Vegan Oregano Pesto

 I have a ton of oregano out front. I decided a year or two ago to make pesto with it. And tried for the hell of it vegan pesto, with nutritional yeast instead of parmesan.  It was so excellent. Problem was I didn't write down what the recipe was. Yes you can use the basic pesto recipe, but I just tried that and it's not quite as good.

2 c oregano

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp salt or so

1/4 c nutritional yeast

1/2 c almonds

about 1/4 c or less olive oil

 

Blend...

 

I know I used almonds last time. Some recipes I looked at now called for pecans. Maybe I'll try a batch with pecans... But still it's good.  Just not quite so delicous as last time. Maybe it's because my yeast is old.

Beginnings

I started my new job on Friday. Yay! Not much to say except that the days fly by now. And not in a bad way. I just have to get used to this new schedule.

I watched the movie Beginners last night. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's quite good.

I read the book Body Surfing. I think I may have read it before. It's weird to not remember.

I made a new dish tonight which was quite good. Simple except for the frying the tofu part:

1 block extra firm tofu
3 leaves of italian (curly) kale [likely not the real name]
3/4-1 c. broccoli florets (frozen) cut into smaller pieces
1/2 c. frozen peas
Cayenne pepper adn white pepper
olive oil
sliced havarti cheese

Press some water out of tofu (you can look up how to do that). Cut lengthwise into 1/2 in widths. I had 7 pieces. Put into 1-2TB olive oil in medium/med high heat. Cook, flipping when needed so both sides get brown (takes a while - 15 min?  or more?)

In the meantime, cut the kale thinly, including the stem. Put in pan w/ 1 TB or less olive oil.Cook a bit, and then give up and throw in the broccoli florets and peas. Dash some cayenne pepper and white pepper on it. Be careful not to inhale the cayenne like me.  Stir until cooked.

Put half a slice of cheese on the piece of tofu (perfect fit). Let melt a little. Put tofu slices on plate. Put vegetables on top and eat.

I wanted green, and got it... It really was quite good. Sorry I'm not more specific.

Fresh pasta sauce

Easy and really good.

1 LB FRESH TOMATOES OR 2 CUPS CANNED PLUM TOMATOES, DRAINED

1 LARGE CLOVE GARLIC, CRUSHED (ALTHOUGH I USE 3 OR 4 CLOVES)

1 TBSP OLIVE OIL

2 TBSP TOMATO PASTE

½ CUP FRESH BASIL

¼ TSP CAYENNE PEPPER

SALT & BLACK PEPPER TO TASTE

TOASTED PINE NUTS (OPTIONAL)

½ LB ANGEL HAIR PASTA

½ CUP GRATED PARMESAN REGGIANO CHEESE

WASH AND CORE TOMATOES, CUT UP AND PUT IN BLENDER WITH GARLIC, OIL, TOMATO PASTE AND BASIL.

BLEND UNTIL SAUCY.

ADD CAYENNE, SALT AND PEPPER.

COOK PASTA AND DRAIN.

PUT PASTA IN BOWL AND POUR IN SAUCE, MIX THOROUGHLY.

THE PASTA HEAT WILL COOK THE SAUCE.

SPRINKLE CHEESE ON TOP AND EAT.

happy 4th!

I'm making these today. They are great, though a little work to prepare the marinade... From Bon Appétit.

These powerfully seasoned chicken breasts grill up smoky and moist. Serve with minted iced tea and Asian beers. For dessert, offer mango sorbet with pineapple.

Ingredients

* 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
* 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint
* 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
* 4 garlic cloves
* 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
* 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
* 1 1/2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
* 1 serrano chili, stemmed, chopped

* 6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (about 2 1/2 pounds total)

Preparation

Combine first 10 ingredients in processor. Process until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally.

Arrange chicken in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass dish. Spoon herb mixture over chicken, covering completely. Cover dish; chill at least 2 hours, turning chicken occasionally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)

Meanwhile, prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

Two new recipes

Hi there - I'm cookin'
Inspired and making some stuff up.
I haven't been so much recently because M's taste in food is so different than mine and it's been disheartening. So I'm learning to adapt somewhat.


Name: Pork You
(Amounts approximate.)

Thin sliced boneless pork chops. (3) Cut into 3/8 inch slices.
Cover with/toss with:
1 to 1.5 TB light honey
3 TB lemon juice
1/4-1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/4-1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (finely chocpped to almost paste)
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground white pepper.

Cook until browned and caramelized. (little bit of olive oil)


Chipapriggplant
(amounts approximate)

2 chicken breasts, sliced into 1 inch to 3/4 inch slices
1 TB olive oil
1 TB paprika
balsamic vinegar
white wine

1 small-ish eggplant (regular, not japanese or those little round ones) cut into 1 inch (ish) squares (take most/all of skin off)
1/4 c olive oil (less?)

Prepare eggplant ahead of time (even day before). Cook it until soft.
Throw chicken in pan (med - med high) and cook (perhaps until 3/4 done). Throw in 1 TB balsamic vinegar. Stir and let sizzle off. Do once more - letting it almost burn.
Throw in paprika and stir. Now it gets a little complicated because the paprika is more likely to really burn (but note during this I did smell it burning but it came out ok). 1 TB balsamic vinegar again and 1/4 cup white wine. Stir some, let go down to stick to pan again. A little more vinegar, and a tiny bit more wine. Until it's brown and covered with goo.
Stir in eggplant and cook one or two minutes.
(let me note here that honestly the chicken smelled a bit gross. but with the eggplant it was perfect! so do not despair)

Serve with coos coos with cooked squash if you'd like (that's what I did).

Singing Cake for Tara

It's Tara's birthday, and I wanted to post a nice photo of a cake for her, like she does for everyone else. So I googled 'singing cake', and it turns out there's a recipe for a cake that sings when you cook it. There are multiple recipes! Here's just one.

So, Tara, you make need to bake one and see if it sings you happy birthday!

Fun with Food

Someone on Facebook had posted a link to a photo of hot dog pasta. It looked so weird that I had to try it for a pot luck, which I went to last night.

You start by poking the pasta through the hot dog pieces.

Then you cook until al dente.

I made a simple sauce (onions, oregano, parsley and stewed tomatoes) and threw it on before going to the party. The pasta was actually a bit undercooked (because I was worried that the hot dog pieces were going to split up too much), but by adding the semi-watery sauce, it finished cooking in the container.


People thought it was cool. So did I. And actually, it tasted quite good! Try it!

Chicken/Turkey Pot Pie

Chicken/Turkey Pot Pie

3 carrots, sliced
2 potatoes, diced (1 baking potato – medium – with skin)
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
1 c potato water
1 c milk
1 t sage
1 t herbs de provence
1/2 t salt
2 c diced, cooked chicken
1/2 c frozen peas (I use at least 3/4 c to 1 c)

1 egg yolk

1. cook carrot and potatoes (separately) until soft (I microwave carrots in some water and boil the potato cubes)
2. meanwhile, melt butter in medium saucepan. Add flour and cook over medium heat 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add seasonings and stir, then add potato water, & milk and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring until thickened.
3. Stir in chicken, peas, carrot and potatoes. Pour into a 10 in. pie pan.
4. Lay crust over top of chicken ingredients in pie pan. Cut several slits for steam and flute edge. Brush top of crust with egg yolk. Place pie pan onto another baking pan in case it runs over when baking.
5. Bake at 450 for 20 min.

Pastry: [I use Pillsbury pre-made dough -it's fine and dandy]
1 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/3 c soft butter
3-5 T water
To prepare pastry, mix flour and salt in small bowl. cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with water and toss with a fork until moist. Press into a ball. Roll onto well floured surface

Stuffing and turkey

A very popular turkey stuffing recipe, and a few notes for cooking a turkey.

Turkey Stuffing


Mild sausage (in roll, 1 lb., breakfast sausage - Jimmy Dean is good)
8 oz. Pepperidge FarmTm Stuffing Mix [not the cubed one]
1 egg
1 c. diced celery
1 c. diced onions
1 c. water


Mix the Pepperidge Farm with the egg. Cook the sausage and add to this mixture, leaving the grease in the pan. Cook the celery and onions in the grease from the sausage. When done, take out with slotted spoon and add to the mixture. Pour out the grease. Add one cup of water to the pan used for the celery, etc. and heat it up to get the “good s**t” out (won't be needed if you used a nonstick pan). Pour that into the mixture and let sit. (More might be needed depending on how moist you like it.) Pack the turkey loosely.

Wash turkey and neck with cold water ‑ rinse inside cavities. Sprinkle bottom with salt and pepper to taste. Put into roasting pan breast side up with turkey neck. Stuff turkey: both cavities. Use leftover grease from completed stuffing, adding some margarine, and melt together in microwave. Pour over turkey, then salt and pepper top of bird, sprinkle minced onion over surface to taste.

Place into 450 deg. oven on time allotted for size of turkey. Approximately 30 minutes before due to be done open foil. Baste and brown in oven. Allow turkey to rest a little before serving.

[M believes in roasting breast side down. Seemed to work, though awkward to flip to brown the breast side.]

Sharing a recipe

I am reminded from Churlita's post that I have not shared a recipe I found that I really liked (she talks about all this good food she makes and doesn't share recipes! what a wench... kidding of course).

Tofu Triangles in Creamy Nut Butter Sauce

As it notes in the comments, even meat eaters would like it. I will also note that I did not have all of the ingredients but it still came out pretty well. Ingredients I did not have were peanut/sesame oil (used olive oil), rice vinegar (used red wine vinegar), or tamari (used extra soy sauce). I will note that I would lower the heat a little before putting in the cream sauce - mine disappeared too quickly so it wasn't really sauce-y, which I think would have been nice to have.

Beef Stroganof

Cabbage Salad

1/2 head red cabbage shredded
4 spring onions chopped
3TB sesame seeds
1/2 c slivered almonds
1 pkg ramen noodles, uncooked

Dressing: 1/2 c sesame oil or saffron oil
3TB sugar
3 TB wine vinegar

Mix dressing.
Toast almonds and sesame seeds
Break up ramen noodles in package.

Combine all right before serving.

Blizzard Chicken and Fried Noodles

I was told by M this was very good and needs to be written down. I made this up...

Blizzard Chicken
2 large chicken breasts cut into small (chicken nugget size) pieces
1/4 onion chopped fine
olive oil
white pepper
powdered fennel (1 tsp?)
fenugreek (1 TB?)
celery salt (1/2 tsp?)

Um, cook onion in oil for a little bit (in pan on stove). Throw in chicken, let cook a little bit. Throw in spices and cook until done.

Blizzard Noodle
1/2 package hong kong style yellow pan fried noodle
2 c. chicken brother (~)
1/2 onion chopped fine
sesame oil (2 TB at least)
sesame seeds (1/4 c at least)

Cook onions in big wide fry pan in sesame oil. When glassy, throw noodles into pan. Realize they were supposed to be cooked before throwing in pan, so throw in at least 2 c. chicken broth (to cover the noodles) and let noodles absorb broth. Continue cooking on med-high heat turning frequently to dry out noodles and start browning. Add more sesame oil if need be. Halfway through the drying/browning process throw in sesame seeds so they brown as the noodles do (you may hear the pop pop of seeds).

I served with ginger baby bok choy. Great meal actually. Noodles took the longest to cook.

You didn't ask, but here it is

Tomato soup broth:

--Pork neck bones (you used to be able to get these for free back in the old days. My mom would get them, cut off any remaining meat to save to make chop suey, and then boil the bones)

--Water to just cover the bones

--Onions (unpeeled, but washed)

--Peppercorns

Boil a pot of water. Throw in the neck bones and let water return to boil. Cook around 10 minutes. This gets all the crap off the bones (see photo). Dump the water, and rinse off the bones.



Boil another pot of water. Throw in washed bones, onions, and peppercorns. Bring to boil again, then simmer for at least 3 hours (preferably 5 or all day) with lid on. See photo.



Turn off heat. Take canning jars - I use old Classico Spaghetti sauce jars - and fill with broth. Make sure you pour the broth in through a strainer to catch peppercorns or whatever else. Cover immediately.

Let sit in room temperature until you hear the lids pop. Or for at least an hour. Then put in fridge. Use up broth within 2 months, though that might be pushing it. I don't even really know how long you can keep it. Once you have it, it goes quickly. (I made 7 jars from that big pot...)

To make soup, open jar and skim off hardened fat with spoon. Dump broth into pan and bring to boil. Throw in 3/4 c or so of soup pasta (ditalini, orzo, alphabets, or whatever - but don't mix). Cook pasta. Turn off heat. Add 1 small can of tomato sauce. Add evaporated milk to taste. (and perhaps salt and pepper). Eat heartily.

And, if you are bored when cooking the soup, take pictures of your cat.

Recipes

Pecan Pie

First I started with a recipe a friend sent me from a search on MyRecipes.com, that was from Cooking Light: Pecan Pie. As I was mixing it all together, I thought to myself that it was way too few pecans. So I looked at Joy of Cooking (the new one). It had 2 c. of chopped pecans and the Cooking Light one had only 1/2 c! So, I think I added a total of 1.25 c - I would next time add more. It also said vanilla OR dark rum. Since I had already added vanilla, I just added in the dark rum - 1 TB.

I did not spray the pie pan with oil before putting in the pie crust because Joy of Cooking did not say to. Mistake - really, you should do it. I made the pretty decoration on the top of the pie - I just made that up since I had perfect halves.


Russian Tea Cakes

1 cup soft butter (I used one stick salted, one unsalted)
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups sifted Gold medal flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Combine all ingredients. I used a pastry cutter because I haven't unpacked my mixer, and I think it was a good thing. It's kinda like making scones - you mix it only as much as it needs it.

Chill dough. Roll into 1" balls.
Place on ungreased baking sheet.
(Cookies do not spread)*[see, mine did]
Bake until set, but not brown.
While still warm, roll in confectioners' sugar.
Cool. Roll in sugar again.

Temperature 400 degrees (moderate hot oven)
Bake 10 to 12 minutes
Makes about 4 dozen 1" cookies


I never noticed this before, but there's a quote in the new Joy of Cooking. Joy's soul lies in the doing. William Shakespeare.

Lunch walk

Observations from my unsuccessful trip to deposit a check:

- What kind of message does a woman WANT to give, if any, if she wears stripper type shoes with business attire (granted, form fitting skirt and sweater)? I mean, you look at the shoes and think, whoa (high high heeled sandals with lots of strips across the top of the foot, kinda like bondage) Maybe it's just, if you got it, flaunt it?

- Underneath all that concrete in the roads is dirt. Plain dirt.

- Why do contractors and garbage men like to tie poor helpless stuffed animals to the front grills of their vehicles?

And back at my office:

- It's amazing how a simple recipe can impress and taste good. Seriously easy. Take chicken breasts. Roll them up individually. Wrap a piece of uncooked bacon or two around it. Stick in toothpicks to keep it rolled. Pour over undiluted Campbell's cream of mushroom soup. Cook for 1 hour at 350 degrees. I added peas for some green.

- It's amazing what a huge mess you can make with one simple cupcake. I was going to only eat the chocolate sprinkles on top, but went further. I don't like store bought frosting, and wanted to ask my friend who only eats frosting if I should save it for him, but didn't so wiped it off into the garbage. Of course, then got frosting all over my black pants. The cupcake gods were angry with me.

Recipes

Last day home alone, and cleaning up some of my stuff. Below are a few recipes that I don't want to lose.

Maple Mustard Glaze Salmon [not that I'm getting the grill but the recipe is soooo good]
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
4 salmon fillets
1 15" cedar plank, soaked

Combine first four ingredients in a zip plastic bag, add salmon, and marinate in refrigerator for 10-20 min [note, half a day is great] Heat grill to 350, place soaked plan on hot grill, and close lid; allow plank to heat fo r3-5 min or until plan begins to lightly smoke and crackle. Remove salmon from marinade, place salmon, skin side down, on hot plank. Close lidd and cook t desired doneness (10-15 min).


Cherry Pie [not that I'm getting Wisconsin sour cherries any more, but the recipe is soooo good]
4 c. frozen unsweetened cherries. do not thaw.
add 1 c. sugar, 3 Tb. of quick cooking tapioca, 1/2 tsp. almond extract. Mix well. let stand 15 min.
Add to crust, put 2 TB butter or margarine in dots all over pie. Sprinkle just a little nutmeg. Add top crust. Make vent holes. Add cinnamon and sugar to top of crust. Bake at 400 for 50-55 min (turning pie 2x).


Golden Blossom Skillet Chicken [easy, good, have had recipe for almost literally 20 years but keep losing it]
3 lbs. chicken parts or breasts
1 c. chopped onion
2 Tb veg oil.
8 oz can of tomato sauce
3/4 c. orange juice
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. honey
2 Tb. prepared mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
2 tsp chopped garlic

Cook onions. Add chicken and cook for 5 min. Mix remaining ingredients in small bowl. Pour sauce over chicken, cover and simmer until tender, about 30-40 min.

Again with noodles

Yesterday I tried making spaetzle. I used this recipe with the addition of some pepper and nutmeg that I had seen in another recipe. Let me tell you, it doesn't work to try and shove the batter through a wide-holded strainer. They come out like little spaetzle turdlettes. I finally started just dribbling it off a spoon, but that was difficult too. They tasted kind of ok. I might try it one more time with this recipe, since when I lived in Germany I so loved spaetzle.

I made them in part because I was trying out a recipe for German style Hungarian goulash. Which, after all the effort, to me was not worth it. But again, I was combining 4 different recipes that I found online. I'd much rather get a recommendation for one.

So if anyone knows of any good recipes for spaeztle or German style Hungarian goulash, I would appreciate them. Thankfully I had also made banana bread which I can almost make with my eyes closed, or else I would have been very frustrated spending so much time on stuff that I wasn't all that impressed with. I tried using whole wheat flour for the banana bread and it worked (half whole wheat - King Arthur white whole wheat specifically - and half better for bread flour)! So (cough) it's good for me too now.

Stock making

Today (Sunday) is the day designated to make pork bone broth. Why do I want this? It's the base for homemade tomato soup, at least in this household and all of my siblings' households, and my mom's of course.

I have no idea where the recipe came from. I do know it was a way for my mom to stretch the dollars when we were growing up. Back then, they gave away the pork neckbones for free. My mom would first cut off all the meat she could and set it aside for Chinese chop suey (NOT my favorite dish).

The bones would be boiled first for a little while to get all the gunk off. I usually do it for about 15 minutes, which likely is not long enough, but quite a bit of gunk comes off. Then you have to rinse/scrub the bones to get even more gunk off.

The clean bones go into a clean pot with boiling water to just cover the bones. A couple onions and some peppercorns get thrown in, and you set it to a rolling simmer for at least 3 hours, though all day is better.

When 'done', the broth goes into the jars boiling hot so they seal when they cool. I use leftover Classico spaghetti sauce jars, and reuse the lids, and they work well. You have to leave the jars out in room temperature for a while, else they'd explode in the fridge. It's great to hear the 'pop' of the lids sealing as it cools.

You know you have good broth when you take a jar out later in the week, and it's like jello. You throw away the grease/fat at the top, and dump the jello into a pan. Heat to boiling and throw in soup pasta (orzo, ditalini, balls, alphabets, etc.) and cook until done. Take off the heat and add a small can of tomato sauce, and evaporated milk to taste. As well as salt and pepper to taste.

Yes, it's labor intensive, but well worth it. It's a great comfort food, and easy to make once you have the broth. When I was little I went over a friend's house and they served tomato soup (from a can) and I remember asking where the macaroni was. And there's no comparison in the flavor too... I can't wait to make some this week.

Pumpkin Lasagne

Yes, you read that right. In hopes of never losing this recipe again (thankfully I've sent it to friends and they can send it back to me), I'm posting it. And want to share with all y'all. I found it one day in a magazine I was reading waiting for a doctor's appointment. It sounds strange, but it's very good, as DNB could attest. And I'm posting it in part because through NaMoPlop I came across a recipe blog, and I'd love to get some recipes from blogs that I read regularly (WNG mentioned a vegetable soup recipe??). Use it as one of your postings in November!

12 dried lasagna noodles
8 oz shitake or porcini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
8 oz cremini or button mushrooms, sliced
½ tsp salt
2 TB olive oil
12 slices bacon cut crossways into ¼ inch strips
1 ½ c. chopped onion
3 TB snipped fresh sage or 2 tsp dried leaf sage
2 15 oz canned pumpkin
¾ c. whole milk or ½ and ½
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp cider vinegar
¾ tsp salt
1 15 oz carton ricotta cheese
1 lb. Fresh mozzarella, cut into thin slices
6 oz parmesan-reg or Grana Padano finely shredded (1 ½ c)

In skillet cook mushrooms and ¾ tsp salt in hot olive oil over medium heat until tender and no liquid remains. Remove, set aside. Add bacon to skillet, cook until crisp. Remove, sete aside. Discard all but 1 TB drippings. Add onion, cook until tender. Add sage, cook 30 seconds. Add the pumpkin, milk, pepper, vinegar, and 1 tsp salt. Heat through.

In a greased 3q oval baking dish spread ½ c. pumpkin sauce. Cover bottom of dish w/ 4 noodles. Layer with 1/3 each of mushrooms, bacon, ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan. Repeat layers twice. Bake uncovered in 400 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes.