Why not?
I don't know if it is just allergies gone wild, or if we are all nursing mild Summer colds (no fevers, so I lean toward the allergy theory) but some of us are sneezy and some have headaches, sore throats, etc. Soup seemed like the natural choice. Luckily, it is a pleasant 82 degrees (where is the "degrees" symbol on the keyboard? There must be a "degrees" symbol somewhere!!) here in So-Cal (as opposed to 102),so it's not too unreasonable a choice, I suppose.
I just started, but here's how it is going so far:
2TBS olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 can organic diced tomatoes
about 1 1/2 cups leftover tomato sauce from last night's dinner
4-5 cups water
a pinch of salt
Now, if I hadn't had leftover tomato sauce, I would have added fresh herbs, garlic and maybe some more diced tomatoes, but I did. So, there.
Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add onion and salt (herbs and garlic would normally have gone in at this point) and cook over low-med heat until the onion is translucent. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and water. Now, I am going to cook that for an hour or so, and then I will add veggies. I have some frozen organic mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, green beans and peas), so I will add a few handfuls of those, along with a small diced zucchini from the garden, about 1/2 of each a red bell pepper and a green bell pepper that is leftover from a recent macaroni salad and some frozen chopped spinach if I still have it. When Shane gets home (early ~ hooray!!), I will add a lot of fresh minced garlic, because I am pretty sure that will cure whatever ails us, and because he is stopping at the store to get me some ~ thank you, honey :) I'll cook that until the veggies are tender (or maybe longer, because I like to cook my soups for a long time), and then I will add a can of chick peas, drained and rinsed (and drained again, of course) and cook until everything is hot through.
Justice asked if we could put noodles in the soup. Yes, and no. I will serve the soup with noodles, but I won't cook the noodles in the soup. I will cook the noodles separately, drain them, toss in a little olive oil so they won't stick together, put them into bowls and spoon soup over them for those who so desire*. I purposely made enough that we will have leftovers, and I have found that, as the noodles sit in the broth, they tend to sop it up. The soup thickens too much, and the noodles get mushy, so, I prefer to store them separately.
I think we have some Romano in the fridge, so the cheese-eaters can grate that over the top of their soup, if they like. Then, they can grin ~ a great big cheese-eating grin. Cheese-eaters are like that, you know, always grinning in their cheese-eating way (or so I hear). I'll be sprinkling nutritional yeast on mine. It's not quite the same, but I have grown accustomed to it.
If I get a wild hair, I may get up and make biscuits, but I don't really want to heat the oven...or get up, come to think of it. Besides, I have a whole loaf of French bread that needs to be eaten, anyway.
* FYI ~ Kaia will be eating noodles, sans soup. She will probably drink green juice, and we will all pretend to think this is a perfectly reasonable choice. *sigh*
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Homemade Pasta
I didn't make homemade pasta tonight, but I do like to make it and, shoot, maybe I will again soon. I thought it would be silly to post the instructions for cooking store-bought pasta ~ they are on the package, and, if you are reading this, one would have to assume you can read ~ so I decided to post this recipe instead. This was originally written when my daughters and I first tried out the pasta machine my husband had given me as a gift. I have made it several times since then, and it is always just lovely. This recipe assumes you are using a pasta machine. Someday, I will post a recipe for homemade egg noodles that do not require the use of a pasta machine. For now, enjoy this:
Place 3 cups of flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Crack 4 eggs into the well. Use a fork to gradually mix the flour into the eggs until the dough begins to come together. Move dough to a floured surface and work with your hands until you achieve a relatively uniform colour and texture. Now, the instructions did not say it should be "relatively" uniform, but that was as close as we were going to get. The dough is VERY stiff. If it won't hold together, you can add a sprinkle of water, but be very conservative in this matter.
Okay, so your dough looks pretty much like a lump of dough now. Form it into a ball and wrap it up in a towel. Let rest for a few minutes. Next, use a sharp knife to slice off 1/4" thick slices and process them in your pasta machine. Make sure you wrap up your lump of dough again each time you remove a slice (you don't want it to dry out). Adjust your pasta machine to its thickest setting. Run the slice of dough through, then lay it flat, sprinkle with a bit of flour, fold in thirds and run it through again on the same setting. Do this one more time. Now, turn the dial down a notch (to the next thinner setting) and run the dough through one time. Turn down, run through again. Repeat, adjusting the setting thinner and thinner for each pass, until the desired thickness is achieved. Finally, run the long, thin strip of dough you have created through the cutting end of your machine. Lay the pasta flat to dry.
The pasta should be cooked in boiling, salted water just until al dente (literally, "to the tooth" ~ in other words, you should have to use your tooth to cut it, it should not just squish). Toss with you favourite sauce. Here's one we like:
6-8 Roma tomatoes, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
10-15 leaves of basil, chopped
a few oregano leaves
2 TBS olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Heat a skillet, then add olive oil and heat until quite warm. Turn off heat, place garlic in pan and swirl gently to cook the garlic until softened, but not brown. Add herbs, tomatoes, salt and pepper, and toss gently. You can serve it as is, or, if you prefer the tomatoes a bit softer, turn on the heat again and cook briefly, stirring constantly, until the tomatoes have reached your desired consistency. Toss with hot cooked pasta. If desired, top with grated cheese, and/or pine nuts (or chopped walnuts.
Place 3 cups of flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Crack 4 eggs into the well. Use a fork to gradually mix the flour into the eggs until the dough begins to come together. Move dough to a floured surface and work with your hands until you achieve a relatively uniform colour and texture. Now, the instructions did not say it should be "relatively" uniform, but that was as close as we were going to get. The dough is VERY stiff. If it won't hold together, you can add a sprinkle of water, but be very conservative in this matter.
Okay, so your dough looks pretty much like a lump of dough now. Form it into a ball and wrap it up in a towel. Let rest for a few minutes. Next, use a sharp knife to slice off 1/4" thick slices and process them in your pasta machine. Make sure you wrap up your lump of dough again each time you remove a slice (you don't want it to dry out). Adjust your pasta machine to its thickest setting. Run the slice of dough through, then lay it flat, sprinkle with a bit of flour, fold in thirds and run it through again on the same setting. Do this one more time. Now, turn the dial down a notch (to the next thinner setting) and run the dough through one time. Turn down, run through again. Repeat, adjusting the setting thinner and thinner for each pass, until the desired thickness is achieved. Finally, run the long, thin strip of dough you have created through the cutting end of your machine. Lay the pasta flat to dry.
The pasta should be cooked in boiling, salted water just until al dente (literally, "to the tooth" ~ in other words, you should have to use your tooth to cut it, it should not just squish). Toss with you favourite sauce. Here's one we like:
6-8 Roma tomatoes, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
10-15 leaves of basil, chopped
a few oregano leaves
2 TBS olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Heat a skillet, then add olive oil and heat until quite warm. Turn off heat, place garlic in pan and swirl gently to cook the garlic until softened, but not brown. Add herbs, tomatoes, salt and pepper, and toss gently. You can serve it as is, or, if you prefer the tomatoes a bit softer, turn on the heat again and cook briefly, stirring constantly, until the tomatoes have reached your desired consistency. Toss with hot cooked pasta. If desired, top with grated cheese, and/or pine nuts (or chopped walnuts.
Readers
Alas, I have none.
I have been thinking that, perhaps, my husband should read this. He is convinced he cannot cook at all, but, on Sunday morning, I talked him through scrambled eggs with spinach, basil and cheese (soy on mine and Swiss on his). I stuffed mine into a whole grain English muffin, and it was just right. Bear in mind, this is the man who once asked me if I wanted corn or artichokes for dinner. He didn't mean as a side dish ~ he really just planned to prepare one of the two. We decided to have both. I will say, however, that he is the one to whom I defer when artichokes need to be steamed, or corn on the cob is on the menu. He does a better job than I with both. He can scramble an egg, boil pasta, cook rice, steam broccoli...He's really much better off than he thinks. I think he just doesn't think to season things and mix them up as much as I do.
It occurred to me that, since I kind of talk my way through the prep steps here, it might be helpful to someone like him. Maybe it drives other cooks crazy, but I like to leave things sort of open-ended, to offer options and encourage experimentation. You know, variety is the spice of life, they say.
Well, time to plan tonight's dinner. I am thinking a simple pasta with tomato sauce. I have packaged dry pasta, and sauce in the freezer, but maybe I will come back later and post recipes for homemade pasta and sauce. hmmm...where are those recipes? Probably we'll need a vegetable of some sort. I'll let you know how it all pans out.
I have been thinking that, perhaps, my husband should read this. He is convinced he cannot cook at all, but, on Sunday morning, I talked him through scrambled eggs with spinach, basil and cheese (soy on mine and Swiss on his). I stuffed mine into a whole grain English muffin, and it was just right. Bear in mind, this is the man who once asked me if I wanted corn or artichokes for dinner. He didn't mean as a side dish ~ he really just planned to prepare one of the two. We decided to have both. I will say, however, that he is the one to whom I defer when artichokes need to be steamed, or corn on the cob is on the menu. He does a better job than I with both. He can scramble an egg, boil pasta, cook rice, steam broccoli...He's really much better off than he thinks. I think he just doesn't think to season things and mix them up as much as I do.
It occurred to me that, since I kind of talk my way through the prep steps here, it might be helpful to someone like him. Maybe it drives other cooks crazy, but I like to leave things sort of open-ended, to offer options and encourage experimentation. You know, variety is the spice of life, they say.
Well, time to plan tonight's dinner. I am thinking a simple pasta with tomato sauce. I have packaged dry pasta, and sauce in the freezer, but maybe I will come back later and post recipes for homemade pasta and sauce. hmmm...where are those recipes? Probably we'll need a vegetable of some sort. I'll let you know how it all pans out.
Monday, June 28, 2010
What's for Dinner
Wow. I guess I sort of forgot about this. Good thing I have no readers. So, here are a few things we have eaten recently:
Saturday morning, we awoke in our little cabin, which was part of a rental complex we were sharing with friends for the weekend. We meet once a year with this particular group of friends for what is now known as "Friends Holiday." This year, we decided to meet in the San Diego area and enjoy a trip to Legoland. During our holiday together, each family is responsible for one meal. My family (and therefore, me, as I am the primary cook in our household) took Saturday breakfast. Since we were fueling up the troops for a long day of amusement park fun, we decided to give them something good and hearty. The trick, as I saw it, would be to come up with a menu that would satisfy the adults need for delicious variety, the kids' need for simple, delicious food, and everyone's need for fuel that would last them through the first few long lines. I thought I would try to sneak in some nourishment while I was at it. With all that in mind, I settled on the following menu:
whole wheat pancakes
plain old white pancakes
homefries
scrambled eggs
sauteed vegetables
shredded cheese (cheddar, Swiss and soy*)
The idea was that we would leave the eggs plain, and anyone who wanted to add veggies and cheese to their eggs could do so. My original plan was to make an omelet, but it made more sense this way, since we had people who preferred plain eggs or different types of cheese. Instead of making each omelet to order, I cooked it all up and let people mix things up however they pleased. The pancakes were made from mixes, so I won't list a recipe for them, but I will say that, when I make pancakes from a mix, I always add applesauce (about one of those little individual serving packs for the smallest recipe on the box), and I usually use a fortified rice milk, nut milk or other dairy milk substitute for the liquid, even if the recipe onthe box calls for water.
Thanx to Warren, we were able to add fresh-squeezed orange juice and homemade salsa to the menu :)
Homefries are very simple.
You will need:
onion
potatoes (I like Yukon Gold)
salt & pepper to tatse
olive oil (probably 1/2 - 2 TBS)
seasonings of your choice (see instructions below)
Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet (I use cast iron), then add some olive oil (depends on how many potatoes you are making ~ use enough to keep them from sticking, but not so much that they will float away) and turn heat to low. Quarter and then thinly slice an onion, then add it to the hot oil and stir to coat. Use as much as you like. I used one large onion for our big group (24 people, I think).
Peel potatoes and cut into bit-sized chunks. My mom taught me this rule of thumb: one potato per diner + one for the pot. If I am cooking for a very large group, I might add 2 for the pot. I added this part to the equation: 2 small children = 1 person (not in real life, but in the potato equation). Add the potatoes to the hot skillet, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and seasoning of your choice. Now, here's where it gets interesting. You can change the seasoning to suit your taste. I like Old Bay Seasoning on my homefries, but, sometimes, say, if I am serving them with soy chorizo, beans, eggs, salsa and tortillas (one of my favourite hearty breakfasts, BTW), I might season them with cumin, cilantro, garlic, chili powder...or, sometimes I might feel like adding curry powder and dill, or garlic and basil...you can play around with the seasonings. Or, play it safe, and just stick with salt, pepper and onion. That will be tasty, too. In this case, I had forgotten to pack the Old Bay, so I look in the spice drawer and came out with a bottle of Spike. It worked out just fine. Now, you want to cook your potatoes over med-low heat and stir them occasionally, but not too often. You want them to brown a little in some places, but not too brown all over. Just keep checking them. They'll be done when they're done. Sorry, I have no idea how long it will take. That kind of depends on your idea of "bite-sized." Season to taste as you go.
Now, I think I will give you the recipe for the sauteed veggies both with and without eggs.
1 red pepper, thinly sliced, then cut in half
1 green pepper, as above
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
8-12 leaves fresh basil, cut into ribbons**
10 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 bag of fresh baby spinach*
salt & pepper to taste
* first and foremost, I know "1 bag" is a stupidly vague measurement. You know, you go to the grocery store,and it comes prepackaged in these bags...I don't know how many ounces. I will try to find out. Anyway, use fresh spinach ~ frozen gets soggy and canned is already soggy, so fresh is the way to go here. (BTW, the mushrooms were one of those little square packages. I am guessing about the weight, but it seems right...ish)
** to cut basil into ribbons, stack the leaves together, then roll up like a jelly roll, stating at the top and rolling toward the stem end. Use scissors to cut through the roll, in the same direction as you rolled them. (Did that make sense? Maybe I will have to figure out how to add pictures, so I can illustrate this stuff...)
Heat the olive oil in your large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Add peppers and mushrooms. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and stir to coat. Turn heat to med-low and cook, stirring, for just a few minutes. When the mushrooms start to look a little softer and darker in colour than they did when you started, add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add the spinach and continue to cook, stirring, until the spinach is wilted.
Now, you can be done there. You can eat these as they are ~ it's great with with crusty bread and beans ~ add them to a grilled cheese (place veggies in between two slices of cheese and flip you sandwich very carefully, so it doesn't fall apart), toss them with pasta or rice...the possibilities are endless. What I did this weekend was to put them in a dish, then put out a dish of scrambled eggs and small bowls with different types of cheese. However, my original plan was this:
In a large bowl, beat 6-8 large eggs with about 1/4 water (or milk, if you prefer). Evenly distribute the veggies over the bottom of your skillet, then pour the egg mixture over all. You can either stir the egg mixture as it is cooking, scrambling the eggs, or, for a more elegant presentation, cook over low heat until set. If you are skilled enough to flip the large omelet without breaking it, kudos to you. If not, I have found you can sort of "cheat" by placing a lid over the pan, which helps hold in the steam and cooks the top of the egg well enough. Keep the heat low ~ burnt eggs kind of suck. Okay, so, when the egg is set, you can sprinkle cheese over the top if you like. Cover the pan with a lid to melt the cheese. You can serve it as is (cut into wedges) or you can fold it in half (the usual way an omelet is served), but I find that makes it very thick.
So. I have actually posted a couple of recipes. Woo-hoo. They are simple, but I like them. If you don't eat eggs, you can use tofu, I suppose. Be adventurous. Try different veggies, different seasonings...Sometimes, I mix the veggies with the potatoes. Sometimes I add broccoli and/or corn. That, wrapped up in a tortilla with some avocado and salsa is simply scrumptious.
Saturday morning, we awoke in our little cabin, which was part of a rental complex we were sharing with friends for the weekend. We meet once a year with this particular group of friends for what is now known as "Friends Holiday." This year, we decided to meet in the San Diego area and enjoy a trip to Legoland. During our holiday together, each family is responsible for one meal. My family (and therefore, me, as I am the primary cook in our household) took Saturday breakfast. Since we were fueling up the troops for a long day of amusement park fun, we decided to give them something good and hearty. The trick, as I saw it, would be to come up with a menu that would satisfy the adults need for delicious variety, the kids' need for simple, delicious food, and everyone's need for fuel that would last them through the first few long lines. I thought I would try to sneak in some nourishment while I was at it. With all that in mind, I settled on the following menu:
whole wheat pancakes
plain old white pancakes
homefries
scrambled eggs
sauteed vegetables
shredded cheese (cheddar, Swiss and soy*)
The idea was that we would leave the eggs plain, and anyone who wanted to add veggies and cheese to their eggs could do so. My original plan was to make an omelet, but it made more sense this way, since we had people who preferred plain eggs or different types of cheese. Instead of making each omelet to order, I cooked it all up and let people mix things up however they pleased. The pancakes were made from mixes, so I won't list a recipe for them, but I will say that, when I make pancakes from a mix, I always add applesauce (about one of those little individual serving packs for the smallest recipe on the box), and I usually use a fortified rice milk, nut milk or other dairy milk substitute for the liquid, even if the recipe onthe box calls for water.
Thanx to Warren, we were able to add fresh-squeezed orange juice and homemade salsa to the menu :)
Homefries are very simple.
You will need:
onion
potatoes (I like Yukon Gold)
salt & pepper to tatse
olive oil (probably 1/2 - 2 TBS)
seasonings of your choice (see instructions below)
Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet (I use cast iron), then add some olive oil (depends on how many potatoes you are making ~ use enough to keep them from sticking, but not so much that they will float away) and turn heat to low. Quarter and then thinly slice an onion, then add it to the hot oil and stir to coat. Use as much as you like. I used one large onion for our big group (24 people, I think).
Peel potatoes and cut into bit-sized chunks. My mom taught me this rule of thumb: one potato per diner + one for the pot. If I am cooking for a very large group, I might add 2 for the pot. I added this part to the equation: 2 small children = 1 person (not in real life, but in the potato equation). Add the potatoes to the hot skillet, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and seasoning of your choice. Now, here's where it gets interesting. You can change the seasoning to suit your taste. I like Old Bay Seasoning on my homefries, but, sometimes, say, if I am serving them with soy chorizo, beans, eggs, salsa and tortillas (one of my favourite hearty breakfasts, BTW), I might season them with cumin, cilantro, garlic, chili powder...or, sometimes I might feel like adding curry powder and dill, or garlic and basil...you can play around with the seasonings. Or, play it safe, and just stick with salt, pepper and onion. That will be tasty, too. In this case, I had forgotten to pack the Old Bay, so I look in the spice drawer and came out with a bottle of Spike. It worked out just fine. Now, you want to cook your potatoes over med-low heat and stir them occasionally, but not too often. You want them to brown a little in some places, but not too brown all over. Just keep checking them. They'll be done when they're done. Sorry, I have no idea how long it will take. That kind of depends on your idea of "bite-sized." Season to taste as you go.
Now, I think I will give you the recipe for the sauteed veggies both with and without eggs.
1 red pepper, thinly sliced, then cut in half
1 green pepper, as above
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
8-12 leaves fresh basil, cut into ribbons**
10 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 bag of fresh baby spinach*
salt & pepper to taste
* first and foremost, I know "1 bag" is a stupidly vague measurement. You know, you go to the grocery store,and it comes prepackaged in these bags...I don't know how many ounces. I will try to find out. Anyway, use fresh spinach ~ frozen gets soggy and canned is already soggy, so fresh is the way to go here. (BTW, the mushrooms were one of those little square packages. I am guessing about the weight, but it seems right...ish)
** to cut basil into ribbons, stack the leaves together, then roll up like a jelly roll, stating at the top and rolling toward the stem end. Use scissors to cut through the roll, in the same direction as you rolled them. (Did that make sense? Maybe I will have to figure out how to add pictures, so I can illustrate this stuff...)
Heat the olive oil in your large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Add peppers and mushrooms. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and stir to coat. Turn heat to med-low and cook, stirring, for just a few minutes. When the mushrooms start to look a little softer and darker in colour than they did when you started, add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add the spinach and continue to cook, stirring, until the spinach is wilted.
Now, you can be done there. You can eat these as they are ~ it's great with with crusty bread and beans ~ add them to a grilled cheese (place veggies in between two slices of cheese and flip you sandwich very carefully, so it doesn't fall apart), toss them with pasta or rice...the possibilities are endless. What I did this weekend was to put them in a dish, then put out a dish of scrambled eggs and small bowls with different types of cheese. However, my original plan was this:
In a large bowl, beat 6-8 large eggs with about 1/4 water (or milk, if you prefer). Evenly distribute the veggies over the bottom of your skillet, then pour the egg mixture over all. You can either stir the egg mixture as it is cooking, scrambling the eggs, or, for a more elegant presentation, cook over low heat until set. If you are skilled enough to flip the large omelet without breaking it, kudos to you. If not, I have found you can sort of "cheat" by placing a lid over the pan, which helps hold in the steam and cooks the top of the egg well enough. Keep the heat low ~ burnt eggs kind of suck. Okay, so, when the egg is set, you can sprinkle cheese over the top if you like. Cover the pan with a lid to melt the cheese. You can serve it as is (cut into wedges) or you can fold it in half (the usual way an omelet is served), but I find that makes it very thick.
So. I have actually posted a couple of recipes. Woo-hoo. They are simple, but I like them. If you don't eat eggs, you can use tofu, I suppose. Be adventurous. Try different veggies, different seasonings...Sometimes, I mix the veggies with the potatoes. Sometimes I add broccoli and/or corn. That, wrapped up in a tortilla with some avocado and salsa is simply scrumptious.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)