Recipes that change the way you do things

Mashed potatoes.

Everyone knows how you make mashed potatoes.

You peel potatoes, put them in a pot with water, bring that to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, then drain it, add butter & your dairy of choice and mash away.

I did that for many, many years.

Until I found out that you don't need a huge pot of boiling water to make mashed potatoes.

I melt butter in my pot, then add about a cup of milk and a half a cup of water.  Then I put in my cubed & rinsed peel/chopped potatoes, and cook that for about 25 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

No draining.  All in one pot.

It's a Cook's Illustrated recipe I tried over a year ago, and I honestly don't think I've made potatoes any other way since.  I mean... why would I?  It's just way easier to cook them that way.  And if you ask me, they keep more of their potato-ness when you're not boiling everything away in a ton of water.

I know my mother or mother-in-law would look at me strangely if they ever saw me making potatoes that way.... but I know I'll never go back to doing it the old way.

Chickpea Flour Crepes

One of the things that has been hardest for me, since having to stop eating wheat, is that I am cheap.

And the store-bought wheat-free alternatives are pretty pricey.  As are some of the flours needed for wheat-free baking - not to mention you have to do a bit of shopping to find all the different flours you need.

Enter... chickpea flour.  We have a large Indian population in the Chicago area, so most stores are fairly well stocked at this point with Indian ingredients.  Which inclues chickpea flour, which is less than three bucks for a small bag of it.

Cheap.  And it makes great crepes.

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoonds fine chickpea flour
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup low-fat milk (or water - both work)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Sift together the chickpea flour, all-purpose flour and salt.

2. Place the eggs, milk (or water) and olive oil in a blender, and turn on the machine. Add the flour, and blend for one minute. Transfer to a bowl or a large measuring cup. (You can also use a bowl and whisk together the ingredients. If blending by hand, put through a strainer.) Set aside for at least 30 minutes; if longer, put the bowl in the refrigerator.

*** DO NOT SKIP THE WAIT TIME.  It is honestly better to put the batter in the fridge overnight rather than skipping this step.  It gives it all time to blend - makes it easier to get rid of any lumps in the batter, and the flavors seem to mellow a bit (you get more "chickpea" taste than "bitter").  Seriously.  Waiting is the key.  Let it go for AT LEAST 30 minutes. ***

3. Heat a well-seasoned or non-stick crêpe pan over medium-high heat, and brush lightly with olive oil. For 6-inch crêpes, ladle in 2 to 3 tablespoons batter per crêpe; for 8-inch crêpes, use 1/4 cup, enough to just cover the pan. The batter should sizzle when it hits the pan. Tilt the pan to distribute the batter evenly, and cook on the first side for less than a minute until nicely colored and easy to flip over. Flip and cook for another 30 seconds, then remove from the pan. Stack the crêpes on a plate as they are done. To reheat, wrap in foil and place in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes. Alternately, reheat individually in a dry pan.

Yield: Eight 8-inch or 10 6-inch crêpes, serving four.


These have become my new alternative to bread.  It is easy to make up a batch of them and stash them in the fridge so I can pull one out to make a quick wrap with some cheese and/or lunch meat for a quick lunch (you do have to be careful though, they can crack on you if they bend while they are cool... they can crack even when room temp since they have no wheat flour, but they stay pretty managable).

B.Y.O.Bread

August was an interesting month around here.

There was all the hand pain.  The very, very bad hand pain.

Then the itching started. The kind of itching that would wake up up at 3am to scratch it, on my fingers.

Along with many very easy dinners that didn't require much knife skills, I decided that one thing I should do was cut down on all the fluffy white carbs.  I did a lot of whole-wheat tortila wraps for lunches.

And my hands got a little better.

Then I figured Hey... if I'm already going the high-fiber bread product route, I might as well take a go at the South Beach diet.

One week without any wheat flour and my hands were vastly improved.  Then I ate white fluffy bread again, and the pain, itching and lovely skin rash broke out.

I went to see the doc.  His conclusion?  Lay off the wheat and apply some prescription cream to the hands.

So... apparently, I am off wheat for awhile.

And did you know wheat is in EVERYTHING???

Seriously... it is.  As I am finding out.

But I have learned some things.

A mixture of one part cornstarch to two parts rice flour gives you a very nice thickener for white sauce, very close to wheat flour.  Those are scallops in a very mish-mashed "Scallops Newburg" that I threw together one night.

And I love socca/farinata.  I just learned that one tonight.

It's basically a chickpea flour flatbread.  The stores I shop at have *very* good selection of Indian foods, so chickpea flour was easy to find and cheap as all get-out.  I finally tried a recipe for it tonight in hopes I would have something remotely bread-like to wrap around a grilled brat.  I mixed it up when I got home and let it sit until I was ready to throw it into the oven.

I think a mixture of less water (thicker) would be nice if I want something pankcake-like in texture.  More water will give a thinner batter and should turn out crispier.  But in any case... the fluffier bits were as good as the crispy bits in this stuff.  I look forward to making it again in the future.

In any case... I am off wheat and I have turned into one of those annoying people who reads the ingredient list on EVERYTHING for the time being.  Even the couple of slip-ups I have made have convinced me that right now, no way, no how do I want anything wheat.  I'm really hoping this is not as far gone as full-out celiac disease (the trendy diagnosis right now - people who cannot have ANYTHING with gluten in it) and more an intolerance brought on by a toxicity from just eating too damned much fluffy white stuff.  Because I was.  But I also do NOT want to never again be able to enjoy a loaf of no-knead bread or a burger on a bun.

Three Minute Gourmet

Do "gourmet" recipes scare the beejebus out of you?

Unwilling to spend a ton of money on all the kitchen gadgets that you need to do all the fancy-pants stuff?

Only have a few precious minutes to get something on the table?

Is your comfort level of cooking pretty much pressing buttons?

You'll love Blender Hollandaise.

Cut up a stick of butter.  Put that in a microwaveable container.  I like my glass measuring cup.  Nuke that for 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, separate 3 eggs and dump the yolks in your blender.  I also like to add a blob of dijon mustard.  A few drops of fresh lemon juice is nice, too.

Stir your butter, then nuke for another 30 seconds.

Take the butter out of the microwave.  Take that little middle insert thingy off the top of the blender, and then start the blender on high.  SLOWLY pour the melted butter through the hole in the top of the blender while you let the blender run.

In 60 seconds or less, you'll have Hollandaise that is far better than you'll ever find at a buffet or most restaurants. 

I love the "light hollandaise" I usually make (it's a lightened version, uses flour to thicken the sauce with a LOT less butter) but sometimes it's just a pain to think about making it.  Never the case with blender hollandaise.  Easy and very hard to mess up.

Crazy old Southern recipes that actually work

Peach Cobbler.

It's one of those recipes that you look at and wonder how in the world it work (and how someone came up with the instructions) - but it works.  And it is super easy and so tasty.

I had some peaches to use up... I actually found a nearby farmer's market over the weekend that was semi-decent, and I bought some peaches.  I had to use them up.  What better way than some peach cobbler??

You start your oven.  You throw a stick of butter in a pan and toss that in the oven so the buter can melt.

 Meanwhile, you cook some sliced peaches (I don't bother to peel) with some sugar and water....

 Then it is batter mixing time.  And it is an odd batter.

Flour....

Add milk and mix....

Take the pan out of the oven and the craziness begins.....

Pour the batter OVER the butter...

Pour the peaches OVER the batter....

And then you just look at it for a minute and go "WTF have I just done?  This is never going to work."

But... it does...

The batter bubbles up thru and around the peaches, and it's just wonderful.

Add some vanilla ice cream and let the happiness begin.

Happy... Day after Memorial Day???

Hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend... it was exciting around here - I actually got a new cell phone!  Yay!

I've badly needed one for about the last six months since my phone (a flip phone) started placing random calls while it was CLOSED and it was just unable to hold a charge for more than 24 hours.  Not very helpful features.

And I'm trying really hard to ignore the fact that my brother-in-law called the model of phone the "old people phone" when we were looking at phones.  Hey... I like big buttons.  Sue me.

The weekend was filled with pizza, burgers and sausages.  Oh, and plenty of playing with my phone, since there is so much more to play with.  I can't wait until later this week when my MicroSD card and data cable for the phone arrive.   I'm such a tenchno geek.

Today it was back to the real world, which meant a release deadline at work (when isn't there one?) and cooking dinner.

And since my ulta-lazy-try-to-ease-back-in-non-sloth-mode plan was chicken sandwiches for dinner... I was unhappy to find out the hubby had a chicken sandwich for lunch. 

Bring on a recipe I was planning on trying later in the week... Sweet & Sour Pork with Pineapple.

















You slice a pork tenderloin in 1/4 inch slices, cook for a minute and a half per side. 

I had some leftover cooked onions and peppers from brats on the grill yesterday, so I used those.  The original recipe calls for red pepper.  That would be nice too.

The key is the sauce... closest to take-out I've ever had.

6 T rice vinegar
6 T pineapple juice (use the reserved liquid from a can of pineapple chunks)
6 T sugar
3 T ketchup
3 T soy sauce
1 T cornstarch
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T grated fresh ginger (I used grated whole dried ginger since I forgot to buy ginger at the store)

Put the pork in the pan, dump in the sauce, cook until thick.

Delish.

Even if the hubby - who ALWAYS orders the battered version of sweet & sour pork - turns up his nose and goes "ewww" just because it looks like stir fry.

Helllloooooo... internet!

Well, crap. It's been quiet around here, hasn't it??

Blame it on all the TV season finales, a buttload of work to do at work, an overheating laptop and a broken cooling fan (not the same as the fan IN the laptop, it's an external thing), trying to get workouts in, and life in general.  Oh, and having one too many brewskies on Saturday night and catching the little tribute to Ronnie James Dio that they did on VH1 Classic and crying my eyes out for about fifteen minutes.

(Long story somewhat shorter.... my friend knew the guys in one of his opening bands when he was swinging thru Chicago many years ago, and I basically got recruited to hang out with them all for the day since I had a car and one of the guys in the band wanted to go visit his grandparent's graves, which were in the city.  While soundchecks were going on, Ronnie noticed us lingering around and called us over to talk to him, and the man was a true gentleman in the way you don't see anymore.  Talking to the chicks hanging with his opening band very respectfully - we ended up chatting about religion and school - I was still in college at the time - and the man could not have been nicer or more well spoken.  Why is it always the good ones that go too early?  The world is a sadder place without him in it)
Oh, and the past few days it's been in my head to get this over-ten-year-old-piece-of-technology working again.....

That, my friends, is the Sharp Mobilon Tripad Handheld PC.  I bought it back in 199-mumblemumble and it just never got used like I intended.  All I remember is that I had busted the screen on my laptop (actually... my dad did... he stepped on it... in his defense I probably shouldn't have had it on the floor of my bedroom...) and this was a cheap replacement as basically a word processor.

It's spent many a year shoved in my closet.  And it's been too long.

When I first saw the iPad... my first thought was "Hey.... I had one of those back in '99!   And it was better.. it had a keyboard!" 

I still love the design of it.. you can flip it to be a tablet or it kinda has it's own stand and keyboard for real typing.  It's got an expansion slot that I never used for anything.  I found out I can probably get a version of Mobipocket to work on it.  Mobipocket AND a basic Word?  Sign me up.  That's mostly what I need anyway.

So... on to the cooking...

Tonight was Chiles Rellenos Casserole.  A million versions of it are out there, this one was pretty basic.  Now, the hubby and I love chiles rellenos.  I've made them quite a few times.  But it is a pain in the BLEEP with all the roasting and stuffing and coating and cooking, and it never turns out quite right.  I thought the casserole form might be a smidge easier.

Pretty basic... I went with some shimp...

Load on the roasted chiles and cheese....

Over the top of it all goes an egg/flour mixture....

And halfway thru baking, I topped it with some canned chopped tomatoes....

And... done!

I do not know why, but I kinda thought it would be cheesy goodness on the bottom and eggy/bready topping on top, when it actually was more eggy thru the whole thing.  Still tasty though.  Yummy on it's own, equally tasty when slapped on a tortilla.

I liked it.

The hubby was grumbly because he's been eating Mexican food off the lunch truck that swings by his work all week (hey... did someone hold a gun to your head to make you eat burritos all week???  I don't think so).

Oh frittatas... where have you been all my life??

We love eggs for dinner.  Fried, in omlete form, scrambled, poached... you name it.

But for some unknown reason, the frittata has always scared me.

I suppose I've always imagined that no matter what, it'd end up glued/burned to the bottom of the pan and dinner would be a failure.

But last week... I tried one for the first time. A lovely Leek and Asparagus frittata since I had leeks and asparagus (and mushrooms, which the recipe calls for, and potatoes, which the recipe doesn't call for, and some Chilean cheese, which the recipe doesn't specifically call for).

While the recipe was already in progress I will admit that I freaked... I was using a pan that is "stick resistant" and not "non-stick" and I was convinced it would be a disaster. 

So pretty!!

And tasty. 

And how did it come out of my merely "stick-resistant" Calphalon anodized pan??  (My buddie That Word Guy turned me on to this pan... seriously... so worth it.  It's like the "crack" of this product line... they sell it cheap and get you hooked.  And if you add it to your basket in Amazon and just keep an eye on them, they can get as low as $30-$40 bucks and it is SO worth it)

Wonderfully!

Yeah... didn't stick to the bottom because really, the whole point of a fittata is that the eggs cook to the "brown" stage, where they should release from the pan anyway.

I liked it so much, I tried it agiain tonight... a purely veggie affair of some "ancient red" peppers (when I see an ingredient I've never even heard of at the grocery store... I must buy...) and shallots with the egg....

This one was also lovely.  Even if it stuck a little bit.

And it paired up nicely with some lovely slabs of browned Spam....

That's just the Spam, people.  No flour or coating needed... the Spam will get all brown and crispy and good on its own.

Recipes that SHOULD be redone

Yeah... it's been quiet around here. Lots of work at work, lots of work at my side gig, and trying to get in enough reading time to finish Gail Carriger's "Changeless" and Jim Butcher's "Changes"... and hey... I just realized those titles are similar... both were extremely good reads even if I did have to wait two extra days for the hubby to finish his copy of "Changes" so we could discuss.... but anyway... meals around here have been easy or repeats for the past two weeks, but hopefully I'm getting back into the swing.... so... back to your not-so-regularly scheduled program....

So... I've been a subsciber to Cooking Light magazine since about 2001, I think.

You subscribe to any recipe magazine that long, and you will start to notice that they repeat things.

Cooking Light always apparently needs to repeat/revisit things I wouldn't had touched in the first place. And apparently, they don't bother with recipes that they probably should give another go.

Enter, Meatballs and Peppers.

I was looking for something to do with ground beef. I actually mixed up and baked off the meatballs last night, since my ground beef was nearing the end of the usability period. Threw the cooked meatballs in the fridge, and when I got home I just whipped them out, and then heated them up with the brother and the peppers.




Um.... my... that picture is a little blurry. Sorry about that.

Anyway....

It was easy to do with the already cooked meatballs, and then I finished with some white balsamic vinegar rather than the white wine vinegar.

Very tasty.

And something that changed my world.....

MICROWAVE POLENTA!!!!!



I love polenta. The hubby hates it. So it's really only ever worth making a single serving of it, and it can just be a smidge of a pain for "just one person" even when that person is me.

Cup of water, 3 tablespoons polenta, a pat of butter, then 3 minutes in the microwave followed by a sprinkle of cheese and a little more salt and pepper.... ohmyword. I can do this?!?! Like... seriously..... I can take leftover meatballs with me to work tomorrow, and then just microwave up my own polenta, fresh???

Happy me. Happy, polenta-filled-tummy me.

Happy Easter!!!!

Urp.

Is everyone else out there as full of Easter food as I am??

There was much to celebrate this year... after last year, knowing layoffs were looming and having a week of furlough before the holiday, I threw myself into food prep for Easter and went nutso... so far as to make my own pierogies.

Yeah, not this year.

While there is much to celebrate, like being employeed again and having a beautiful new sink......

(ain't it purty?? The first pan I washed in it made me so excited I had to run upstairs to the computer room to tell the hubby "IT'S SO AWESOME!" I mean, seriously... I knew a 6 inch sink was seriously lacking, but I had no idea that two more inches of sink would make such a HUGE difference. It's nice to not get my whole shirtfront wet when I try to wash a pot)

... back to the story....

... this year, I'm just burned out. Don't know if it's all the work (had some extra stuff pop up in the part-time contracting job also) or what, but my whole attitude about Easter this year was "meh".

We were already committed to bringing the cheesecake that has been taking up freezer space since around Valentine's Day (someone at the hubby's work has a kid that uses them for fundraising, and while they are pretty darned good cheesecakes, that's a lot of freezer space to sacrifice!). I did want to make a Gingerbread cake from some little Cook's Illustrated special issue thingy that I bought since the hubby wanted to try that. Other than that, I was pretty content to not worry about bringing much - especially since my brother in law and his family weren't going to be eating with us this year.

But, well... sometime during the last week I got a craving for good ole Knorr spinach dip in the big old Hawaian bread bowl. Easy enough to make and bring.

Oh, and I know that my favorite part of spinach dip is the water chestnuts, so I figured I'd double up on the water chestnuts that I added. The verdict? I loved it and everyone else was "oh... this is sooooo good!"

Double water chestnuts.... good thing.

Can't find an online (free) source for the gingerbread cake. It was in a "Best of 2010" or "Best for 2010" issue thingy. I did make the decision to ditch my silicone bakeware and went and bought a real bundt pan to make it. Worked like a charm.

Hubby loved the cake, everyone else said they liked it also. If it gets made again, I might cut back on the ginger in the glaze since it crossed just over into the "too much for me" category. But all said... still good.

And now, for the late-night munching... it's frozen pizza time since the hubby walked into the kitchen and said "I want something that is not eggs or tuna or ham or polish sausage". Bring on the frozen pizza, baby.

Which does leave me in a pickle for dinner on Tuesday since the new Jim Butcher novel comes out that day and we'll each have our noses into our own copies of that book during the evening, I wager. I figured frozen pizza would be A) quick and B) easy to eat while reading. Hmmm.

Randomosity: Why I Love My Hubby, IUOF, The "To-Try" List and the New Addition!

Jumble of a post ahead. Deal.

Why I love the hubby... as much as he is NOT a foodie, at least I no longer get looks when the time at night is this.....



... and I have a pot of Potato Leek soup on the stove.....



... and rather than giving me odd looks, he just goes "Oh, potato leek soup. That smells good."

Other randomosity....

Why is it, even when I follow a recipe to the letter, I still get watery scalloped potatoes? It is just one thing I cannot get right.

"IUOF" and the "To-Try" List....

Ok... a group I've known online for ages has a bunch of little phrases/abbreviations that we use... one is IUOF. Inappropriate Use Of Fruit. For recipes where the addition of fruit is really just kinda a big "ew" to some people. I discovered a new one... IUO Olives. I went to the cafe in our building yesterday, and they had "Roasted Tomato Soup" on the menu.

Yeah. I thought tomatoes, maybe a little cream, and all would be good.

Not so.

It had OLIVES in it. GREEN olives. Now, I love me some black olives. Green olives are wonderful in the bottom of a martini glass, and OK in moderation. In soup?? YUCK. I ended up tossing it all. Just way gross.

Which brings us to.....

The To-Try list.

I know it's not uncommon at least among my friends to have loads and lists of recipes that you want to try, but never get around to. I also have that. One of those has been Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup. Been wanting to try it since 2005 and it has not yet happened. But it got stuck in my head recently, and I made a batch tonight. I have to say, easy enough to make, and I just whizzed it in the food processor and didn't bother straining the solids... but tres yum....

Yeah, it might be prettier if it didn't have the seeds in it, but it was still very yummy.

And last..... The New Addition!!

It's been something I've been wanting to do for years... it took some talking to get the hubby to go for it... but I'd like to introduce you to....

Our future sink!!!

Yes, I am totally over excited about a new sink.


I swore, shortly after I was into the layoff period from my last job, that our sink was GOING to be replaced when I was back working. And considering I started working right before the Turkey Day and Xmas holidays, I consider this to be pretty quick timing.

We went to Home Depot a couple weeks ago and looked over the options, I liked the Kohler Double Staccato sink that is pictured above. Other than the shape, which should allow for larger pots, I am totally excited that it is a whole EIGHT INCHES deep. Our current sink is the cheap-ass builders model that went into the place when it was built... six inches deep. And any lady wil tell you... sometimes those numbers do matter, and six is not enough.

Also got a new faucet and garbage disposal. Yay!!!

The plan is that the hubby is taking Friday off of work to work on the installation. I'm glad, because I will not be home for any of it and will happily sit in bliss at work while it happens. If all goes perfectly, it should be done on Friday. I figure worst case... it gets finished on Saturday.


And I will be a happy, happy hausfrau.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Ladies and gents... I give you, Irish Soda Bread.

It looks scraggly. I know. But it was good. And I didn't cook it in my stoneware pie plate... that is where it ended up after I pulled it out of the cast iron skillet.

It was easy to do... and it was tasty. I whipped it up on Sunday morning before we headed over to my in-law's for my mother in law's traditional corned beef dinner. She may be Polish... but that lady makes a mean corned beef and cabbage.

And Ireland always makes me think of soda bread.

I think it was fifth grade... we had to do a report in some class on a country, and I got stuck in a group with "Ireland" as our country. Being a budding foodie at the time and a big fan of Jeff Smith (I still think that guy got a bad rap) and the international food stuff he was doing at the time, I decided I was going to cook.

I made Irish Soda Bread (not the ATK recipe) and potato leek soup. My mom made a special trip with the heated up soup to deliver it to my class... it was AWESOME. Everyone got a slice of soda bread and a cup of soup. Soda bread was a hit. The soup was kinda so-so for the average fifth grade taste.

I took the leftover soda bread and soup to the teacher's lounge. And I got nothing but compliments from every teacher at the school for the next week.

I also remember running to the store to purchase and then eat a half of loaf of soda bread back when I was in college. It was the day of the Chicago South Side Irish parade (RIP). If you're not familiar... it's basically a big reason to get drunk in public. I was working for a radio station at the time, and me and the other intern did all the details of the float and the scheduling and ordering up the sweatshirts for everyone at the station.... and it was my first St. Pat's where I was over 21. So I actually got sent off the float at some point to run into a liquor store that was on the parade route because we were low on Guinness on the float. Yes, it's not only a parade where the people watching are drinking... it's a parade where the people on the floats are also drinking. Someone almost feel off the float - don't remember who.

(That is the same job where Pat Boone whacked me in the back of the head with a door, hard - so hard I actually blacked out for a moment - ahhhh.... memories.....)

And there was a lady in the crowd that I will remember forever... the lady watching the parade with her husband and kids, who gave us a "woooo!" and raised her - I kid you not - box of wine as a salute.

Yeah.... I was more than slightly drunk by the time I made it back to the dorm room after that parade.

Skillet Baked Ziti

Am am falling more and more in love with the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen folks every day.

They do know their stuff. And I love that they've done quite a few "skillet" recipes in recent times.... basically, a more "homemade" version of Hamburger Helper.

I used to LOVE Hamburger Helper as the person responsible for the cooking... nice and easy. But I will admit... I've recently graduated to another level of food-snobbiness where I just don't like the taste, even as a guilty pleasure.

In comes things like Skillet Baked Ziti. Which I apparently must have had on my mental to-cook list for awhile, since I had a package of ziti (and I usually never have ziti on hand).

The time change this weekend, combined with waking up at 6am on Saturday when the hubby's alarm went off (he had to go into work, of course I couldn't get back to sleep after that and he slept until 7:30) and getting up yesterday to make soda bread (I'll post that tomorrow) and a second looming deadline for this week added to the one we know about... I was pooped when I got home from work. Tried to nap, didn't really happen, but I knew I at least wanted something for dinner that was pretty brainless to make.

Hello, Skillet Baked Ziti.



I did change it up a bit (of course...). Started with a pound of ground beef and a chopped onion (always a good start) and rather than be fussy, I dumped in a jar of Prego and added a jar full of water (and probably ended up needing another 3/4 jar by the time the pasta was done). Had some leftover cream sauce from the weekend, and some leftover cheese from some other point in time... easy, mindless, and tasty.

Was it good? Yes. The hubby had two huge servings. And I am more than happy to have some leftovers for lunches this week, espeically with two deadlines looming.

But... lessons in Why You Shouldn't Wear a Low-Cut Top When You're Coooking Number 4375.... watch out when you're tasting the tubular pasta to see if it's done. Because, ya know, the SCALDING HOT liquid you're cooking in tends to hide out in that little pasta tube. And it burns like a bleepity-bleep when it squirts out the other end and right down your décolletage. And leaves SUCH A lovely little burn mark.

Great recipes that you forget about...

I don't know why, but there are just some recipes I totally forget about until I make them (usually unplanned). Tabasco Shrimp Tacos with Spiked Sour Cream is one of those recipes.

See... my plan tonight was to stop at Fresh Market on the way home from work, and I wanted to get some egg rolls or pot stickers or something so I could make a shrimp stir-fry. The only way I can get my hubby to NOT complain about a stir-fry night is when I also have something like pot stickers or egg rolls.

Fresh Market? No frozen egg rolls, none in their semi-prepared foods, and I was not going to spend $9+ on chicken potstickers. Number one, I've never had a chicken potsticker that was not seriously lacking in flavor. Two, seriously... over nine bucks?? I am well away that this store is overpriced (it's a neighborhood over from where I live... and what a difference a neighborhood makes) but I wouldn't pay $9 for potstickers that were prepared for me.

So... came home... was still planning on the stir-fry (hubby would have to suffer). And... no ramen noodles. Wanna make a stir-fry night even worse? Try ro serve up only rice to the hubby.

And it was a long day at work with much stress and posturing with other groups (it's always fun when people try to change requirements a week before a project is supposed to wrap up - for a project that has been going on for over six months). I didn't wanna put up with the whines and complaints.

Enter Tabasco Shrimp Tacos.

Seriously... they take about 15 minutes to make. You put the seasonings on the shrimp and let that mellow, then mix up a lovely sour cream....

Um, yeah... there is Tabasco and chili powerder in there. I just re-charged my camera battery. Apparently the flash REALLY liked being all charged.

Anyway... then you cook up your shrimp.....

Good with flour tortillas, good with corn tortillas, or my favorite - on a tostada. Wonderful... yet I only make this recipe once or twice a year because I just forget about it.

(Although maybe that will change... I will admit that the hubby and I tried Taco Bell's new shrimp tacos over the weekend and we actually kinda liked them. Which is what must have gotten this recipe in my head)

Runzas!!

(waves hands around furiously to clear out the cobwebs.... sorry folks, around here the past couple of weeks have been a holiday season around here, with Valentine's Day and Fat Tuesday being Holy Cooking Days around here, and then quickly followed by my birthday, and then a run of crappy weather combined with 3 massive document deadlines in three weeks - that made for some very lame dinners around these parts. I'll try to be beter. I promise. Really)

So... I will admit to being one of "those people" that LOVES watching shows about regional foods. One thing I love to do when I travel is sample whatever local thing is in the area. The hubby is like that too... only right now he's totally focused on "Hot & Juicy Crawfish" in Vegas being the next "local" thing he has to try. And I won't argue that one since I love me some crawfish.

One thing that has always seemed interesting has been Runzas. Apparently a Nebraska thing... people say "midwest" but I live in the Midwest and we don't have them around Chi-town. So, when I was flipping through a Cooks Illustrated special issue of "Forgotten Foods" in the Grocery store and found a recipe for Runzas.... I was all over that. I will not let the fact they involve yeast dough throw me!!

I actually made these on a "snow day" where I stayed home from work. I whipped up the dough while I was eating my lunch, took about 5 minutes to do, then I left it on the counter for an hour and then popped it in the fridge to wait for dinner time.



That's so happy dough!!

I actually made the filling a couple days before... I refuse to buy the totally irradiated ground beef at the chain grocery store, which means that the shelf life of the stuff from the produce mart (which has actual butchers and not just people in white coats) is less. But it's ground beef... cook now, use later.

Oh, it's mixed with some chopped onion and about half a bag of cole slaw mix that I had leftover from something else. Smart shopping....



Now, filling them was a little tricky. I tried just doing it in my hands before I decided to FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS (really... you'd think a Technical Writer would follow instructions better than I do when it comes to recipes....) and I started using a bowl, which worked well. Roll out the dough, lay it in the bowl, put in a slice of American cheese, add meat, and then seal it up...

Threw them in the oven, and prayed to the Yeast Gods that all would turn out.

And it did!!

Some spillage/leakage, but nothing major. I liked them a lot... the hubby, not so much. Apparently the fact it's a rather sweet dough kinda threw him. He ate his one, but didn't go back for seconds. Which was fine with me... threw them in the freezer and ended up pulling one out for a lunch later in the week. Turned out to be a perfect lunch when I had about five minutes to try and eat before a meeting while I also needed to continue to work with at least one hand. (Leave it to the Germans to figure out how to make something that you can eat while also being productive).

What else says "Valentine's Day" like squid???

Happy belated Valentine's Day!!

So... the instant I saw it being made on TV, I wanted to try Braised Calamari Stuffed with Shrimp, Spinach and Herbs. When I mentioned it to the hubby, his reply was "You can do that?!?!?!?!!!!"

I always see frozen squid at the one market I go to and it is dirt cheap... why not try it?? And heck... it'll make a nice Valentine's Day dinner, right??



Oh, because the squid are TOTALLY NOT CLEANED?? That might be a reason.

I usually don't get squimish about food... but dead calamari eyes looking up at me as I tried to clean them? Not the most fun thing ever.

However, they were easy to clean. Really. Pulled apart easily, I thought the outter membrane was going to be hard to peel off... totally not.

The filling? As long as you have a food processor, totally easy. I'd consider doing just the filling as some nice seafood burgers in a minute. And I used frozen chopped spinach, mainly because I was not smart and did not check the recipe before I went shopping. But it all turned out OK.

Now, the actual recipe calls for larger squid than I had. Which is probably well worth the effort to find, since filling the calamari tubes was not easy. The way I was fumbling with them and trying to get them filled... well... maybe it was just the Valentine's Day mood... but all I could think about was condoms. And I am not good with condoms. I've "been" with the hubby since I was 18 and I am well into "30" territory now, and while we've been married only since 2004... well... I was thankful to be on the pill and not have to deal with condoms too much. Because my crappy lack of manual dexterity leaves me totally frustraited.

And, apparently, when you're dealing with small squid, it's much the same situation.

But... being Valentine's Day and all... I finally managed to get the buggers filled....



And then into a sauce bath for 20 minutes. Didn't make my own sauce. Used Prego. Deal with it.

Overall?? Hubby loved them, and since I did the squid ahead of time it was quick when I actually got dinner started. I don't know if I was still picturing dead squid eyes or what... I didn't enjoy as much. Mind you... cooked perfectly, nice and tender, but it just wasn't floating my boat.

Oh, and while I was worried that I wasn't filling the squid tubes enough... totally not a problem. The filling expands as it cooks and I had a couple small squid blowouts... but still, all turned out OK.

So... filling? Awesome.

Small squid? Do they make a pill for that????