Alaskan Applesauce

It's been a long time since I showed you what I cooked. 

Nick and I live in Alaska now.  I moved here in December 2012 and Nick followed soon after that. 

As a diehard fan of apples,  I was happy to find that our new home in Eagle River, near Anchorage, has four small apple trees.  I don't know what variety they are - it looks like there are two different types.  The apples are small this year.  Next year I will cull some in the spring, so that the tree puts its energy into making fewer, larger apples.  Small or not, they taste great.  Kind of like a mcintosh/cortland blend. 

This morning, I picked a bunch and with some of them, made a small batch of applesauce.

I used a small bit of lemon juice and added a few grains of salt to bring out the natural sweetness of the apples.  No sugar needed!  

Camarones a la Barbara

So, I won a cooking contest at work.  Engineered by our Marketing Director, the idea was to send a winner on to a city-wide contest, to be held later this summer, called  "Cooking Up Justice".   My dish, "Camarones a la Barbara" kept company with a bevy of delicious entries from my colleagues.  Oh, they were so delicious.  Penne a la vodka, Patitsio, Chile, Coconut Cake, Quiche, Coffee Cake, and on and on, I forget them all!     One of the judges was Chef Lepke, who has  been a contestant on "Chopped".  I don't get cable, so I have never watched the show, but anyway... 

Here's my basic recipe.

Camarones a la Barbara

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
butter and olive oil for saute
3 tablespoons spices or herbs of your choice.  I used a combination of cumin, tumeric, ginger, paprika.
salt and pepper to taste
6 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 cup tomatoes with juice (canned are fine)

Warm butter and olive oil, then saute garlic until golden.  Put in shrimp.  Cook on medium high for a short period.  Take shrimp out, and put in a bowl.  Put other ingredients in and reduce the sauce.  Return shrimp to warm, then serve over pasta, rice, or with bread.  That's it!

Pizza Rustica

This is pizza with three cheeses. Provolone, mozzarella, and grated parmesan. I made the dough using regular flour, as well as some of this wonderful grain blend from King Arthur. My mom and dad gave me a gift certificate for King Arthur for my birthday so I got a bunch of things from there. I learned my recipe for Pizza in the 1980s, and have it in my head. I riff on it from a recipe published in Cosmopolitan Magazine (of all places!). 1 cup water, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 T yeast, 3 cups flour (I riff on the flour with whatever). Also, for the oil, I used tonight the oil from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes. I also added 1 tablespoon oregano in the dough. This is so easy. I got the pepperoni from a store in the Quakertown Farmers' Market - The "Q MART"!

Apricot-Bourbon BBQ Chicken

Boy-oh-boy is this good. This recipe from the Pioneer Woman Cooks is the inspiration for our dinner tonight.

I did a few things differently from the recipe above. First, I used Wild Turkey brand bourbon instead of Jack Daniels. Second, I used apricot preserves instead of peach. For garlic, I used Penzey's dried minced instead of fresh, just because I have it on hand. I used skinless boneless chicken thighs. They fell apart in cooking, which was so yummy in the final dish. Instead of baking the dish in the oven, I threw it in my crock pot because it's hot here and I didn't want to use the oven. At the end, I took the sauce out of the crockpot, then transferred it to a stovetop pan where I reduced it for about 10 minutes. Perfecto.

I have several meals left for the freezer - frozen into individual meal packages, they'll solve the "what's for dinner" problem on a weeknight this coming September.

Pasta con Pomodoro Crudo

Fresh from my garden. I came home tonight.

Nick has a standing order to "saute an onion" which he did before he left to pick me up from the train station, only 1 mile from our home.

I approached the house from the back door. I smelled that yummy onion and olive oil smell through the screen. The pasta water was hot. The onion was in the 10 inch saute pan, nicely golden.

I diced one yellow crookneck squash (picked from the garden this morning), put it in the pan with some fennel seed and garlic, covered the pan, and put it on medium high.

Meanwhile, I halved my tomatoes - cherry red and lemon pear. I added a gigantic red one for good measure. Put the tomatoes in with the squash and onion. Meanwhile, I cooked my 3 minute angel hair pasta.

After two minutes, the tomatoes were starting to ooze their juice. I put in some chopped basil from the garden, then drained my pasta, and poured my vegetables on top.

A complete meal, with the addition of some grated parmesan cheese.

Pancakes

Happy Mothers' Day!

Pancakes are a simple and homey comfort food. Usually, we enjoy the plain type, made with regular flour and eggs. Today we mixed it up a bit.

This morning I used my Vitamix to make pancakes and blueberry syrup. (Yes, in separate batches.)

The book that came with the blender has some great recipes. I adapted one to make the following pancake recipe.

Hearty Pancakes

1 1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flax seed, ground

Blend the above on high for about one minute.

Add 3/4 cup oatmeal (not cooked - the flakes from the container), 1/4 cup dried cranberries, and 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds.

Blend all on low for about 20 seconds. Let sit about 5 minutes. It will thicken up.

Thin this mixture with water, if desired. Heat griddle to medium (I use a nonstick griddle, with a bit of canola oil on it). Cook pancakes.

This makes about eight big pancakes. I cooked the whole batch, then packed the leftovers in a plastic container, lined with paper towel. Tomorrow morning, we'll just microwave these and enjoy again.

Blueberry Syrup

1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar (or more if you want)

Thaw the blueberries. Add all ingredients to blender. Blend on "high" for about 4 minutes. Pour on pancakes.

Nick says these pancakes are good, but a little too 'Healthy' tasting.

Harrumph.

Next time, I might use regular flour instead of whole wheat, reduce the milk a bit, add an egg, and eliminate the flax seed.

Chicken!

At the Quakertown Mart today, I ran across an amazing special. 45 pounds of chicken for $16.99.



Miss Inquisative, also known as Midget Cat, or "Half a Manx" for short, checked out the loot.

I gave half the box to my mom and dad. So they got 6 chickens, and Nick and I got 6 chickens. I packaged mine up in freezer bags. At the bottom of the box, I could see that Tyson had intended these beasts to end up as Rotisserie Specials.

Actually, I felt sorry for the beasts...dead and naked and eviscerated. I eat animals, but I do not take that lightly. These beasts,it seemed to me, were processed so quickly and so efficiently, it seemed wrong. So from the 6 I got, I took the first one and made Coq au Vin.


First, I cut up and sauteed 3 pieces of bacon. Then, I cut up the chicken. I am not too experienced at this, but with the instruction from Meat, a Kitchen Education, by Peterson, I did pretty well .

I simmered the bacon, three onions, some garlic, a bay leaf, some parsley and herbs de Provence mix, in the crock pot for a few hours.

And while I was at it, I used the back of the chicken, along with other trimmings, to make a stock. (Rear of the range). I am proud of the fact that I was able to de-bone the thigh, per Peterson's instructions. My pieces of chicken were not butcher-perfect, but they made this....



Pas mal. I used Malbec from Argentina as my wine. So good, and not expensive. This was melt in your mouth delish. For recipes, consult Julia Child or just do a internet search on "Coq Au Vin" and you won't go wrong. We served ours with brown rice and sweet peas. A sweet New Years' Eve dinner indeed!

Mmmmm Sugar!

When Nick and I got married, his mom gave me a little blue notebook, The Bell Family's All Time Favorite Christmas Cookies. The book was compiled by his mom and his sister, Cindy. Cindy typed most of the recipes on white bond paper; some of them were Xeroxed from newspaper clippings. Cindy was a professional secretary, before people started to call them "Admin Assistants", "Executive Assistants", or (I hate this one, but I can't tell you why... "Admins".)

The book has several versions of Sugar Cookies, and I like this one best.

Here's the recipe (adaptations or comments by me in italics).

Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs (Tender Crispy Favorites)

3/4 cup butter or margarine (I always use butter. Butter is better.)
1 1/2 cups sugar (I sometimes use less...this amount makes them very sweet.)
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I also add 1 teaspoon almond extract to this).
3 1/4 cups sifted flour (I measure 3 cups, and then sift that right into the bowl when the time comes to add flour.)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I usually use a bit more, as I usually bake with unsalted butter,and I think this recipe was probably designed with salted butter or margarine in mind).

With electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. (I use my KitchenAid stand mixer..and beat the heck out of the butter at this stage.) Beat in sugar and vanilla (and almond extract). Beat in eggs (I always put the baking powder and salt in before the eggs and beat the heck out of the mixture.) Gradually stir in dry ingredients (for me this is only flour...I add one sifted cup at a time, this time using the 'stir' function on the KitchenAid...no desire to get those gluten molecules kickin'! - best to keep them unspringy, so as to make for a more tender cookie.)

Chill three hours (in refrigerator, duh... I guess they felt they didn't need to tell you that...then again, sometimes when it's cold outside, I use my cold garage for cold storage...I wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap).

Roll to 1/4 inch thickness (I like them thinner). Cut with cookie cutters. Arrange 1 1/2 inches apart on cookie sheets (No way Jose...I put mine tight as soldiers in formation. These babies don't spread when heated, so no need to put distance between them.) Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 15 minutes. (I preheat my oven, of course, and bake about 6 minutes, then switch the sheets (top to bottom) and check frequently thereafter...usually mine are done in 10 to 12 minutes because I make mine thinner. Cool on racks. Decorate with frosting. (I don't use frosting. Instead, I sprinkle colored sugar crystals on the cookies before baking. My mom always did it that way, and that is what I do too.)

The Root

I

Today was "clean out the garden" day. In the vegetable garden, I found treasures I had forgotten about. Decorative gourds (I don't know where these came from...some bird must have left the seed in early spring...), along with japanese turnips and carrots, which I had planted this spring.

The gourds ended up on the dining room table, keeping company with the ones I got last month from Hellerick's farm. The turnips...well, they were a bit bitter, so they ended up in the compost bin.

The carrots ended up here.
Parsley, sage, and fennel, all from my garden, with a little bacon fat from this morning's bacon, and salt. Baked at 375 degrees for an hour, they became this:


A good accompaniment to a roast, a slice of homemade lavash bread, and a glass of pinot noir!

Beet, Carrot and Onion Soup with Garlic and Herbs

I have been wanting a Vitamix machine for some time. A few weeks ago, our old Hamilton Beach from the 1970s died. This is a machine that Nick brought to our marriage, 25 years ago, and he doesn't remember from where it came. It was probably one of those 'donation' items familiar to college aged-people - it goes like this --- grandma (or whoever) has two blenders, and gives you one of them. This blender was the only one we've ever had until now. I know it is an old blender, because one time, I toured Ike and Mamie Eisenhower's house (it's on National Park property) in Gettysburg, PA. They had the same blender Nick and I did, and Mamie died in 1979. (Ike died earlier).

Our Hamilton Beach died because I had some old parmesan cheese, and I was trying to use the blender to pulverize the cheese so I could sprinkle it on something I was cooking. You know the hard little bits of cheese you have left over from some long-ago culinary escapade? Not moldy, but hard. Well, that was the cheese I was trying to pulverize. The cheese, instead, knocked a hole in the plastic blender container, so that was the end. Besides, the Hamilton Beach was tired.

So, I debated for two weeks before spending a LOT of money (well, a lot by my standards) on a Vitamix.

This baby cooks. Literally! Mostly, I've been using it to make breakfast type smoothies (I experiment with flavors and textures I think will work). This morning, I tossed in 5 frozen strawberries, a half banana, about 10 dried cranberries, 2 oz each cranberry and orange juice.

So at lunch today, I made some soup. Just thought the recipe up as I went along. This machine is so powerful that ingredients COOK through pure friction. Friction is so powerful if you let the machine run long enough, that the ingredients get almost boiling hot, and steamy.

Beet, Carrot and Onion Soup with Garlic and Herbs (serves 2)

1 large beet, peeled and roughly chopped.
1 carrot, same as above.
1 small onion, same as above.
1 clove garlic, same as above.
2 sprigs parsley. 2 more, reserved for garnish.
1 large sage leaf, 2 small ones in addition, reserved for garnish
1 cup chicken broth.
2 T sour cream(for garnish).

Put all ingredients except for sage and parsley garnish, and sour cream into Vitamix. Whirl that baby. Bombs away...the cat scuttles out of the kitchen due to jet-engine noise simulation.

Let pulverize for 5 to 7 minutes, until liquid is steaming. (hot). Watch the liquid go up and down and round and round. Hypnotic red-orange color. Beta carotene and good stuff is practically transluscent in the autumn sunshine.

Pour into bowls and garnish with sour cream and herbs.

Although this was good, it wasn't fantastic. A little 'raw' tasting. Next time, I will soften the roots and garlic in a tablespoon olive oil on stovetop first. A little conventional cooking and carmelization would take this food from good to fantastic.

And if you conventional cook the ingredients before blending, you could make this soup with a regular (non Vitamix) machine.

French Onion Soup

Years ago, I bought a set of four ovenproof bowls, at a factory outlet store in Flemington, NJ, with the idea that I'd make french onion soup. Eight (or so) years later, (yay) I made it!


My first French Onion soup!

It's not hard to make, which makes me wonder (as I do from time to time) what took me so long!

There is some time involved, mainly in making the caramelized onions that serve as a base for the soup. This step turns out to be easy if you use a crockpot.

Caramelized Onions

Peel, cut in half lengthwise, and slice (getting rid of the roots) about 5 pounds onions. I used regular (huge) NY "Bold" onions (the usual kind, not the sweet ones).

Throw these onions in a large crockpot with 1 stick butter. I used salted butter, so did not add salt.

Cook on low 14 hours. Cool and store in refrigerator, where they keep for weeks. Add salt later, as you use them, if you want. These will be beautifully brown and naturally sweet. But if you think they're not sweet enough, just add some sugar. I've been making these onions for a while.

These onions are great more than making soup. Use them for topping hamburgers, serving alongside any beans or meat, baking on top of a pizza, and so on. At our house, we can go through a batch of these onions in about 2 or 3 weeks. And it's just the two of us.

French Onion Soup

Take about 1 cup of caramelized onions from the fridge. In a pan, melt 1 T. butter, and put in about 1 T flour. Make paste, and heat about 4 minutes. Don't let burn. Whisk in about 3 cups stock of your choice. I used a combination of frozen chicken stock that I had on hand supplemented by water and Penzey's "broth in a jar". This Penzey's stuff is phenomenal, in my opinion. In fact, I buy a lot of my spices and such at Penzey's. My mom turned me on to Penzey's a few years ago. What I don't buy at Penzey's, I buy in ginormous bulk quantity at Costco. Put a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and simmer a while. Put the onions in. All told, simmer about 1 hour. Put pepper and salt in if desired.

Meanwhile, slice french bread into 3/4 inch slices (I made some yesterday) and toast it in the oven at around 325 degrees, basting if desired with olive oil.

Get your oven proof receptacles (I used my little bowls). It's nice to make individual type servings, but you can do it in one huge bowl, I guess, and serve it from that. For the individual servings, pPut 1 slice of bread in bottom of bowl. Put on some cheese (I used mozzarella and parmesan because that's what I had on hand but per Julia Child, you're supposed to use gruyere and or swiss with parmesan). Ladle soup on top. Float about 2 slices of bread on top of each bowl, put on more cheese, then drizzle with olive oil (again, learned from Julia Child). Bake at 325 F. for about 25 minutes. This temp browns the cheese nicely, but is not so hot that your soup boils in the oven.

Nick said this soup was as good as any he's ever had in a restaurant. That's good enough for me!

Gad-Zukes!

Anyone who has a vegetable garden inevitably grows Zucchini at least once. I grow it every year. One plant yields a few squash every week. I looked away for a few minutes, and was greeted yesterday by a large one. About nine inches. We normally eat them when they're 4 inches long or less. I don't like them 'alone' when they're that big. So, when faced with a large one, there's always the option of Zucchini Bread.

My mother-in-law, Carol, gave me two family recipe compilations when I joined the family. One of these is a Christmas Cookie book. The other is a blue loose leaf binder, into which she had affixed some of the Bell family favorites. The recipes were painstakingly typed onto loose leaf binder paper.

Along the way, she noted my interest in vegetable gardening, and accordingly, my prolific zucchini harvest. So she gave me several Zucchini recipes, which I added to the binder.

This is one of them:

Zucchini Bread With Dates ("Good", she notes, in pen, on the upper left margin)
My changes are in italics to the right of the ingredients.

3 eggs
1 c. oil (I used only 3/4 cup peanut oil. it worked well. less fat.)
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda1 tsp. cinnamon (I used 1 1/2 tsp.) 2 c. grated peeled zucchinni
2 c sugar (I used 1 cup sugar and 1 cup Splenda artificial sugar.)
1/2 tsp. baking powder (omitted)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. walnuts (I used 3/4 cup grated coconut instead of nuts.)
1/2 c. dates (I put in 3/4 cup.)
Directions:

Beat eggs until light and foamy. Add sugar, oil, zucchini and vanilla. Mix lightly.

Add flour, soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon. (Recipe says to mix these separately then add, but I just dumped them in.)

Blend. Add nuts (coconut) and dates.

Pour into two greased and floured (I omitted the flour - no sticking, no problems) bread pans.

Bake in preheated 325 F degree oven about 1 hour. (I baked 55 minutes.)

Can be frozen. (I froze one loaf. The other is almost gone. It may not last 24 hours here at the Bell house!)

Mom and Dad's Barnegat Bay Flounder and Potatoes

This year, the bay is full of large flounder, so when we go to the shore, we often have fresh fish. We catch them in the channel right outside my parents' house.

My mom has a way of pan cooking filets which works really well. First, wet the filets in beaten egg. Then, dip them in corn flake crumbs, mixed with a small bit of Old Bay seasoning. Now, pay attention - following is the secret.

Once the filets are coated in the crumbs, put them in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. This firms up the crumbs, and keeps the crumb coating from coming off when frying later.
There are two secrets in frying. Use medium heat, and take the filets out of the pan right BEFORE you think they are done. Also, use a combination of peanut or canola oil and butter. You don't need much oil or butter, really.

My dad planted Yukon Gold and Redskin potatoes (both varieties) in the side yard, in a small patch near the house. They are ready to be eaten as thin skinned, new potatoes. We simply boiled them whole, and tossed them with butter, chopped parsley and a bit of dill along with salt and pepper. This made a a perfect bayside dinner, served along with green salad and coleslaw.
Below, mom and dad are standing in front of a photo of pound boats. These boats were used on Long Beach Island in the 'olden days' to net fish in the ocean. The boats were sail and oar powered. When my dad was a child in the late 1940s and 1950s, he used to go up to the beach to see the pound boats land with their catches of fish.

American Apple Pie

Apple season has begun! One of the earliest varieties is Yellow Transparent. I was lucky enough to get some of these apples from my mom and dad, who have a tree. I don't ever see this variety for sale in markets - even the small roadside apple stands. The apples we have bruise easily, and I imagine this is one reason we don't see them in markets (hard to transport when they bruise so readily.)

This is an early yielder, and the apples ripened two weeks ago.
Nick and I ate the pie with vanilla ice cream.

Independence Day Potato Salad

Today is American Iindependence day. For our celebratory picnic, I made a 'french style' potato salad. Why French? In my opinion, without the ready assistance of the French (including Lafayette) and others (including genius battlements engineer Thaddeus Kosiuszko), the United States may not have been able to break free of the mother country. Of course, the americans had to want it bad enough to fight. Hard. Without blood and sweat from the famous and obscure Americans, the United States would simply not have been formed. Today I remind myself that american independence was not a 'given' back in 1776. At the time the Declaration of Independence was written, half of American colonists were still loyal to Britain. Those who wanted independence wanted it badly enough to stake their lives and fortunes on it's successful outcome.

Our country still operates on ideals that are emulated by and envied by many in the world today. May we americans always be worthy -- in our actions, thoughts, and aspirations -- of the ideals and actions of our forefathers and foremothers.


So again, chapeaus off to the French, for helping us out back in the 1770s (and later, when we fought the British again in the early 1800s). To honor the French contribution to American Independence, I made today an adaptation of what Julia Child calls a "French Style" potato salad.

This is a simple recipe, and I'll share it here, but credit Julia for the inspiration. First, you have to start with the best possible ingredients, as this is a simple recipe and the quality of the ingredients "make" the meal.I bought some new potatoes (by "new" potatoes, I mean those of this season, freshly dug) last Thursday from a farmer who is in Philadelphia every week. I've mentioned him earlier here, and he and his mom, and sometimes others, are in Suburban Station (SEPTA) every Thursday.

These potatoes, and some fresh garlic chives and parsley from my garden, along with some red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and good quality olive oil are all I needed.
"Thank the French" Independence Day Potato Salad

8 to 10 ounces new redskin potatoes
1 teaspoon salt (plus more if needed)
a few grinds of pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (more or less)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped parsley (or less if you don't like this herb as much as I do)
2 tablespoons chopped garlic chives (or anything from the allium family -use your judgement)

Wash potatoes well, scrub a bit under running water. Cut into 1/4 inch slices (do not peel).

Boil for about 10 minutes (maybe less ) in salted water. Drain. Retain about 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Put that and the potatoes back in the cooking pan. Let sit for about 5 minutes, covered.

Take potatoes and water out, and put in large mixing bowl. Lightly mix in vinegar herbs and pepper. Let sit at room temperature another 10 minutes (Covered). Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Add olive oil. Toss. Let cool. Transfer to refrigerator. Ready to serve in 2 hours.

Barnegat Bay Flounder

This weekend, we caught some beautiful flounder, in Barnegat Bay, and tonight Nick and I had some filets for dinner.
My sisters, their families, and Nick and me, along with my mom, celebrated dad's 69th birthday yesterday at my parents' vacation home on Long Beach Island.

Dad is a master filet-er. I have taken lessons, and I can approximate his technique, but my filets are ragged. I save the fish frames to make stock. Although Julia Child says to add the heads as part of the fish frame/stock combo, I don't have it in me, so the heads, along with the innards of fish, go to the laughing gulls and herring gulls who congregate at our dock when the fish come home.

As Dad is a master filet-er, my Mom is the Mistress of fine cuisine. Mom cooked dinner, after dinner, after dinner when I was a child, every meal from 'scratch' and every meal a feast, from salad to entree to dessert. From her I learned how to bake the filets with butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper, with a little flour (a la meuniere, s-il-vous plait) sprinkled on top. Served with sauteed spinach (with garlic and red pepper) and pasta, it made a beautiful dinner.

Steak and Spinach Salad

Yesterday was Nick and my 25th wedding anniversary, and to celebrate, we went to our neighborhood restaurant, The William Penn Inn. Nick ordered the "Prime Rib" and I had the "Penn's Surf and Turf". So, we are having leftover steak and prime rib for a few nights.
Tonight, my leftover filet mignon served as a savory foil to a spinach and mushroom salad (with carrots, onions, goat cheese, and yellow peppers). Served with homemade bread and a nice shiraz, this dinner was a good end to a challenging day.

Here we are last night at our anniversary dinner.

Ooo laa, laa, Hollandaise!

Barnegat bay flounder, with capers, "New Jersey Fresh" Asparagus and Hollandaise.

The Hollandaise sauce recipe is from Julia Child. Bless that woman for making classic sauces NOT intimidating. With the help of "The Way to Cook", I whipped up that sauce in plenty of time to serve it with lightly sauteed flounder (from the freezer - sauteed in butter and olive oil, with capers and lemon juice added at the end) and microwaved asparagus.

Hollandaise Sauce (rough directions adapted from Julia) (makes 1 cup)

In heavy saucepan, whisk 3 egg yolks until light yellow. Add 1 1/2 T lemon juice. Put on low heat. Add 1 TB butter. Whisk over heat. When egg yolks get thick, add another 1 TB butter and keep whisking. Take off heat. Then add more melted butter (about 1 stick's worth) a few dribbles at a time,whisking constantly. The sauce will stay emulsified, absorbing the extra butter. Add salt and pepper to taste, and more lemon juice if you like. Keep warm. Spoon that goodness over what you like. That's it!

B's Egg Thing

I adapted a "Crustless Quiche" recipe, which I got from my mother-in-law, Carol, many years ago, so that Nick and I could have a quick and easy dinner. The recipe from "Ma Bell" was supposed to feed 12 to 16 people, and included a lot of butter and significant amounts of cheese. My version is slightly leaner, and feeds four (or two hungry mungries - Nick and Me):

B's Egg Thing
Ingredients
4 eggs - beaten.
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup (or so) cottage cheese (I had some laying around and scraped out the container for this)
1/2 teaspoon each, salt, baking powder, and sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I had an old piece of parmigiano/reggiano, so I used that, along with some fontina, to make 1/2 cup)a pinch garlic powder
6 grinds black pepper

Instructions
Take a casserole dish (that holds about 1 quart), and melt 1 tablespoon butter in it, in the microwave. Smear the butter around to coat the dish.

Preheat oven to 400. (f)

Beat eggs, then add all other ingredients. Put into casserole dish.

Bake until done - around 1/2 hour, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Basically, you're making a thick custard/pudding.
I served it with homemade rolled biscuits and a salad.

Since I rode my bike 14.1 miles today at a speed of about 12 miles per hour, it was an easy first ride of the season, but I'm pretty tired right now. I work out regularly with weights, and I run and walk, but biking uses different muscles. I understand from those who "know" that when recovering from muscle exertion, one should eat protein and carbs, and this egg dish with biscuits has plenty of both. And the salad (mesclun greens), provides the green nutrition.

I am riding the American Cancer Society "City to Shore" ride (60 miles or so) in July,and I'm also riding the Lutheran Charities Ride in late June. I am not sure how many miles I will ride in late June - either 35 or 50 plus. I find that having a specific goal, fitness-wise, helps keep me on track.

Calzone

Using a simple pizza dough and some simple ingredients for the stuffing, I made two very large calzones for dinner.

INSIDE THE CALZONE - STEP 1
Last night, I made a pasta topping consisting of sauteed onions, peppers, and italian sausage meatballs. (To make the meatballs, remove italian sausage from casing, wet hands so the mixture does not stick, then roll into balls and fry.) I made enough to have extra for tonight's calzone dinner.

THE BACK STORY
Nick and I mulched the garden today. We had 5 cubic yards of mulch delivered at 7:45 AM. By noon, the mulch was spread. So we felt we 'deserved' a good dinner. You know what I mean?

The DOUGH
Back in 1986, Cosmopolitan magazine gave this recipe for pizza crust. (I know - wierd that COSMO would talk about Pizza crust. but this was the 80s.) Here is the recipe, which I used tonight for calzone dough.
3 cups flour (Cosmo said regular flour - I say bread flour)
1 cup water (COSMO said 1 cup, I say 1 1/3 cups)
1 Tablespoon yeast1 Tablespoon salt
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Mix it all together. Knead, let rest.
I used half of this recipe for the calzones. The rest I refrigerated, to use tomorrow, for dinner (an italian type loaf.)

INSIDE THE CALZONE - STEP 2
I put the "Step 1 " ingredients in rolled out dough (two 12 inch circles, which was half the recipe above) then I added 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, and 1 cup shredded mozzarella. I divided the ingredients among the two calzones.

MAKE THE CALZONE
Then, I flipped the dough over so that the ingredients are inside the calzones. I pinched the edges together, then slipped the calzones into a 400 degree F oven. I use a stone in my oven, but you can simply put them in on a cookie sheet.

Then...
BAKE (around 25 or 30 minutes) and ...EAT (the best part).