John and I had some whole wheat flour and decided to try an experiment – making homemade whole wheat noodles. The dough worked up like regular white flour noodles, although in comparison it was more like the texture of a brown paper bag than, say, smooth white printer paper. We boiled them, and then fried them in butter (to eat them with leftover sausages). The noodles that got significantly browned ended up tasting like crackers, and the noodles that were softer, were just as bland, and a bit grainy (although that wasn’t unexpected.) I can safely say we WON’T be making these again, but I feel good that we try to make new things every so often even if they don’t work out. This site is called food FOLLIES for a reason – LOL!
Italian Burritos
I had planned on making a form of Chile’ Verde today using chicken instead of pork. I had picked up two cans of tomatillo sauce which I knew would be somewhat spicy, but upon tasting just a little the world suddenly went dark and small cartoon devils were lighting my eyebrows on fire.
When I came to, I decided that this sauce was a little too spicy for us, so I looked for something to smoothen it a little. We had an open jar of Prego Roasted Garlic & Parmesian and a jar of mild salsa, so I combined them and added about 2 ounces of the Mexican Green Sauce. That was enough to give the mixture a potent kick.
I added the sauce to some chicken thigh meat and onions I had fried earlier and mixed it all together. Next I added a can of black beans for a little more umph. You could taste the distinctive taste of Prego, but overall the combination worked.
We had four large burrito shells so I folded in the mixture burrito style rather than the traditional enchilada roll. Then I slathered the remaining Prego on the burritos as well as on the bottom of the baking pan. I covered the burritos liberally with shredded Monterey Jack and baked it for about 40 minutes.
The final product looked and smelled very Italian, like giant manacotti. Especially since the burritos were buried in sauce and cheese. The insides tasted distinctly Mexican, thanks to the salsa and green sauce.
One of these days I’m going to buy some tomatillos and make my own green sauce. When I do, you can look forward to an official recipe being posted here.
Natural White Cheddar Cheetos
We stopped eating things like doritos and artificially flavored chips a while ago when both John and I decided we just didn’t like the constant thirst and weird effects we got from all the MSG. The other day, however, we happily discovered the new ‘Naturals’ line from Frito-Lay and indulged in some white cheddar cheetos. (I’m a big white cheddar popcorn fan – particularly smartfood brand.) They were really tasty, no weird side effects, and it was fantastic to once again be able to munch on more than just regular potato chips. Perhaps today we’ll try one of their other ‘natural’ concoctions – it’s like a junk food revival or something – LOL.
Three Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Sorry that there have been so few posts here recently! Thought I’d make up for it with a short story about luxurious excess! An excess of cheese, that is. Namely, we made three-cheese grilled cheese sandwiches today – Tillamook medium cheddar, Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp White Cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheese, to be specific. These three cheese flavor blended really well and oozed with just the right amount of meltiness (is that a word?).
Speaking of cheese, those of you with a penchant for puns and a love of cheese who haven’t seen the new Wallace & Gromit movie yet should definitely make some time for that soon! *grin*
Spinach Quiche
Last week we got some eggs on sale, 5 dozen eggs that is. That’s a lot of eggs for 2 people to eat. So far we’ve had scrambled, omelets and now one of my favorites: Quiche.
Quiche is one of those versatile foods you can add almost any ingredients too. Bacon, ham or even turkey or chicken can be used, Swiss, Cheddar, Monterey Jack or even Jarlsberg will due, but try to balance the saltiness of your meat to the strength of the cheese. Bland meats should use stronger cheeses and vice versa.
For veggies, I’ve used spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, peppers and carrots, depending what I had on hand. I prefer to have softer vegetables in my quiches, so I’ll usually steam them before adding them to the mix. If you like the crunchy texture though, feel free to add them in raw.
Below is the quiche we had tonight, a basic spinach quiche which came out absolutely perfect. As the weeks go on and we need to use those eggs, don’t be surprised if I post a more adventurous recipe.
Spinach Quiche
6 eggs (5 if eggs are extra large)
1/2 Cup Milk
4oz Spinach Leaves (or 2oz frozen)
1/2 Medium Onion
1/4 lb grated Medium Cheddar
3oz Ham, diced, or bacon crumbled
Pie Crust
1 cup Crisco
2 1/4 Cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Cold Water
(or used pre-made pie crust only need one of them for bottom of quiche.)
Makes 9 inch crust.
Begin pie crust by mixing Crisco, Flour and Salt together until it all looks crumbly, then slowly add water until you’ve got a nice malleable dough. Mold dough into a ball and roll out onto a lightly floured surface. Lay carefully into a pie plate and sculpt edges, the dough should be easy to work with. Set aside.
Next, finely chop onion and add with spinach into a vegetable steamer. (Note, if you like crunchy raw tasting onion you can leave it out of the steamer). Steam veggies for about 10 minutes, until spinach is fully cooked. Remove spinach from steamer and chop. If you’re using frozen spinach, just defrost. Can also saute onions in a pan instead.
In a large bowl, beat eggs and milk until smooth, then add cheese, ham/bacon, onion, and spinach. Mix everything thoroughly and then pour into the pie crust. Place in oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 30-45 minutes. Quiche is done when toothpick comes out of the center dry. Will probably settle a little as it cools.
Paicines BBQ
Deer season started around here a short time ago, and we were invited to a barbecue being held by some of the visiting hunters. We were expecting hotdogs and hamburgers, lots of beer and not much else. I made a macaroni salad and we even wondered if they would have paper plates to serve it on.
I realized how completely wrong we were about two minutes in when one of our hosts asked if we’d like some homemade wine. They grow the grapes themselves and then take them somewhere in Monterey to be processed. We had an excellent Chardonnay, which packed about twice the punch of a regular store bought wine.
The food started off with Kielbasa made from wild boar. Some of the Kielbasa had jalapenos and cheese baked on, which is apparently the way everyone around here likes it.
Next, we had Albacore tuna, freshly caught from Monterey Bay marinated in a chili sauce, and served over a green salad. By this point, I had eaten the equivalent of a normal dinner, which was more than usual lately, in the insane 110 degree heat we had been experiencing most of the summer.
The main courses consisted of Salmon (also freshly caught), Tri Tip steak, chicken, corn on the cob and huge bowls of beans. We left pleasntly stuffed, and I wondered how our hosts would have the strength to get up and go hunting the next morning.
When the weekend was over, they gave us another bottle of homemade wine, which we are saving for a special occasion.
Meatball Heroes
For the first time in several weeks, we finally had a break in the 100+ degree weather out here. Cooking has been out of the question, we’ve been living on sandwiches, salads, hotdogs, and hard boiled eggs.
We decided to celebrate with Meatball Heroes, a delicacy that can be found in any Brooklyn Pizza Parlor, but remains a complete mystery to the denziens of California. So for those of you who have never experienced this bit of meaty, cheesy, deliciousness.
You’ll need:
1 loaf Italian/French bread (good and crusty)
1/2 lb mozzeralla cheese shredded
16oz Marinara sauce
Lots of Meatballs
Basic Italian Meatballs Recipe
2lbs Ground Beef
2 Eggs
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tbsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Thyme
Preheat oven to 350F (You can fry meatballs as well, but I find that searing, which is great for hamburgers, makes meatballs too bitter.)
Place the meat in a mixing bowl and add the eggs and spices, mix thoroughly and then roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter.
Place the meatballs on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 min to 1hr, until they are no longer pink in the center. This is the end of the meatballs recipe, now, back to the ‘Heroes’ part!
Next cut the bread to whatever size you can eat without exploding. Slice the bread most of the way through but keep the bottom edge of the crust together. Cut the meatballs in half and layer them on the sandwich. Next, add sauce, slathering evenly over the meatballs. Sprinkle (ok dump) the mozzarella cheese on top and tightly wrap the entire sandwich in aluminum foil. If you feel like you’re wrestling an alligator then you’re doing it right. 🙂
Bake the sandwiches at 400F for 30 minutes. Then remove carefully, the cheese should be completely melted and the outer edge of the crust should be hot and crispy. (Note: it’s ok to lick cheese off the foil) and dive in! If you have fresh Parmesian or Romano they’ll make an excellent addition as well.
Another good option is to use Italian Sausage. Slice the sausages into coins after cooking them and layer them on the sandwich like you did with the meatballs.
This recipe should make 3 large heroes.
Chocolate Sludge
There’s nothing quite as delicious as an ice cold chocolate milk shake on a hot summer day. Except when you get it an expedient-service restaurant that’s so expedient that they don’t really mix the chocolate syrup in the ice cream too well. Ever drink chocolate syrup straight from the bottle and have it catch in your throat? Well, not that *I* would ever do that, but I imagine that’s exactly what the first sip of this milkshake was like. BLEH! Ahhh, well, at least after the initial gag and cough the cold creaminess finally kicked in. It’s just, well, such a horrible shock, you know?
And on another note – sorry that the posts here have been a bit thin – it’s just mostly been way too hot to cook or to want to even EAT anything much. That will change soon, I’m sure of it. I’ve got a call in to the Snow Miser and am expecting a return call anyday now.
Time for Corn
We finally ran across a good price for corn on the cob – 96 cents for 6 ears of white corn, and cooked them up for dinner tonight. It had been so long since we’d had sweet corn that I’d forgotten that John tends to eat in circles AROUND the cob, while I eat it lengthwise, like a typewriter. (I’m not sure if our relationship can stand up to this kind of lifestyle difference!) The corn was delicious, sweet, and really hit the spot on yet ANOTHER 100 degree day. Sure, boiling the water over a hot flame wasn’t so much fun, but with excellent sweet corn as the end product, we were willing to sacrifice ourselves briefly for a good cause.
Another Reason to Love Dark Chocolate
Apparently, dark chocolate is good for you! 😉