Fussy Bun

Pot scrubbing

Don't let the title of this post fool you - I am actually excited about this discovery.

I chronically burn my food onto my pots and pans. All the time. I should probably just stop turning the burners all the way to "high" when I cook, but I'm just impatient that way.

Until now, it was all elbow grease and frustration to get those burns off. But, a couple of weeks ago, I burned some snack onto a friend's Le Crueset, and could not get it off. No matter what. This was obviously unacceptable. And I didn't want to buy a replacement pan.

So, off to the internet for the knowledge. After some Googling, I found a bunch of articles that swore that baking soda was the solution to my woes. I don't remember where the articles were, or how to find them now, but I rushed off, got a box of baking soda, and after a bit more scrubbing (but much less than without) the pot was all shiny and burn-mark free. And, not scratched - baking soda is a mild enough abrasive to not mess up the surface.

Then, I promptly forgot all about this innovation. Until another friend waved his crusty, burned-up pan at me and asked what to do. It was then that I realized that I could actually clean all of my sad pans with the baking soda method.

I've just scrubbed half of my pans and a cookie sheet with baking soda, and they are oh-so-much shinier. But, now my arm hurts, so I will put off the other half until I'm feeling more feisty.

Sourdough Starter

This weekend's project was researching/making a sourdough starter (among other things). The starter's basically a bowl of a bit of yeast, some flour, a pinch of sugar and some warm water, all mixed together. Then I set it aside with a cheesecloth on top, and it proceeded to bubble and froth for hours. During this time, Ray and I named it "Trogdor", though I can't remember exactly how that came about.

Today, Trogdor hasn't been doing much. But that should all change soon because it's nearly feeding time. 

Chicken with grapes

Mix together:

2 tbsp. corn starch

2 tbsp. flour

salt, pepper and red pepper

Dredge 1-1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders in the mixture above. 

Heat up some olive oil in a dutch oven and then brown the chicken in the pan.  Once browned on both sides, add:

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

Saute until the veggies start to soften. Then add:

1/2 cup white wine (and let it cook for a sec, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan)

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup red or green grapes (stems removed, and seeded, if they've got seeds)

Cook this for a while, until the grapes soften. I cooked it about 10 minutes.

Then, add some more grapes - the idea here is to have some grapes melt into the sauce and have others that are less cooked. After adding the last group of grapes, cook about 5 minutes and then serve.

Proscuitto chicken with melon salsa

Another loose recipe:

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

juice of 2 lemons

1 tsp. red pepper flake

salt/pepper to taste

Mix together lemon juice, red pepper and salt and pepper in a Ziplock bag. Add chicken and marinate for 1-2 hours. If you're going to have longer to marinate them, add some olive oil to the marinade so the chicken doesn't begin to cook in the acid.

Meanwhile, make the cantaloupe salsa:

1 medium yellow onion, diced and carmelized

1 small to medium cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and diced

4-5 green onions, chopped fine

1 handful cilantro or basil, minced

dash of salt and pepper

1-2 tsp. blood orange vinegar (or, if you don't have it, a bit of vinegar and orange juice)

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Grill chicken until it's cooked through. As soon as you've pulled the chicken off the grill (when it's still very hot) drape each piece with 1 piece of prosciutto. Allow the prosciutto to soften over the chicken while the chicken rests.

To serve, spoon cantaloupe salsa over the chicken with prosciutto. Mmmm.

Chicken with Caramelized Onion Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 red onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. red pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Saute red onions until carmelized in olive oil. Add garlic and other seasonings. Allow to cool.

Mix in:

3/4 cup plain yogurt

You can also add in herbs as you like: basil, oregano, thyme, cilantro, parsley, etc. would all be lovely here.

Serve over grilled or baked chicken.

Oven-roasted green beans

I'm not a huge green bean fan, but I finally found a way to make them that I like.

Ingredients:

Enough green beans to feed everyone, rinsed and trimmed

2 tsp. olive oil

5-10 cloves of garlic (whole)

Juice of a lemon

1/2 tsp. red pepper flake

Salt

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl, and then spread on a cookie sheet. Roast at 450 until the garlic is lightly browned and the beans are roasty-looking (usually about 15-20 minutes).

You can add white mushrooms to the mix too - it's delicious.

Shitake hummus

Ingredients:

1 can garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved

3 cloves garlic

1 green onion, end removed, roughly chopped

2 tsp. grated ginger

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. tamari

2 Tbsp. reserved liquid from beans

1 1/3 cup shitakes (I use dried, reconstituted in liquid)

Pinch of pepper (white if you've got it!)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. 

Taste and adjust seasonings until delicious. Yum! 

Edamame hummus

Ingredients:

6 oz. tofu

16 ounces frozen, shelled edamame - defrosted

1 T tamari or soy sauce

3-5 cloves garlic

3 T lemon juice

2 tsp. sriracha

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until blended. Adjust seasonings to taste. Add cilantro or parsley if you like those.

Serve with pita, rice crackers, sesame crackers, carrot sticks or something else tasty.

Sushi rice salad

When it's particularly hot out, I like to make this - because it doesn't take a lot of actual cooking (I don't count cooking in a rice cooker as actual cooking...)

Cook 2 cups of Japanese rice (I use Nishiki) in a rice cooker. 

While that's cooking, make the dressing by whisking together:

2 tsp. soy sauce

3 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1/2 - 1 tsp. Sriracha

1/2 - 1 tsp. sesame oil

1 clove crushed garlic

2 tsp. mirin

When the rice is done, toss with half the dressing.

In the mean time, mix together the cold ingredients:

1/2 English cucumber, diced

1/2 cup shredded carrot

3-4 green onions, diced

Then, saute together:

10 or so fresh shitake mushrooms, stems removed and diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

Allow the sauteed mixture to cool, and then mix the cold ingredients and the sauteed mixture.

Combine the veggies with the rice right before serving. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds. Serve with lettuce leaves to wrap the rice salad in.

You can add some nice tuna to make it closer to sushi. I also like to serve with avocado slices.

Broiled S'mores

In case you're like me and you get a craving for these when there's no campfire in sight...

Take a cookie sheet. Lay out some graham cracker halves (I like cinnamon flavored ones).

Top with a square of chocolate - milk chocolate works best in the not-burning category.

Then top that with marshmallows. I like to use handmade ones to make them fancy.

Then stick them under the broiler until the marshmallows are golden brown on top. Let them cool for a minute so you don't burn your mouth, and then enjoy!