abandoned tractor that would no longer run, that was covered with stuff. Wonderful fodder for varmints. And food for cats.

Well, back to pickles. Back in the 1970’s I did make refrigerator dill pickles when the canning cucumber variety were plentiful at the markets. I can’t find my Sunset recipe. I’ve hunted for it, but no luck. Dana remembers when I made them several summers in a row. She adored them, dipping her hand into the icy cold jar of brine and grabbing one to chew on outside on the patio, where the juice could run unhindered down her arm.

That’s what was conjured up in my memory a couple of weeks ago when I was contemplating the menu for our 4th of July barbecue. We grilled turkey burgers (Oprah’s recipe), and traditional burgers too, but all of them were the small slider size. I may never go back to regular size again – I like these smaller ones so much better. They’re easier to handle, even forming the raw meat was easier. And we all liked the rolls (King’s Hawaiian bread rolls). It’s a light, soft bread, and it scrunched down just fine to fit into your mouth.

Our grandchildren and at least one of our adult kids wanted pure, unadulterated burgers. No special relish. Nothing but the bun, lettuce, tomato and red onion slices. But I made this really piquant relish/marmalade stuff that I’d make again anytime. It was relatively simple to prepare – I sautéed a bit of sugar and some onions (I should have used red, but yellow ones were what I grabbed) while bell peppers (supposed to be red only; I used one red and one yellow) charred under the broiler. Once they cooled and the skins were peeled, they were tossed into the onion mixture with balsamic vinegar and some spices. It took about 30 minutes to make, and I thought their flavor on the burgers was sensational.

Pickle making is becoming a lost art, I suppose. We’re all too busy. What a huge loss, since refrigerator pickles are so easy to do, requiring no cooking. I found some recipes on the internet and gave them to my daughter, in hopes that she’d make them for her family. She’s interested, but might be too intimidated to try it without mom around to oversee. In the meantime, for me, this delicious relish/marmalade will have to do!
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If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you already know that I rarely buy a box mix of anything. That started a long time ago when I learned a lot about food additives. So I prefer to use fresh products whenever possible. But I’ve been known to be lured into trying a few boxed things. My friend Cherrie (who doesn’t bake) started buying some of Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa mixes and gave them superlative accolades.

So I chose a chocolate cupcake mix with a peanut butter frosting, thinking that our granddaughter Taylor would be particularly interested (she takes after her grandpa, since they both love all things peanut butter), and would like to make them. Uh, no. She was more interested in playing and taking care of her baby cousin Vaughan, so I whipped them up myself. It wasn’t much different than a regular cake mix. But oh, the taste. Oh my goodness. How in the heck can she/they make a box mix taste so darned wonderful? Will I buy one of these again? Oh yea!

We had the family over for another outdoor barbecue dinner for 9. We ate leftovers of our 4th of July meal, and added about 2 pounds of some wonderful grilled Italian sausage to the menu. And rounded out the dinner with these fabulous cupcakes. So if you ever have a time when there simply isn’t time, or you’d rather spend it creating something else, these cupcakes are highly recommended.

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There’s a photo of the slider version of Oprah’s Turkey Burgers. Oh my. Oh so good.

And here’s a photo of the delish pear chutney that goes with the turkey burgers. These are a must – don’t make one without the other.

When I started planning, we didn’t know if we were going to have 9 or 15 family members here to celebrate our Independence Day. The group included adults and children, so I needed to find a menu that would appeal to everybody. My DH wasn’t all that thrilled when I said he was going to grill hamburgers. They’re not one of his favorite things – mostly because he doesn’t enjoy eating out of hand – he likes food on a plate with a knife and fork. Weird thing. But he’s not very picky about most things, so I just tried to humor him most times. Told him about the potato salad I was making, about the relishes, the peach dessert we’d have. The big green salad. I knew he wouldn’t go hungry. Indeed he didn’t. He absolutely loved the turkey burgers.

What I decided was this:

Chips & fresh tomato salsa
Hot chile cheese dip with Fritos
Deviled eggs

Beef burger sliders with red onion red bell pepper relish
Oprah’s (Donald Trump’s) Mar-a-Lago turkey burgers (also sliders) with pear chutney
Traditional potato salad (recipe soon)
Green salad with VIP Garlic Dressing

Desserts:
Apple pie and Peach pie
Both served with ice cream or whipped cream

As with most big gatherings, I needed to start cooking the day before. I made the relish, pear chutney and the potato salad. The morning of the 4th I had some help in the kitchen, so between my daughter Dana and me we made the green salad, the dressing and shaped all the burgers. Our daughter in law, Karen, brought the two desserts.

The sliders were all served on King’s Hawaiian bread rolls (both regular white and whole wheat). They’re soft, a bit sweet, and taste better than the soft Styrofoam that comprises most commercially-made hamburger buns. Since we were serving both beef and turkey burgers, I decided we’d have sliders (small burgers) instead of full-size burgers. Easier to eat. And more variety for everyone.

There’s quite a story behind the turkey burgers. In case you missed watching Oprah’s show that day (last month), she told the story about when she and her friend Gail went to the Mar-a-Lago (a Donald Trump resort) in Palm Beach, Florida for a couple of days. It’s a private club, apparently. Don’t know anything about how you get to stay there. Am sure it’s pricey. But anyway, Oprah decided to order the turkey burger on the menu there. She fell in love. Craved it the next meal too. And the next. And the next. Gail tried to get the recipe. Nope, they wouldn’t reveal it. So, when Oprah got back to Chicago she phoned her friend Donald Trump and asked if he’d ever had the turkey burgers at Mar-a-Lago? He scoffed. Of course not, he said. He doesn’t eat anything even related to turkey burgers. She wanted the recipe. Some negotiations later, he agreed and appeared on the show where the burgers were prepared and passed out to the audience. Oprah was in heaven since she now has the recipe. And so do we!

What’s unique about these burgers is chutney. Not just any old chutney. Major Grey’s chutney. Now we need to have a little history lesson here (thanks to Wikipedia).

• The original chutney of India was usually a relish made from fresh fruits and spices. During the colonial era the British took it home and the recipe evolved, until the commercially made mango chutney (“Major Grey’s chutney”) became the British standard chutney. Commercially made cooked chutneys are still popular in Great Britain, and are usually made of fruit (usually mangos, apples or pears), onions and raisins simmered with vinegar, brown sugar and spices for about two hours.
• Chutneys are served with almost every meal in India, especially as relishes with curries, but also as sauces for hot dishes (especially meats). They can be fresh or cooked, and are made from a wide variety of ingredients, ranging in flavor from sweet or sour, spicy or mild, or any combination; they can be thin or chunky and can be made with fruits or vegetables or both.

According to Wikipedia, Sun Brand chutney is the best (contains more fruit than others; can be found online). I bought Crosse & Blackwell’s version (quite pricey at $5.49 for 9 ounces). If you have mangoes, there are recipes all over the internet for Major Grey’s version. I got a kick out of reading somewhere that this Major Grey is also the same “Earl” Grey of tea fame. Who knew! The turkey burgers were a big hit. I loved them. Absolutely loved them. Will make them again, no question. The beef burgers were also wonderful on the small buns, and the onion pepper marmalade I’ll post in the next day or so.
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The other night when I made the Chicken Tikka Masala, I also had an eggplant in the refrigerator. I looked through my one and only Indian cookbook for some ideas and found a recipe for a combination of eggplant and potatoes. I didn’t have any potatoes, and was making rice for the chicken anyway, so I just made this dish with eggplant only and served it as a side vegetable. Indian food is traditionally very heavy with vegetables. I’ve enjoyed the vegetable dishes I’ve made at home better than ones at restaurants. Maybe they’re overcooked from a restaurant kitchen.

Anyway, I was very pleased with this rendition, from Easy Indian Cooking, by Suneeta Vaswani. Several years ago I attended a cooking class taught by the author. Sunetta’s family favorite, Pepper Chicken, I posted earlier this year. I’ve made it many times. I’ve learned to trust this cookbook when it comes to anything Indian, and this eggplant dish lived up to the reputation. I’d definitely make it again, even if it wasn’t an Indian-themed dinner. I liked the spice combo, and the vinegar-sugar (Splenda) mixture poured over the eggplant just at the end was delightful. There’s just a hint of sweetness, and really no sign of the vinegar. I simply couldn’t taste it at all – it gets absorbed into the eggplant completely. As is always the case with brown or beige food, this dish doesn’t photograph very well, but the taste was great.
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It was just a couple of days ago I was watching America’s Test Kitchen. I use my Tivo to record all the ATK programs. The show is broadcast on a different timetable around the country – i.e., not all shows you’d see are current – they may be year old re-runs. And sometimes the recipes have already dropped off the map when you go to the ATK website. Now I’m only recording new programs, so generally the recipes are available online.

Indian food is something I enjoy very much, although we don’t eat it as much anymore since we try to limit our rice consumption. But this version, shown recently on ATK, of Chicken Tikka Masala sounded so delicious, I had to try it. I’ve made it before, but never this well. The recipe is a real winner. I kid you not. If you enjoy Indian cuisine, you’ll likely enjoy this dish very much.

Chicken breasts are seasoned with ground cumin, coriander and cayenne, then dredged in a mixture of whole-milk yogurt, fresh ground ginger and minced garlic. The chicken is broiled while you make the Masala Sauce, which is composed of onion, more Indian spices, garlic, ginger, one moderately warm chile pepper, crushed tomatoes, and some heavy cream. Oh my. When my DH took his first bite of this his eyes rolled and he went into a bit of food rapture. I made a small amount of basmati rice, lapped some thick slices of the broiled chicken breast on top, and then scooped some of the Masala Sauce on top of that. Then sprinkled with mint (I didn’t have any cilantro on hand). I served it with some eggplant (recipe tomorrow) and a wedge of watermelon.
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It’s been nearly a year (in just a few days) that my DH Dave and I went to San Diego (about 90 miles south of us) to spend a few days on our sailboat. And it was on July 3rd that I stepped off the boat, twisted my ankle and broke my foot. Until a few days ago, I hadn’t been back. My DH goes there all the time, usually stays for one night, sails one day, tinkers around on the boat another, before returning home.

I kinda made an issue with my DH. I wouldn’t go back to the boat until he bought a new step (read better, HIGHER) for me to get on and off (would you believe those little things cost about $150?). We had had one, but somebody stole it, and my DH replaced it with a 7-inch high step from Target. I’m very short, so getting on and off the boat using that very short step was nigh on impossible – my DH is very tall and has no problem, even with two artificial legs. You can see the new TALL step in the picture above (just behind the s in sailboat).

The boat is really mostly my hubby’s. He adores sailing. I get seasick. So when I go to the boat with him, we stay inside the harbor, or relax at the dock. We were only there for a couple of days this trip. The weather was absolutely plu-perfect. Couldn’t have asked for two nicer days of sunshine and cool nights. Next time I’ll take a pix of the tiny galley. I have a very hard time doing much cooking on board. Usually we go OUT.

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We have a restaurant chain here in the West (California, Oregon and Arizona) called El Torito. There are “regular” restaurants (maybe 20-30 of them), and also about 10 called El Torito Grill. For some years our family frequented the Grill for Sunday buffet-style brunch. It was the best bargain in town. This was when our children were ravenous teenagers and even into young adulthood. Our son could put away plates and plates of food from this place and still be hungry for more. Back then it was about $12.95 for brunch. If they even serve brunch now, am sure it’s a whole lot more money these days. One of the staples amidst the hot trays for the brunch was this Sweet Corn Cake. It’s kind of a cross between a soft cake and a savory pudding. It’s served with most of their entrees as well. It is sweet, although it’s supposed to be a side dish to an entrée, not a dessert. But, as good as it is, you could likely serve it with a bit of cream and call it dessert. The recipe was printed in the Los Angeles Times many, many years ago.

It’s made with masa harina. Shortened to the word “masa,” it’s a finely ground corn flour that’s mixed with lye – a staple of the Mexican diet. The recipe also calls for lard. Now I don’t have lard in my pantry, so I just substituted additional butter, or you could use shortening too. I also didn’t have quite 10 ounces of frozen corn, either, but once it’s whizzed up in the food processor (or blender) it hardly mattered. And the corn I did have was the scorched, roasted corn from Trader Joe’s, so it gave the cake a bit of a dark fleck. Those alterations made no difference in the scrumptious taste.

My opinion is this recipe should be made in 150% quantity (so it’s deeper in the pan), or maybe even double. You’d have to watch the baking time – naturally it would take longer. And doing it in a food processor won’t make the corn into complete mush. It takes no time at all to mix it up, but note that it takes a good long while to bake (covered with foil) and an additional 15 minutes to sit. So, start an hour and a half ahead of serving time! Serve it hot.
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In the most recent issue of Food & Wine, I spotted a recipe for Spanish mackerel (I don’t think we can even GET mackerel in this part of the world; at least I’ve never seen it) with a Cauliflower Tabbouleh. Well, I promptly discarded the part about the mackerel and extracted the part about the tabbouleh.

Tabbouleh (or tablouli, plus other spellings, I’m sure) is a Middle Eastern cold salad mostly composed of bulgur wheat. I well recall the first time I had tabbouli with bulgur wheat, in about 1966. A friend of my mother’s served it at a lovely luncheon (back in those days ladies did lots of luncheons in one another’s homes). At the time I was mesmerized by the delicious combo of the chewy bulgur wheat, lemon juice, cucumber and fresh tomatoes. My DH doesn’t care much for tabbouleh, or I’d make it occasionally, but then, it’s really high in carbs, which we try to limit. So that’s why this recipe – made with cauliflower instead of bulgur wheat – looked like such a WOW recipe. I had to try it, pronto. My DH still didn’t like it, but our guests were totally mystified about what it was – one thought it WAS bulgur wheat.

This version is a bit different than the traditional tabbouleh that I know, since it contains smoky paprika, shallot, sherry vinegar and preserved lemon. No lemon juice. I may add a squeeze of the juice if I make it again, just because I like lemon juice so much, and it’s a required ingredient in my book. What I started with was one of these new-fangled colored cauliflower heads. It was a gorgeous golden yellow color even inside. Made it more interesting to look at than traditional white, but it did taste the same. The recipe came from Jason Wilson, chef at Crush, a restaurant in Seattle.

If you’re looking for a way to use vegetables, in a different way, this will fool lots of experts. They absolutely would NOT know this is cauliflower. Yes, there is a tiny bit of crunch to it – I mean, the cauliflower is raw – but cauliflower is mild to the tooth. You drop the florets into the feed tube of the food processor fitted with a coarse grater attachment – no pressure to be on it – allow the pieces to shred all on their own. The photo here shows what the shredded cauliflower looks like.

Then you make a fragrant small pan of oil, garlic, cumin, paprika and shallot. It’s cooked very briefly, then tossed in the cauliflower. After that you add the other ingredients: just the rind of some preserved lemon, mint, tomatoes, sherry vinegar, parsley and chives. That’s it. No cooking other than the minute or two with the garlic and fragrant spices. Different? Yes. Tasty? Yes. Repeat it? Well, maybe, maybe not. I fiddled with the proportions (more tomato, parsley and mint), but that’s all. I used very little preserved lemon, but maybe it was too much. The dish had a quite tart taste. Lemon juice in lieu of sherry vinegar might be better too.
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