Good Things

Taken from Martha herself, "That's a good thing!".  I have 3 good things I'd like to share with you today having to do with food that I either ate or saw on tv.

1. The other day I was in the Akron area with my daughter and we stopped at the West End Bakery for lunch.  Their specialty was Curried Chicken Salad on a pita bread and ooh was it good.  I don't use curry all that much but now I have to rethink that.  It seemed the recipe would be similar to a basic chicken salad but with the addition of curry.  By the way, their cupcakes are delicious, too.
2. My hubby and I went out to dinner the other night at the Edinboro Hotel to sample their steak night.  We've eaten there before but I guess I've never had the baked potato and boy was I in for a surprise.  This potato was a salt crusted baked potato, and as I found out through an internet search, widely used in steak houses.  It's a very simple idea that I'm definitely going to try.  All you do is prick your potato all over, coat it with olive oil, roll it in either sea salt or kosher salt to partially cover it, and then bake on foil-lined pan until done.  I think the salt adds to the flavor, improves the skin texture and makes the potato fluffier.  Anyway it was very good, in fact, probably the best baked potato I've ever had.
3. This idea is right out of the Martha Stewart Show  -  how to separate a head of garlic and peel the cloves.  You won't believe this!  She used 2 metal bowls of different sizes, put the whole head of garlic in the bigger one and press the smaller bowl down into it very firmly.  That separates the head into all the cloves.  Then you flip the smaller bowl over so it rests on top of the bigger one (kind of like a lid) and shake like crazy.  When you open it all the cloves are peeled!  I was amazed, as was she when she showed it.

 Well, those are the three good things that I'm excited about.  Try them out.

Equipment Issues

Just read my dil's post and saw her beautiful pizza that she made.  Dawn, it looks great and I'm sure tasted the same!  So what is my problem with my pizzas?  I think I have equipment issues out the wazoo, not to discredit my dil on her superb achievement.  First it was my sewing machine and now my stove that I'm realizing might be the problem.  The other day I decided to finish up some bread flour I had in the freezer and make a loaf of french bread.  I used to make this all the time in the breadmaker on Saturdays when the girls and I had soup day.  It was delicious.  I've been  in a real slump lately with the recipes for dough that I've been trying.  There's a lot of them out there that are really soft and that just isn't working for me.  So anyway, I made up the same recipe I used to but in the mixer and the dough was great.  Then I put it in the oven to bake and, nothing, it didn't even brown.  The inside texture was doughy and it was awful.  Like I said I've been having trouble with my pizzas and even talked to my dil about my crust not even browning on the stone.  She mentioned how she uses her stone but doesn't even preheat it and from the looks of it comes out picture-perfect.  I was really disgusted with my dough, especially after bragging about it to my hubby.  I decided, long overdue I know, to put an oven thermometer in to check the temp.  It was low and kind of unpredictable so I adjusted it according to the book so I would be 35 degrees higher.  Last night I made a batch of biscuits and checked the temp first.  It was still off so I turned the oven 25 degrees higher that it was supposed to go.  The biscuits cooked in the lowest amount of time  - browned and all.  I have to say though I'm still leery of baking another loaf of bread or pizza for fear of it not turning out.  But I think I really do need one of those stones like my dil!

Another Batch of Cider

Another batch of cider is done!  This was a two day project, mainly because we didn't feel like going any later in the evening than 8 pm with it.  We were tired, had seen enough apples for one day and that was that.  It went smoothly though so we can't complain about that.  At the end we found ourselves struggling to find more storage containers to put cider.  Now the chore of finding somewhere to put those containers or people to pass it on to.  I think we have a pretty good plan this time so time will tell.  I'm also going to look up some recipes of what to do with cider.  Once I had a recipe for Apple-Cinnamon Syrup to use over pancakes which sounds pretty good.  I'll keep you posted.

New Dip Recipe

This was a dip recipe I have had in the back of my mind for quite awhile.  It was a couple years ago when apples and jalapenos were abundant in the garden that I found a recipe in the SureJell box for a freezer jam.  My intention was to make it, freeze it and then serve it as a dip over cream cheese.  I actually did get it out once to use but the cream cheese that I was told would freeze nicely, didn't and it was very grainy.  So it all went back in the freezer.  All along I kind of thought it would be too hot for me anyway as it had a lot of peppers.  Well, I decided to pull it out of the freezer and along with a half package of cream cheese, I tried it.  Delicious!  It was not hot at all but the taste of the jalapenos came through with the sweetness of the apples.  It was almost like a dessert dip.  If I find the recipe again, I think I would use some of the seeds of the jalapenos to add a little heat to it.  Once before I got a recipe for Cranberry Walnut Jam during my stay at preschool and that also could be used over cream cheese.  I never tried it like that, especially knowing my hubby has an aversion to cream cheese.  Now that I've had this, that other recipe sounds very intriguing.  I think it would make a good appetizer for Thanksgiving. 

Apple, Apples and More Apples

Ok, last year I kind of missed the apples but we were so busy with everything else it was merely a passing thought.  I didn't miss all the picking, sorting, resorting, cooking, baking and then ending up realizing we threw many of them away anyway.  This year is a fairly good crop but many of them have some kind of a rust, that while only skin deep, looks really bad.   We've already made one batch of cider and even though I'm still saving jugs, we don't have enough for another batch yet.  We picked a lot yesterday and I can feel it in my arms.  I made pigs-in-the-blanket yesterday and made a side of scalloped apples to go with it.  We only had a small basket of the Northern Spies so I used those up in the dish.  I was surprised at how soft they were, especially for a pie apple like that.  Today I want to make some of Martha's pate brisee which is her fancy way of saying pie crust.  She makes it with butter in the food processor and while I've tried my recipe with shortening like that, it didn't work very well.  I think the key is to keep that butter firm so I'll try her recipe.  I have enough of our Granny Smiths to make a pie so I'll probably do that.  The other day at the luncheon, someone mentioned that Honeycrisps don't cook up that well in a pie.  Of course, I had to tell the microwave version of pie that I make.  Everyone is shocked when I say that but it really is the best I've found.  We also keep the neighbors stocked with apples.  The girls came home from school with a recipe for crockpot applesauce which they made and it was gone that same day.  I think they know by now when they see a bag or basket in front of the garage, it's applesauce time.

Potato Leek Soup

Now that it's getting a little colder out I'm thinking soup so last night I decided to use the leeks I bought over the weekend and make soup.  At first I was thinking of using chicken because the lady that sold me the leeks said her husband was going to make Chicken with leek soup.  I've never had that but looked up some recipes for it.  Nothing sounded all that interesting to me so I went with my standard creamy potato soup recipe but substituted the leeks for the onions.  A hurdle in the recipe came when I discovered I was out of carrots  -  no problem, I substituted a half sweet potato.  Really what I wanted to do was make it look like I put them in because my hubby, number 1 would want them in there and number 2 he really only likes candied sweet potatoes.  Problem solved  -  you'd never know the difference!  My recipe also has the option to add cheese so I threw in a couple handfuls of cheddar cheese.  It was better for lunch today than dinner last night and when I freeze some, I'll have it for another time.

Hometown Foods

Today I'm writing about foods that are specific to a certain area. There were a couple of things lately that got me thinking about this. One of the food writers from our paper sent out an e-mail last week asking for Tastes of Erie in addition to Smith's hot dogs, ox roast, and pepperoni balls. I thought for a minute and came up with our sponge candy from Stefanelli's. The next day in the paper was another article about a Facebook page that was all about things specific to Erie and they mentioned the sponge candy. We take alot of these things for granted but until we travel, we have no idea the rest of the world is so deprived. Then my daughter-in-law talked about a certain tomato pie on Facebook. I kind of knew what she was talking about since she's loved a certain pizza that my hubby gets at International Bakery, but I looked it up and found the recipe. Of course, when I mentioned it to my hubby, he just had to stop and buy some. It also got me thinking about pizza we had growing up and continued to get every Friday night in Chewton when we would visit. It had that same kind of sweet sauce, thick crust and sprinkling of Romano cheese. It came in 2 varieties - sweet and hot (hot peppers), but no pepperoni. Of course, the ultimate food pick has to be the hot dog or Greek sauce that we get in New Castle. Yea, most cities have some kind of sauce but it's nothing like theirs. That's why whenever we make a trip down there we have to stop and get a couple containers of it for our hot dogs.

Another New Trick or Not

I'm sort of in a quandary as to whether to make some microwave potato bags or not. In a food blog that I follow, Jennie wrote about the potato bags and used them for corn on the cob. She raved about how well they cook, as long as you're only doing a couple ears. I got to thinking how that might be more efficient than heating a big pot of water. I've tried microwaving them before and it didn't work that well for me. Anyway, with the sewing I've been doing I thought it would be a quick and easy thing to whip up with some of my stash. As I looked for patterns, I also found the warnings that go along with them as far as fires. One posting summed it up by saying she didn't want to be responsible for a fire hazard. It seems I'm sucked up into these new and improved ways to do things a little too easily and I need to be careful. I remember a girl at work, years ago, saying that she made corn on the cob in the dishwasher!!! It was great for a big load and cooked them perfectly. After that I saw on TV where someone made salmon in the dishwasher (wrapped in foil). Sounds crazy, I know, but I'm sure the first thought of cooking things in the microwave at record speeds probably raised a few eyebrows.

Potatoes on the Grill

I am really becoming a fan of potatoes on the grill. The one recipe I made a while back was definitely good but high calorie to say the least. It was the 3-cheese grilled potatoes that included tons of cheese and bacon. It got a little brown on the bottom which made it all the more delectable but the hubby doesn't like all that cheese and I couldn't eat all of it. When my son gave me some of his home-grown Yukon Golds, I thought it was a good time to try them on the grill. They cook up so quick that I thought grilling them was the perfect choice. They turned out great but I don't have anymore. So when I saw baby red potatoes at Erie Co. Farms, I decided to try those. Voila, they cooked up just as quick. Now I've moved on to sweet potatoes and I'm equally impressed. What I do it cut them into chunks (sweets a little bigger, baby reds in half) , drizzle with a little oil and season with some GrillMates seasoning. Believe it or not for the baby reds I use the Montreal Steak and sometimes put onions and peppers in with them. For the sweets I use the Smokehouse Maple that has some brown sugar in it. I coat a double thickness of foil with cooking spray, seal it up and cook over med heat for about 20 minutes, flipping half-way through. I like to get them before they've gotten burned on the bottom but still cooked. This is perfect for us because 1 sweet potato is plenty for us, as is a handful of the baby reds. I enjoy trying the different spice mixes and have a few more up my sleeve.

Redemption

Well, I think I redeemed myself last night with my Beef and Barley Skillet meal. I went through some cookbook magazines and tore out the ones I thought I might try. This one seemed easy, I had the ingredients and was healthy to boot. By the way I just had enough barley in the box. Although it's high in carbs, it also has more fiber and protein which is good. Anyway I used ground beef, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, beef broth and a whole bunch of vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes, and green peppers along with the barley. It cooked up quick in the skillet and reheating should be easy enough. Now I'm looking forward to trying some of the other recipes I cut out.

Bad Day for Cooking

Since it was Father's Day yesterday I decided to put a little more effort into cooking. I hadn't made cookies in quite a while so I thought that would be a nice treat for him. For supper we were going to have spaghetti, definitely a favorite, and with some leftover pizza dough and a ton of pepperoni, I decided to make pepperoni bread. It didn't seem all that out of the ordinary and all things I've made before. In the morning I went through a bunch of my recipes to organize them a little, get rid of some and make sure I had the ones I want to make when the grandkids come to visit. We were still staining the deck so when I came in for a late lunch I started on the cookies. I used the recipe on the package of chips which had half butter, half shortening. I've done that before with good results. The cookies took forever to bake, were still unbrowned and very flat. They tasted OK but not my usual success. It also could have been the brown sugar that was a little hard but I was still able to scoop it out and pack it into the measuring cup. Then I started to get the pepperoni bread ready - what a disaster. I knew the dough was soft for the pizza but that was how it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, it did not work for bread. I made it anyway but it spread out on the pan too much and was doughier inside than I wanted it. At that point I'm thinking this is a bad day for cooking and hopefully I can redeem myself with the spaghetti. I wasn't even making anything from scratch so what could go wrong. When I got the water ready for the pasta, I decided to use some sea salt we had bought at Sharp Shopper and I couldn't use it in the shaker because it was coarse. I always add salt liberally in my pasta water, just like all the food network stars do. They always say it's the only chance you get to salt your pasta. Well, when I tried the pasta, it was very salty. I was shocked that it would have absorbed so much of it. I made sure I told my husband to taste it first before he adds more. What a day of disasters in the kitchen! At least I pretty much knew what my mistakes were and the next time they should turn out better.

No Desire for Sweets

Every time I've been in the hospital for some sort of operation, I come home free of cravings. It doesn't bother me while I'm in the hospital, in fact I feel even better with no sugar or fat to affect my body. I remember with my knee operation, I didn't even have hot flashes while I was in there. But then once I get home and back to every day life, those cravings sneak back in and in a short while it's like they never left, until now. When I went for my check-up last week, the CNP told me the 2 things that were the hardest to overcome were eating and sleeping. The day after the surgery they were giving me solid food and I was eating something of everything on my plate. I knew it was important for my recovery. I've continued that since I've been home even though I really don't have much in the way of hunger pains and no desire at all for sweets. In fact, the thought of eating something sweet kind of turns my stomach. I had maple and brown sugar oatmeal yesterday and couldn't manage to finish it. I've come to realize that right now, eating is merely routine for me and something I'm in the habit of doing. I'm suffering right now with a little bit of a queasy stomach - probably from the hot dogs I've had the last couple nights. I'm not sure when or if this all will change for me but for now I can't complain. I thought for sure that during some of my low moments I would have succumbed to those chocolate eggs in the cupboard but nothing. Being such an emotional eater and feeling such a wide range of emotions since my surgery, I'm shocked that I haven't turned to food for support.

Leftovers

I recent article in the paper got me thinking about leftovers and specifically how I've handled that over the years. When the kids were young I was always worried there would not be enough food so I did the food for the masses thing and if I didn't feel like cooking one night, then we raided the fridge for dinner. When we got Peaches and then Pumpkin, once again I was not worried about making too much because we could always give it to the dogs. We changed things a little with Pumpkin when we found out she had some sort of allergy and usually gave her regular dog food. As the kids started leaving, I found myself watching the amount of food I prepared. Some things lend itself better to reheating, thanks to the microwave, and others just sit in there until it's time to clean out the fridge. Now that there's just the husband and I, I really enjoy the toaster oven so serving size is already determined for me. One thing I always make more of is my chicken tenders. I know I can use them in salads and they're just as good the second time around. I still repurpose some foods such as sloppy joes. I usually have a tube of biscuits in the fridge so I make little pockets with the meat inside. I'm not sure why but that tastes so good. Unfortunately, none of this holds true for the cabin. I tend to put stuff in the freezer thinking it'll be a good, easy dinner for the next visit but we usually go out to eat. We are well stocked up with tv dinners that are available for anyone else that's down there - just so you know. I did pick up something that worked well for us the last time we were down. At Sharp Shopper we bought these frozen, fully-cooked hamburg patties that are microwaveable. Just a minute on each side and they're ready to eat and they were only $1.99 for 6 patties. So anymore when I shop I'm always trying to think serving size so we aren't saddled with all those leftovers.

Pan Pizza Dough Recipe

Last night I made a pan pizza in my cast iron skillet with a recipe I found online. The recipe was different from my other one in that it included a little baking powder, garlic powder and onion powder. I thought it was worth a try even though my husband doesn't like pan pizza. I think the reason he doesn't like it is because they spray the crust rim with butter-flavored Pam. The secret to this crust was the fair amount of oil that's put in the pan with the dough as it rises. While making the dough I realized it was way too soft, almost like a stiff batter. I had to add more flour just to make it workable. I only used half the recipe in the oiled skillet knowing it would raise, and raise it did. It was almost up to the top when I figured I better get this baby going. The dough was still very soft and as I put sauce on it I could see it sink a little. The crust cooked up very nicely, just like pizza hut but it was still too much crust for me and I didn't taste any of the spices I had put in. It came out of the skillet really well and had that nice crunch on the bottom. I think if I make it again I will use my other recipe in the cast iron skillet and see how that turns out. At least I got this out of my system and learned a couple of things about pizza making.

Price of Tomatoes

Have you noticed the price of tomatoes and many other things at the store lately? I'm a penny pincher for sure and proud of it. Everyone feels good about getting a good deal at the store whether they're shopping for food, clothes or whatever. I guess the difference in all of us is that we all have a certain limit we are willing to pay or our estimated value for things. But $4.98 for a pint of grape tomatoes! I realize they are off season and normally I don't even buy stuff like that now but with all these salads I'm eating, I like the variety. So the last time we were at Erie Co. Farms I paid $2.99 for the pint of tomatoes and I did it without a thought, knowing they would last a couple weeks, and they did. Then yesterday when I looked at Wal-Mart, yes, the place that prides itself on the lowest prices, they were $4.98. Bananas were up to 52 cents a lb. and my creamer was well over my $3.00 limit. There's some things we just can't squabble over and that's my creamer. So I bought the cheapest one I could and I'll try and cut back a little. I might find myself doing that more often, especially on staples such as milk and bread, but as long as I'm not wasting anything, I can handle it. This is also a dry spell for our trips to Sharp Shopper in Knox. Once we start traveling again that will be our go-to spot along with Aldi's, Erie Co. Farms and sales at the regular supermarkets. At least at Aldi's, things go up in price but you don't notice it as much. As a side note, there were no coupons in the Sunday paper. Wonder what's up with that!

Pizza Dough

Well, I made a pretty good pizza last night, in fact, I think my search for the best dough I can make is over, for now anyway. Not that it is the greatest but I think for all intents and purposes, it's the best I can do. It's not that I'm settling but, without the equipment and products that a real pizzeria has, it's a good place to stop. It's funny but the recipe is one that I've had for a long time and used it when I was making it in the breadmaker, which has since stopped working. I got it from a Cuisine at Home magazine but the two magazines I had included different recipes. I found the old one tucked away in my recipe box and got it out yesterday. The secret is the flour which is regular all-purpose flour with cake flour added. I didn't have the cake flour so I substituted a little cornstarch. I also added a teaspoon of lemon juice which is supposed to make a better texture and I notice a difference. I'm always looking for new tools to use in pizza making as is my husband so when we were at Gabe's and found a set that included a stone, peel, pizza cutter and server for 10 bucks, we grabbed it. This is the first time I've used the peel and it's kind of cool to slide things on and off. I guess I really shouldn't have said my search is over because I found a recipe yesterday for a Pizza Hut pan recipe that I'd like to try in the cast iron skillet. It sounds awesome and definitely worth a try. That would probably be for me as my husband has an aversion to that sort of crust. I'll keep you posted.

Fish Dinner

Last night we headed out to Edinboro Hotel for their fish dinner that my husband found on their website. It was not listed on their specials, in fact, according to the menu there were no Friday specials. However they offer half-price chicken wings and a white fish dinner for $7.99. Fish sounded good to me and the only fish I like is a beer battered kind similar to Long John Silvers. I do have a recipe I've wanted to try for a breaded baked fish but as yet haven't tried it. What I liked most, besides the great crust on the fish, was the choices I got with my meal. Since being on a diet and not wanting fries, it's been a challenge. We got a salad (and they had a light Raspberry Vinaigrette, yea) and instead of fries I could have a vegetable medley. It turned out to be green and yellow beans, broccoli, cauliflower and a stray carrot swimming in a sea of butter. I just let them drip before I ate them and figured I was still doing ok. We got 2 huge pieces of fish with a very crispy batter and they were really good. I didn't end up eating it all (fish) as I was leery about how my stomach would react to the grease. As usual service is good down there and the place was busy. We've never gone on a Friday before and that's the day when everyone stops by for a drink after work. We even had to sit in the back room which was nice for a change.

Max Weber

Max Weber was the son of the founder of Smith's Provisions in Erie that make Smith's hot dogs and bologna. He just passed away and my husband shared some memories of him with me this morning. When he and his dad, Grandpa, would go into the store (used to be located at 26th and Elmwood), Max would give the kids a free hot dog. It must have made quite an impression on him even then. I sounds like a precursor to the free cookie but with a savory twist! We are very lucky in Erie to have the quality of foods that we do and sometimes it's not until you move away and try and find something comparable that you come to appreciate it. Even my grandchildren enjoy Smith's bologna! Anyway, it was a very nice write-up in the paper this morning and I'm going to try and leave the link for you http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/erietimesnews/obituary.aspx?n=magnus-weber-max&pid=148056505&fhid=8584&sms_ss=favorites&at_xt=4d3d7b3608e69a28,0d.

Lentils

I've had an epiphany of sorts, I guess, about lentils. It all started when my daughter made me a soup jar with lentils, noodles and other spices for Christmas. I realized then that we like the soup and it provided alot of protein and fiber. The lentils cook quick unlike dried beans and don't really impart much flavor. They do have some texture to them though. So I bought a bag and intend to throw them in other dishes as a filler to boost the nutrition. This isn't the first time I've experienced lentils - when I was in Spain we had lentil soup all the time. At first when Carmina, the widow we lived with made it, we were a little turned off, especially by its appearance. It reminded me of the black bean soup that I make, which is delicious but it doesn't look appetizing at all. We enjoyed it in Spain and when I returned home I even made it but I don't think it got its due respect. There were other foods I had while in Spain that were unique and I even made some of those when I came home. I remember the Spanish tortilla and the Monte Cristo sandwich we would have at our evening meal, which was about 10 pm. They were both delicious and I even bought a special pan for the tortilla. My husband eventually took that over for his corks during wine bottling. Another dish I remember was Albondigas or little meatballs in a brown gravy spiced with bay leaves - yum! I came home with a cookbook but I must not have saved it - probably because I couldn't read half the instructions or ingredients and they didn't taste the same as I remember. I often think of that time and remember how Carmina would keep eggs on her little porch outside instead of the fridge, chicken were whole (and I mean whole) in the fridge, we would get a three-cornered pouch of unpasteurized milk on the doorstep every morning and we drank cola-cao (a version of hot chocolate)for breakfast. We (the other girl I roomed with) made a pizza for them while we were there. Only the bakeries were allowed to have yeast so we used baking powder for the crust. It left much to be desired, as I recall. I also tasted octopus and squid for the first and last times while I was there. They would cut the squid in rings, bread them and fry like onion rings. They were a little too chewy for me and then serving them with their own ink was a definite turn-off. All that really made me appreciate what we have here. Of course now that I'm thinking about recipes, maybe I'll try adding some to my blog if it doesn't turn into too much of a project.

Texas Red Grapefruit

I don't like grapefruit, or so I thought. My son gets a box of citrus for Christmas and gives us a few of the grapefruit for my husband to eat. I've never tried any until this year when, as my husband was eating one, it looked and smelled really good. Maybe in my old age I'm finally willing to try some different foods. I tried a half with some sugar and found it to be very tasty, not at all what I've experienced in the past. Just the thought of it has brought a pucker to my lips but not in a good way like lemons. The bitterness also turned me off. I was pleasantly surprised when I found these grapefruit are different than the others and really don't need sugar - and they're good for you! We like them so much that we even bought ourselves a big bag at Giant Eagle yesterday. I just hope they're as sweet as the ones we got from my son. Now that he knows what they're like, we might not get anymore at Christmas.