Now that I've started cooking again, I'm trying to eat at home a little more often. I had some leftovers in the fridge, but I needed a little something more to go with them, so off to the grocery store I went.
I enjoy grocery shopping. I know lots of people hate it, but I just love it. I can wander around, up and down every aisle (sometimes more than once), checking out what's new, what's on sale, that kind of thing. I also consider it exercise, given that most grocery stores around here are pretty big and I cover a lot of ground in a shopping trip.
I made some observations while I was shopping tonight and I thought I'd share them with you. And a recipe! Because I ended up making something completely different than what I set out to shop for, and it came out pretty darned well.
1. The price of frozen vegetables has gotten ridiculous. This won't come as a surprise to some of you, I'm sure, but it sure was a shock to me. I went looking for frozen chopped onions (because I really don't like chopping onions) and was stunned to see a low-end brand priced at $3.00 for one small bag...on sale! I looked at some of the other vegetables and they were all relatively expensive, even the in-house store brands.
2. A $3 bag of onions will make even someone who hates chopping onions go back to the produce section and buy a $.66 onion. Just sayin'.
3. The amount of processed foods in our stores is also ridiculous. I know we all value convenience but with all the attention being paid to childhood and adult obesity, it's not hard to see how we've gotten there. Don't get me wrong, I'm as guilty of it as the next person (if not more so over the years) but when you really start reading labels and looking at foods critically, it's an eye-opener.
4. Unless you buy a lot of it, fresh meat is really pricey when it's not on sale. This makes it challenging for a solo diner. I wanted to get a little bit of protein to go with my leftover stir-fry, as what was left had little meat in it. I couldn't bring myself to buy a $9 steak that was more than I could eat, or a pack of pork chops that was four times what I needed. (My freezer is maxed out, so freezing the extra isn't a good option.) So I started looking at everything, trying to find a deal. I ended up with a $2 package of pork for stew. Did you know they even had stew pork cubes? I can't say as I've ever seen it before. Beef for stew was over $6 for the smallest package...which wasn't all that small.
5. Having a smart phone with a data plan is a wonderful thing in a grocery store. I had the stew meat, so now I needed some stuff to, you know, make a stew. Having made few stews in my life, I wasn't entirely sure what I absolutely needed. I parked in an empty area of the produce section and whipped out my phone. Three minutes later, I knew what I needed to know and got to it.
6. Oblivious people with cell phones in a grocery store aren't such a wonderful thing. Not the most original observation, I realize, but it has to be said.
7. Some people are simply not cut out to use the self-checkout lane. They simply aren't. But, of course, they do. I won't bore you with the tale; suffice it to say that if the death stare worked, California would be minus one shopper tonight.
8. Remembering to bring your own bag in to the grocery store gets easier with time. I used to suck at it, to be frank. Stores that remind you to bring them before you get inside are hug-worthy.
9. Grocery store parking lots were designed by car insurance companies. They have to be. They're like white-lined death traps, preying on the unwary and the parking-impaired.
10. When you buy a bunch of ingredients and don't exactly know what you're going to make with them, the results can be fantastic.
That brings us to the recipe I promised. I found a few recipes when I checked on my phone, but none were exactly what I wanted. So I did what I often do: I combined parts from a few different recipes that sound good, to come up with something original. My friend, PsychMamma, coined the term "Frankenstew" on Twitter when I was talking about it, so that's what it's called!
If you try it, I hope you like it and encourage you to improvise and add or substitute ingredients you already have or like better; just know their cooking times and throw them in accordingly.
Frankenstew
1 1/2 lbs stew pork, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 1/2 T. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1 t. paprika
1 1/2 T. olive oil
8 oz. sliced baby portabella mushrooms
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 T. chopped shallots
1 T. chopped garlic
1 can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
1 t. dried Italian seasoning
1 T. dried parsley
2 yellow potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, chopped
1/2 t. lemon zest or 2 T. fresh lemon juice
parsley (to garnish)
1. In a bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Toss the pork cubes in the flour mixture until completely coated.
2. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium to medium-high heat and brown the coated pork cubes in the olive oil.
3. Add the portabella mushrooms, sliced onion, shallots and garlic and sauté for 5 more minutes.
4. Stir in the chicken broth, wine and spices, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the potatoes and stir.
5. Cover the stew and cook over low heat for 45 minutes. Add carrots, re-cover and cook for 15 more minutes. Uncover, (add zest here if you’re using it) stir and cook for another 15 minutes or until the liquid thickens up a little.
6. Just before serving, stir in the fresh lemon juice (if you didn’t add the zest); garnish with fresh parsley (or cilantro, if you swing that way)
(Here is the original recipe that was the base for mine, from Food.com)
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
June 06, 2011
January 02, 2009
A Lot of Words, Followed by a Good Recipe
I made, and ate, soup for dinner tonight.
That doesn't sound like much of a statement unless you know me pretty well. I believe a member of my family called it a miracle.
Among the plethora of things to eat that I do not like, soup is the one that people seem to feel is the oddest. I know that soup is like the ultimate comfort food for most people, it simply isn't for me. (For me, that would be mashed potatoes.)
It's not accurate to say that I don't like soup, period. I just don't like most broth-based soups, which is what the vast majority of soups I encounter tend to be. One exception to this is miso soup, which I do like on occasion. I love cream-based soups (like chowder or bisque) when they're good, but they can be so heavy and often poorly made in restaurants; making them at home can take a lot of time and effort that I'm usually not willing to give. Fruit and cold soups are good, but rare.
But today I was making a concerted effort to get through some email that had accumulated in my inbox, hitting the items that I skip over when I don't have time to indulge in the goodies they hold. One of them is the Food & Wine missives our local paper, the Mercury News, sends out each week. Generally, if the subject doesn't absolutely grab me, I end up glossing over it and eventually deleting it, unread.
This week's had an intriguing title, "Going for the goat." I figured it would be about goat cheese, but the lead article was actually about goat meat, which I have had only once (in Portugal) and did enjoy. Apparently it's getting a bit more popular. And no, the recipe I'm going to share does not have goat in it. Goat soup would be a broth soup, now, wouldn't it?
The recipe that finally got my attention was called simply Cheddar-Ale Soup. Normally, that wouldn't make me very excited, except maybe for the ale part. But last year I tried and loved an amazing soup at a fantastic little gem of a restaurant in Mariposa, CA, called Savoury's (if you ever go to Yosemite, you owe it to yourself to stop there for a meal - you won't regret it). I think the soup was called something like Wisconsin Tavern Cheese Soup and it was just out of this world. I looked everywhere for that recipe in the weeks that followed, to no avail. This recipe very closely approximates it and is so incredibly easy to make! Plus, it's from a book that's called Comfort Foods Made Healthy, so it's got that going for it.
Some notes on my experience making it: 1. The recipe makes a lot of soup, so I halved the recipe, and drank the other half of the bottle of beer (Sam Adams Irish Red, if you're wondering). 2. The store didn't have any of the pre-cooked diced potatoes, so I just diced some red potatoes and cooked them a little longer. I didn't peel the potatoes first because I figured I'd keep in the vitamins and such in there, but I do recommend peeling them. Once you mash the potatoes, the skins end up floating around in kind of an odd way. It didn't detract from the taste, but I think it would look better without them. 3. Because I can't eat red peppers, I finely diced one Roma tomato and used that as the garnish on top. 4. If you're a black pepper fan, you might want to put some on before you dive in. I can't stand the stuff, but the abovementioned family member said it made it even better.
I hope if you try it, you'll come back and let me know what you think. I know I'll be making this again, which will maybe save me from being the weird one in the winter.
That doesn't sound like much of a statement unless you know me pretty well. I believe a member of my family called it a miracle.
Among the plethora of things to eat that I do not like, soup is the one that people seem to feel is the oddest. I know that soup is like the ultimate comfort food for most people, it simply isn't for me. (For me, that would be mashed potatoes.)
It's not accurate to say that I don't like soup, period. I just don't like most broth-based soups, which is what the vast majority of soups I encounter tend to be. One exception to this is miso soup, which I do like on occasion. I love cream-based soups (like chowder or bisque) when they're good, but they can be so heavy and often poorly made in restaurants; making them at home can take a lot of time and effort that I'm usually not willing to give. Fruit and cold soups are good, but rare.
But today I was making a concerted effort to get through some email that had accumulated in my inbox, hitting the items that I skip over when I don't have time to indulge in the goodies they hold. One of them is the Food & Wine missives our local paper, the Mercury News, sends out each week. Generally, if the subject doesn't absolutely grab me, I end up glossing over it and eventually deleting it, unread.
This week's had an intriguing title, "Going for the goat." I figured it would be about goat cheese, but the lead article was actually about goat meat, which I have had only once (in Portugal) and did enjoy. Apparently it's getting a bit more popular. And no, the recipe I'm going to share does not have goat in it. Goat soup would be a broth soup, now, wouldn't it?
The recipe that finally got my attention was called simply Cheddar-Ale Soup. Normally, that wouldn't make me very excited, except maybe for the ale part. But last year I tried and loved an amazing soup at a fantastic little gem of a restaurant in Mariposa, CA, called Savoury's (if you ever go to Yosemite, you owe it to yourself to stop there for a meal - you won't regret it). I think the soup was called something like Wisconsin Tavern Cheese Soup and it was just out of this world. I looked everywhere for that recipe in the weeks that followed, to no avail. This recipe very closely approximates it and is so incredibly easy to make! Plus, it's from a book that's called Comfort Foods Made Healthy, so it's got that going for it.
Some notes on my experience making it: 1. The recipe makes a lot of soup, so I halved the recipe, and drank the other half of the bottle of beer (Sam Adams Irish Red, if you're wondering). 2. The store didn't have any of the pre-cooked diced potatoes, so I just diced some red potatoes and cooked them a little longer. I didn't peel the potatoes first because I figured I'd keep in the vitamins and such in there, but I do recommend peeling them. Once you mash the potatoes, the skins end up floating around in kind of an odd way. It didn't detract from the taste, but I think it would look better without them. 3. Because I can't eat red peppers, I finely diced one Roma tomato and used that as the garnish on top. 4. If you're a black pepper fan, you might want to put some on before you dive in. I can't stand the stuff, but the abovementioned family member said it made it even better.
I hope if you try it, you'll come back and let me know what you think. I know I'll be making this again, which will maybe save me from being the weird one in the winter.
December 06, 2008
Cooking Up a Winning Formula
On Thursday, I was so pressed for time to get my picks posted before the first game started that I didn't have time to deal with my game-day recipe. (Didn't know I was doing that? Huh. Where have you been? Check this out for the reason.) And it's a good thing that I got them in, because I'm currently in first! Um, with seven other people.
Anyway, a few days later I still hadn't found just the right recipe. PsychMamma to the rescue! She mentioned that she has a drawer stuffed with recipes she has clipped out of magazines; she said there are 10,381 of them, and I really hope she's only kidding. Somehow, out of the morass of possibilities, she picked out two just for us.
This was my favorite of the two, since it's the one I'd most like to eat! It looks both tasty and easy, and would be just right for a game time snack. Or, as PsychMamma isn't a football fan, for any social gathering. :-) If you decide to give it a whirl, I hope you'll come by and tell us how it turned out. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it tomorrow, but I am definitely going to try it soon. If you're lucky, I'll share the other one soon.
Goat Cheese Pizza Bites
Serves 6 - 25 minute prep time
2 1/2 c. green or red grapes, halved (or cherry tomatoes if preferred to fruit)
1 T. finely chopped rosemary
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. store-bought pizza dough
8 oz. soft goat cheese
Preheat oven to 450F
Toss together grape halves, rosemary, and 1 T. olive oil and set aside.
Divide dough into thirds and stretch each portion into a 10" circle.
Place rounds on grill or in the oven until cooked through, about 6 minutes (flip halfway through if on the grill).
Sprinkle grapes, goat cheese, and remaining olive oil on crust.
Heat until the cheese begins to melt (about 5 minutes).
Cut into bite-sized pieces.
Note: I often just spread all the dough in a jelly roll pan, bake and then cut into bite-sized pieces.
Anyway, a few days later I still hadn't found just the right recipe. PsychMamma to the rescue! She mentioned that she has a drawer stuffed with recipes she has clipped out of magazines; she said there are 10,381 of them, and I really hope she's only kidding. Somehow, out of the morass of possibilities, she picked out two just for us.
This was my favorite of the two, since it's the one I'd most like to eat! It looks both tasty and easy, and would be just right for a game time snack. Or, as PsychMamma isn't a football fan, for any social gathering. :-) If you decide to give it a whirl, I hope you'll come by and tell us how it turned out. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it tomorrow, but I am definitely going to try it soon. If you're lucky, I'll share the other one soon.
Goat Cheese Pizza Bites
Serves 6 - 25 minute prep time
2 1/2 c. green or red grapes, halved (or cherry tomatoes if preferred to fruit)
1 T. finely chopped rosemary
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. store-bought pizza dough
8 oz. soft goat cheese
Preheat oven to 450F
Toss together grape halves, rosemary, and 1 T. olive oil and set aside.
Divide dough into thirds and stretch each portion into a 10" circle.
Place rounds on grill or in the oven until cooked through, about 6 minutes (flip halfway through if on the grill).
Sprinkle grapes, goat cheese, and remaining olive oil on crust.
Heat until the cheese begins to melt (about 5 minutes).
Cut into bite-sized pieces.
Note: I often just spread all the dough in a jelly roll pan, bake and then cut into bite-sized pieces.
November 20, 2008
Did Anyone See Where I Left My McBratty Pants?
So, the Commish was ON FIRE last week and picked every single game with a winner correctly; the crazy tie was a non-issue in any case because we all picked Philly to win. In doing so, she became the first BFLer to win two weeks in a row. I don't think I need to tell you how fishy it is that the person in charge of this loose assemblage of bloggy football goodness managed to nab back-to-back badges, do I? Mmm-hmm, didn't think so.
Now, sadly, she's been laid low by nasty Mr. Flu, which leaves me unable to trash talk her chances this week. That sucks almost as much as not coming close to winning these last two weeks, but far less than actually having the flu, so I forgive her and want her to feel better. Because almost everyone I know always says that when they're sick all they want is soup, this week's game day recipe is: soup!
This will probably be one-time thing because, unlike 99% of the world (apparently), I don't really like soup very much. There are some exceptions, and this recipe from our local paper is one of them -- it's quick, hearty but not heavy, doesn't have tons of ingredients and is perfect for autumn. It could, however, use a new title; "Squash Soup with Sausage" really doesn't sing. Clearly the author of the recipe was all out of naming imagination that day. I'm going to go with "Sack 'em, Squash 'em Soup."
I didn't actually make this one, I have to admit -- my mom did. Her improvisational improvement was to add some little meatballs (browned before being added) since we had some ground beef handy. Personally, I liked the meatballs better than the sausage and I could see doing it with one or the other or both like she did. If you try it and like it, I hope you'll let us all know. I'm going to try to make a batch this weekend, probably with just meatballs and with a little less thyme (the flavor of the thyme got a bit more intense than I would have liked after a while, but that could have been because she used dried thyme instead of fresh -- your results may vary).
So, what teams will I be rooting on while I slurp my soup?
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh
Philadelphia @ Baltimore
Houston @ Cleveland
Tampa Bay @ Detroit
Buffalo @ Kansas City
Chicago @ St. Louis
NY Jets @ Tennessee
New England @ Miami
Minnesota @ Jacksonville
San Francisco @ Dallas
Oakland @ Denver
Carolina @ Atlanta
NY Giants @ Arizona
Washington @ Seattle
Indianapolis @ San Diego
Monday Night Football
Green Bay @ New Orleans
Total score tiebreaker: 50
Note to the NFL: The Thursday night game thing is getting annoying. Please reconsider.
If you want to participate, go see The Commish, follow her instructions, link yourself up and help us try again to take the winner's badge away from her this week. If you can't do it before tonight's game, just do it before Sunday's games start and you'll just be one game down... just like probably more than half of us will be for picking wrong tonight.
Now, sadly, she's been laid low by nasty Mr. Flu, which leaves me unable to trash talk her chances this week. That sucks almost as much as not coming close to winning these last two weeks, but far less than actually having the flu, so I forgive her and want her to feel better. Because almost everyone I know always says that when they're sick all they want is soup, this week's game day recipe is: soup!
This will probably be one-time thing because, unlike 99% of the world (apparently), I don't really like soup very much. There are some exceptions, and this recipe from our local paper is one of them -- it's quick, hearty but not heavy, doesn't have tons of ingredients and is perfect for autumn. It could, however, use a new title; "Squash Soup with Sausage" really doesn't sing. Clearly the author of the recipe was all out of naming imagination that day. I'm going to go with "Sack 'em, Squash 'em Soup."
I didn't actually make this one, I have to admit -- my mom did. Her improvisational improvement was to add some little meatballs (browned before being added) since we had some ground beef handy. Personally, I liked the meatballs better than the sausage and I could see doing it with one or the other or both like she did. If you try it and like it, I hope you'll let us all know. I'm going to try to make a batch this weekend, probably with just meatballs and with a little less thyme (the flavor of the thyme got a bit more intense than I would have liked after a while, but that could have been because she used dried thyme instead of fresh -- your results may vary).
So, what teams will I be rooting on while I slurp my soup?
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh
Philadelphia @ Baltimore
Houston @ Cleveland
Tampa Bay @ Detroit
Buffalo @ Kansas City
Chicago @ St. Louis
NY Jets @ Tennessee
New England @ Miami
Minnesota @ Jacksonville
San Francisco @ Dallas
Oakland @ Denver
Carolina @ Atlanta
NY Giants @ Arizona
Washington @ Seattle
Indianapolis @ San Diego
Monday Night Football
Green Bay @ New Orleans
Total score tiebreaker: 50
Note to the NFL: The Thursday night game thing is getting annoying. Please reconsider.
If you want to participate, go see The Commish, follow her instructions, link yourself up and help us try again to take the winner's badge away from her this week. If you can't do it before tonight's game, just do it before Sunday's games start and you'll just be one game down... just like probably more than half of us will be for picking wrong tonight.
November 12, 2008
Recipe for Success
What goes better together than football and food? I mean, what else is there to do while watching 200-300 pound men running up and down a field for a few hours than eat?
I think it's time to get a head start on prepping and fine-tuning your menu for the big game in January. We try to rush everything else in this country, why not get ready now for a few hours in February? The inauguration will be over so we'll need something else to obsess over.
So for the rest of the season (or as long as I feel like doing it, we'll see) when I make my picks I'm going to link to a recipe I've found to share. You can begin delighting your friends and family right away, and you'll have them perfected by the time the Super Bowl lands in Tampa Bay. Really, there's nothing worse than trying to bust out a new recipe under the pressure of cleaning the house and expecting hungry hoards to land on your doorstep. Practice now, reap the praise later.
Depending on how late I end up sleeping in on Sunday (Two notes: 1. I have no kids, I can sleep in as much as I want, and 2. I'm in CA so the games start a tad earlier here than for much of the country), I may or may not make the recipes myself that day but that will be the "goal." Ha!
This week's recipe, from the recently completed 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off, wasn't a winner in the contest but sounds pretty good to me: Breakfast Quiches to Go. I don't think they're particularly breakfast-y but are simple to make and would be a good game snack. Just call them something else so you don't have to endure any stupid "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche" cracks. Like here I'll call them "Niner Nuggets" or something; Amy could call hers "Bengal Bundles" and Insta-mom (this past week's MVP!) could call hers "Chargers Cups" -- you get the point.
OK, so here are my picks. They look delicious in that lovely shrimp color, don't they?
NY Jets @ New England
Denver @ Atlanta
Detroit @ Carolina
Minnesota @ Tampa Bay
Baltimore @ NY Giants
Oakland @ Miami
New Orleans @ Kansas City
Philadelphia @ Cincinnati
Chicago @ Green Bay
Houston @ Indianapolis
St. Louis @ San Francisco
Arizona @ Seattle
Tennessee @ Jacksonville
San Diego @ Pittsburgh
Dallas @ Washington
Monday Night Football
Cleveland @ Buffalo
Total score tiebreaker: 30
I'm going to assume that if you haven't joined the BFL by now, you're not going to do so. If I'm wrong, go see the Commish, follow her instructions and help us try to take the winner's badge away from her this week. Or if you're going to sit on the sidelines but want to see if I can trounce the competition for the fourth time, check out the nifty spreadsheet throughout the course of the games and see how I'm doing. Just don't get any crumbs from the Niner Nuggets in your keyboard while you do, okay? They're a bitch to get out of there.
I think it's time to get a head start on prepping and fine-tuning your menu for the big game in January. We try to rush everything else in this country, why not get ready now for a few hours in February? The inauguration will be over so we'll need something else to obsess over.
So for the rest of the season (or as long as I feel like doing it, we'll see) when I make my picks I'm going to link to a recipe I've found to share. You can begin delighting your friends and family right away, and you'll have them perfected by the time the Super Bowl lands in Tampa Bay. Really, there's nothing worse than trying to bust out a new recipe under the pressure of cleaning the house and expecting hungry hoards to land on your doorstep. Practice now, reap the praise later.
Depending on how late I end up sleeping in on Sunday (Two notes: 1. I have no kids, I can sleep in as much as I want, and 2. I'm in CA so the games start a tad earlier here than for much of the country), I may or may not make the recipes myself that day but that will be the "goal." Ha!
This week's recipe, from the recently completed 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off, wasn't a winner in the contest but sounds pretty good to me: Breakfast Quiches to Go. I don't think they're particularly breakfast-y but are simple to make and would be a good game snack. Just call them something else so you don't have to endure any stupid "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche" cracks. Like here I'll call them "Niner Nuggets" or something; Amy could call hers "Bengal Bundles" and Insta-mom (this past week's MVP!) could call hers "Chargers Cups" -- you get the point.
OK, so here are my picks. They look delicious in that lovely shrimp color, don't they?
NY Jets @ New England
Denver @ Atlanta
Detroit @ Carolina
Minnesota @ Tampa Bay
Baltimore @ NY Giants
Oakland @ Miami
New Orleans @ Kansas City
Philadelphia @ Cincinnati
Chicago @ Green Bay
Houston @ Indianapolis
St. Louis @ San Francisco
Arizona @ Seattle
Tennessee @ Jacksonville
San Diego @ Pittsburgh
Dallas @ Washington
Monday Night Football
Cleveland @ Buffalo
Total score tiebreaker: 30
I'm going to assume that if you haven't joined the BFL by now, you're not going to do so. If I'm wrong, go see the Commish, follow her instructions and help us try to take the winner's badge away from her this week. Or if you're going to sit on the sidelines but want to see if I can trounce the competition for the fourth time, check out the nifty spreadsheet throughout the course of the games and see how I'm doing. Just don't get any crumbs from the Niner Nuggets in your keyboard while you do, okay? They're a bitch to get out of there.
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