A Good Dressing Down!

I blogged about salads and dressing a bit ago and mentioned I prefer making homemade dressing except for blue cheese.  I also mentioned making dressing in a mustard jar that was almost empty.  Here is another dressing tip.  When your jar of blue cheese dressing is just about empty don't throw it out - yet.  Add a little oil and vinegar, or just add a little of your basic vinaigrette to the jar and shake it all about.  You'll have a tasty blue cheese vinaigrette for your salad

Remember the days of the steak house and the iceberg lettuce salad?  To make a classic steak house salad remove the core and outer, wilted leaves from a head or two of iceberg lettuce.  Cut the lettuce in wedges and place one or two in each salad bowl.

Top with sliced tomatoes or cherry tomato halves (sliced red onion and/or radish optional) and a good dollop of your favorite blue cheese dressing.  For the crowning touch, sprinkle a generous portion of cooked, crumbled bacon and a little crumbled blue cheese on top.  Garnish with freshly ground pepper.

This is a bargain when you consider that a head of iceberg usually sells for about a buck and this salad can cost upwards of $10 in a typical steak house!  (T)-bone appetit!

Quotable quotes; in the category I Don't Know What It Means But I'm Too Tired To Look It Up.

"It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 'soporific'." Beatrix Potter

Don't Put All Your Egg Salad In One Bread Basket

I had egg salad the other day. I love egg salad. I have tried different versions that add minced celery, pickle relish or other things but I just don't care for them. The closest I came was "Bacon and Egg Salad" which just meant adding crumbled bacon to my basic recipe. I was not impressed. The bacon did not stand out and I felt it was a waste of good bacon (luckily the egg salad was fine, with or without the bacon).

I think the reason I prefer my rather plain egg salad is the bread I serve it on. I sometimes use a hearty country style bread but any regular old grocery store bread will do - white bread, a soft whole grain, a denser whole grain - but the very best bread for egg salad is fresh Challah, that soft, golden yellow bread with a shiny brown crust. This lets the egg salad be the star with a good supporting cast. Buy Challah at a deli or wherever you buy your bagels if your grocery store does not have it.

My egg salad is basic and pretty plain. Remember, that's the way I like it. I was just thinking of cooking the eggs in egg coddlers, which I posted on recently. But that would mean a separate coddler for each egg. Too many to wash. Besides, they do just fine inside the shell - and since you'll be mashing the eggs anyway it doesn't matter if they don't peel beautifully.

My friend gave me a couple gadgets. One is a little plastic thing with a spring loaded pin inside. This is for piercing the end of the egg which is supposed to prevent the egg cracking during cooking. it works pretty well.

The other is a contraption with a slotted section to hold the peeled egg and another section that is threaded with wires for slicing the egg. My friend turns the egg in two or three directions in order to dice rather than slice. This guy works okay for slicing eggs for, say, potato salad but for egg salad I just smash everything together with a fork.

Be warned. I never measure. I just add until the taste and texture are about right. Here is my "recipe" for basic egg salad. I usually use about three eggs. This makes the amount of egg salad I know I will eat before I decide I would rather have ham and cheese.

Pierce the broad end of the egg with your egg piercer or a sharp push pin. Be careful not to squeeze the egg too hard or it will break. I sometimes pierce the narrow end too, especially if the eggs are less fresh. Place the eggs in a pan just big enough to hold them in a single layer and fill the pan with cold water to cover the eggs.

Bring to a full boil, then cover the pan and turn off the heat. Leave them for 10 minutes (or longer). Add cold water to the pan, draining out the hot water, and leave them until they are cool enough to handle, about 10 - 20 minutes. Remove the shells and either dice the eggs with your egg slicer or a knife, or just place them in a bowl and smash them with a fork, leaving them as chunky as you like. I like them fairly smooth.

Add a little mayonnaise, about a teaspoon per egg, maybe a little less. Also add a nice blob of any kind of mustard - plain old yellow, brown and spicy, Dijon - I use whatever kind of mustard happens to be open in the fridge. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

Stir well with the fork, adding a bit more mayonnaise if you like. If you are feeling creative or happen to have any handy, add a pinch of fresh or dried herbs - oregano, basil, tarragon or thyme - or maybe a pinch of cayenne pepper or a drop of Tabasco sauce. Taste as you go and stop when you like it (or when you have tasted all the salad and have to start over).

I love this served on soft, fresh Challah, any whole wheat or whole grain bread, toasted or not, or even on toasted English muffins or bagels! Sometimes I even spread it on crackers, like dip.

If you want to make devilled eggs, just be extra careful peeling the eggs. Slice them in half, mash the yolks with mayo, mustard, seasonings and, if you like, a splash of vinegar or pickle juice and spoon the filling back into the whites. Garnish with a shake of paprika or a parsley leaf.

That's it! Easy, basic, tasty. The way things should be!

Quotable Quotes; in the category Yeah, I Think This Is How I Would Like It To Go!

"My career is pretty much over. I'm out in the Valley eating soft-boiled eggs." Tim Conway

Oh It's The Nuts!

When I posted about Garlic Fried Rice a while ago I promised I would tell you about Garlic Peanuts and Adobo. Well I kept my word on the Adobo so now it's time to come through on the peanuts.

Peanuts fried with garlic can be found at Asian markets all over Chicago, mainly Filipino markets. They are sold in little plastic bags or in little plastic cups - some homemade, others commercially done. I have not met a garlic peanut I did not like. Essentially, they are shelled peanuts cooked in oil with fried garlic bits and whole fried garlic cloves. They are delicious, salty and aromatic. If you like garlic and peanuts you will like these. Here is how I make them - probably not at all authentically, some recipes seem to pre-boil raw peanuts then fry the nuts and garlic separately.

I take a jar of dry roasted or roasted and salted peanuts and put them in a skillet with oil and garlic. I usually chop the garlic fairly fine because I am not cooking the peanuts for very long (they are already roasted). I suppose you could cook whole or sliced garlic cloves until almost crispy. The commercial peanuts often contain garlic cloves still in their papery skins.

When the garlic is almost done I toss in the peanuts and stir and toss until they are coated with oil and heated through. Salt them unless they are already salty enough (the only way to be sure is to taste) and remove from heat to cool before storing in airtight containers or plastic bags.

Alternatively, you can put the peanuts and minced garlic in a baking pan large enough to hold them in a not too deep layer. Toss with some oil and roast in the oven at 250 f about 20 - 40 minutes, stirring every 10 - 15 minutes (imagine you are making that cereal party mix). When the garlic is done, remove from heat, cool and store but not before eating a good handful of these bad boys.

I once took a large container of these nuts with me on a fishing weekend with my brothers. Although we did not finish all the nuts, I was not allowed to bring the leftovers home with me. it was Jon who suggested the oven method. Both yield pretty good results.

If you need amounts figure about 2 tablespoons oil (olive, peanut, corn or whatever) and 4 - 8 cloves of garlic (depending on your love of garlic) for every cup or two of peanuts and go from there.

Quotable Quotes; in the category There weren't any peanut quotes and besides I like this one better.

"You can never have enough garlic. With enough garlic, you can eat The New York Times." Morley Safer

The Tomato Blushed When It Saw The Salad "Dressing"!

I made a nice salad the other day, and a homemade vinaigrette to go with it. The dressing was so delicious I wondered why anybody, including myself, would buy bottled dressing. Okay, maybe a favorite blue cheese dressing is worth buying but I have never had a store bought oil and vinegar dressing that was as good as one made from scratch. And making vinaigrette is one of those things that is stupid easy. Few ingredients, simple methods and endless variations.

You can make your dressing in a bowl or in a jar. You can make enough to keep on hand or enough for just one salad. Here's a giant hint (and one less bowl to wash) - make the dressing right in the salad bowl, add the vegetables, put the lettuce on top and stick it in the fridge until serving time. The veggies will marinate in the dressing and the lettuce will stay crisp. Toss well before serving.

Sometimes you don't even have to make a dressing, just add the dressing ingredients to the salad, tossing after each addition. I once had lunch at a friend's house - the sort of lunch I think of as fussy and not filling enough. Quiche and salad. Well, it was one of the best lunches I ever had. The quiche was delicious and what can one say about a salad that included fresh herbs plucked from a windowsill herb garden moments before serving? This is how she made the salad.

Prepare Romaine lettuce by washing and drying well. Leave the leaves whole or cut them but not too small. Place in a bowl and chill until ready to serve. At serving time core and slice but do not peel an apple, adding the slices to the lettuce. Drizzle with a good quality extra virgin olive oil and toss well. Add a bit of nice herb vinegar and a little lemon juice if you like and toss well. Add just a bit of salt and pepper and toss once more, adding some toasted walnut pieces and a little crumbled blue cheese. Reach out your window and pick a few basil leaves and tear them into the salad. Toss and serve. In my humble opinion, apples, walnuts and Stilton cheese are a natural medley. Sliced pear with Gorgonzola and pecans is even more wonderful!

The most basic dressing is vinegar and/or lemon juice and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir these together then add about 2 to 3 times as much oil as vinegar. Adding a pinch of sugar and some herbs to the vinegar will make it a little more interesting.

To make a basic dressing in a bowl or in a jar, start with a good spoonful of mustard such as Dijon or a grainy, spicy mustard. (Hint: make your dressing right in the mustard jar when the mustard is almost gone - use up the mustard and save washing another jar)!

Add a little vinegar. I prefer cider or rice vinegar, wine or malt, or a flavored vinegar such as herb or raspberry. Add a little sugar or honey and a squeeze of any citrus - lemon, lime, orange even grapefruit. Add some fresh or dried herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper. You can even cheat by adding a few shakes of seasoned salt or herb blend. Stirring these ingredients together before adding oil allows them to blend.

Now add oil - olive, canola, safflower or whatever you prefer. Some nut oils or avocado oils can be very delicious and interesting. The usual proportion of oil to vinegar is about 3:1 or 4:1. You may prefer more or less oil. If you add sugar or honey or use sweeter vinegars you may find you need even less oil. Whisk or stir the dressing in the bowl or put a lid on the jar and shake vigorously.

Taste the dressing by dipping a bit of lettuce or other salad ingredient (this is how those fancy chefs do it on TV). Adjust the seasonings, oil or vinegar as desired. Drizzle some dressing (remember, less is more) over your salad and toss well, adding a little more dressing as needed. Revel in the knowledge that you have created the freshest, most delicious dressing possible for your salad.

Oh yeah, there is one reason to buy a bottled dressing - so you can have a fancy bottle to store your homemade vinaigrette in the fridge! Your dressing may thicken in the fridge. Just allow it to warm up a little before shaking and adding to your salad.

Quotable Quotes; in the category You Can Never Be Too Rich . . . Or Too Successful!

"The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is out grossing my films."

Paul Newman

Nut & Honey

I made baklava last week. In case you do not know what this is, it is layers of phyllo dough, buttered and layered with chopped walnuts, honey and cinnamon. In case you do not know phyllo is impossibly thin sheets of pastry dough (you can read a book through them) that is often used in making strudel and other pastries.

I bought the phyllo on sale, intending to make a pastille (a Moroccan dish of chicken and phyllo layered with spices and dusted with powdered sugar). But the leftover chicken I had intended to use became Bill's supper one night so I had to find another use for the phyllo. I decided on apple strudel.

I have a friend who makes apple strudel from scratch, including the dough. This involves much resting and rolling and stretching of the dough to get it thin enough. It also requires much patience as the process is long and tedious and the dough is practically guaranteed to tear. Since I already had the phyllo I decided to go ahead with that. I diced apples and tossed them with cinnamon and sugar, layered the phyllo dough (which also requires patience that I do not have) and rolled up a pair of lumpy, crooked strudels. No matter, I baked them and they tasted just fine. The only problem was I still had half a box of phyllo left over.

I considered other dishes and perused my cookbooks but baklava seemed to be the most likely suspect. I coerced Bill into cracking all the walnuts we had in the house and chopping them coarsely. I based my recipe on two different versions from two different books, one proclaiming to be a prize winner. As I made the baklava I remembered the last and only time I had made it before.

When I was in sixth grade I found a recipe for baklava in a girls' magazine. Not knowing what it was I asked my mom who told me I would love it and we would make some. To my knowledge this is the only time I cooked with my mom, a possible exception being a time I baked (burned) a batch of cookies. Mom bought the phyllo, we layered it with butter and cinnamon, walnuts and honey and baked it.

At that age I had never been taken to a Greek restaurant. The wonders of braised lamb and roasted potatoes, Greek salad, flaming cheese and baklava were unknown to me. I agreed the baklava was delicious. For an unknown reason we never repeated the experience.

I layered and baked and thought of mom. I called brothers and sisters to chat about mom, about baking with her, about baklava and about anything else that came to mind. It felt good to connect with them by phone, and with mom by baklava. In case you want the experience, here is a fairly easy recipe for baklava. Warning: working with phyllo dough is a thankless task. It is temperamental and fussy. Maybe you know somebody like that?

I made a half recipe but here is the full recipe. Makes a 9 x 13 pan full, or 30 pieces.

4 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 package (1 lb.) frozen phyllo dough
2 - 3 sticks of butter, melted
cinnamon & sugar
pinch of ground clove or nutmeg, (optional)

Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups water
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup honey
orange flower water (optional)

Thaw phyllo according to package instructions. Toss walnuts with 2 tsp. sugar and 2 tbsp cinnamon.

Divide phyllo dough sheets into five equal portions. layer one portion in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish, spreading the layers to cover, if necessary. Top with 1/4 of the nut mixture. Repeat layers until there are 4 layers of phyllo and nuts. Top with the final layer of phyllo. Tuck in the edges of the phyllo and cut the baklava into squares or diamonds with a sharp knife. You should get 30 pieces depending on size.

Melt butter and pour over the baklava, making sure the entire surface is covered with butter. You can insert a knife around the edge of the pan to make sure melted butter flows down between all edges. (I used rather less butter than called for and thought it was almost too much). Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon over the top, if desired, and bake in a 350 f. oven about 35 - 45 minutes until very brown.

Meanwhile, bring sugar and water to a boil and simmer about 10 minutes. Add honey and lemon juice and simmer 5 minutes more. Add orange water (optional). Pour the syrup evenly over the partially cooled baklava. Serve at room temperature (or slightly warm if you cannot wait that long). Bill suggested serving with a spoonful of Greek style yogurt.

Quotable quotes; in the category You Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me!

"How about a little more baklava?"

Robin Williams as the Genie in the Disney film "Aladdin"

Fun At The Fair

Years and years ago I went to the Illinois State Fair with Bill and his family. It was a sort of de facto Nelson/Lockwood Family Reunion since many of Sallie's relatives lived in Springfield and many more came to town for the fair.

We stayed at the home of Sallie's Aunt Katherine & Uncle Harv (Harvard, not Harvey). This was the uncle who owned a vintage 1970s red El Dorado (could it have been a convertible?) and who arrived in Chicago every fall with a trunk full of fruit from his trees. He did not really have an orchard but they did live on a lake on a large parcel of land on which were planted several fruit trees - apple, peach, pear, plum - and each autumn he loaded up the trunk of the Cadillac with fruit (I mean loaded) to bring to friends and relatives.

Uncle Harv also had a large garden to which he rode a bicycle and where he harvested endless butternut squash. Probably there were other vegetables but I only remember seeing rows and rows of squash. He brought several back and Uncle Tom at once cut one up and cooked it with butter, salt and pepper, proclaiming it delicious.

Also staying in the house were other relatives. The camper trailer was set up in the side yard and Sara's family stayed there, while others stayed at the Holiday Inn in town. Believe it or not on the day we went over to enjoy the hotel pool, there was a beauty pageant in progress in the rather huge atrium/auditorium. Probably the Miss Teen Springfield pageant and likely in conjunction with the fair doings. We did go to the fair and I did enjoy it although we did not partake of the rides or the stage shows.

I had only been to the fair once before, the Michigan State Fair, and as a 12-year-old I thought the only reason to go to a fair or carnival was to ride a Ferris wheel, eat carnival food and buy souvenirs. As an adult, I learned that looking at prize cows, sheep and poultry and watching pigs race for a pan of Oreos was equally entertaining.

The most fun (to me) was viewing the prize winning canned goods - fruits, jams, jellies, preserves - and cakes and pies. Even floral arrangements were awarded blue ribbons. Although most of the fair was winding down (the animals were being removed even as we watched) the cook-off was yet to be decided. This year, it was a beef contest and I had the dubious honor of watching some of the finalists prepare their entries.

The kitchen contained four cooking stations, each equipped with its own range, sink and counter top. Contestants had brought their ingredients and cookware in bags or boxes. A few of them gave me icy stares when I approached their work stations but one seemed willing and even eager for observers and chatted them up. I watched her prepare her prize winning "Mexican Lasagna" (I might have called it tamale pie or enchilada casserole but what do I know). In a 9x13 glass baking dish she layered her sauce, refried beans, corn tortillas, her secret recipe ground beef and her shredded cheese.

I marvelled that she used pre-packaged versions of everything, including pre-shredded cheese. Thrift conscious, I would have opted to shred my own and save a few pennies. Most wondrous of all were her tortillas. I had never seen any like them for sale. They were small - much smaller than the corn tortillas generally available for sale. Those were about six inches in diameter. Here were only four or five inches and they intrigued me. Anything different than we are used to seems inherently more interesting and desirable. (I saw some of these small tortillas for sale in a Chicago Groceria y Carniceria just last week).

She noted my interest and held up her package of tortillas, which were sold six to the pack . The tortillas I routinely purchased were packed no less than a dozen and often 20 or more to a pack. "This is a new kind of Mexican Lasagna noodle" she informed me, in her down-state drawl. "They're called tor-tellas". I nodded and attempted to appear rapt. I knew what they were, having eaten tortillas, tostadas, tamales and tacos nearly all my life, and having made authentic homemade tortillas on more than one occasion.

She finished her ministrations and slid her concoction into the oven to bake. I wandered over to the other stations, hoping to engage the other contestants in similarly scintillating conversation, but they were having none of it. I did not take their aloofness personally and instead wandered about viewing partially eaten pastries and wondering about the criteria for judging.

I have been to a few smaller fairs since, namely the county fair held in Barraboo, WI with Mary on a sisters' weekend, but have never returned to a State Fair. I would love to attend the Iowa State Fair which is often touted as one of the best. I even sent away for the judging guidebook for everything one might enter in the Illinois State Fair. Maybe one year my marmalade will be on display. Maybe I'll win the bake-off! Maybe, but probably not.

Quotable Quotes; in the category Let's Put The 'Fun' Back In Dysfunctional!

"If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty."

Jeff Foxworthy

It's The REAL Thing!!

Years and years ago I was in the Sondheim play "Company". The theater group met in the Oak Park (MI) High School auditorium and easily half the cast members were from Windsor Ontario, Canada. True theater lovers think nothing of commuting to a different country three nights a week for rehearsal. Okay, so it was essentially a drive across the bridge and a ride across town but still . . .

I remember lots of tasty nuggets from that show but leafing through and old "church lady" cookbook from the 1970s and coming across a particular recipe triggered this memory.

Anyone who knows "Company" knows that the inimitable Elaine Stritch played the unforgettable Joanne and sang "Ladies Who Lunch". In case you do not know, Joanne was something of a lush and the song was performed (at least in our production) as Joanne sat at a table drinking cocktails. Each verse ended with the line "I'll Drink To That!"

The 1970s saw the demise of the classic glass soda pop bottle. Some people objected to cans and plastic so Pepsi (and other companies) put their sodas in a new style glass bottle. People liked to wash and re-use these bottles for lots of things. Drinking water from bottles was not yet a universal practice but juice, other soda flavors, tea or lemonade might be put in the bottles, as might other things.

The lady playing Joanne in our production carried such a Pepsi bottle with her at every rehearsal. It was not unusual for actors to have a bottle of water, tea or other beverages with them at rehearsal. Joanne's bottle held Pepsi . . . or so I thought. I learned later that the bottle held in reality home-made Kahlua! That may have explained why she was such a shoe-in as Joanne! She played a very realistic lush!

In case you decide you want to make some Kahlua (and maybe carry it with you in a recycled glass or plastic bottle) here is a recipe.

Combine:
4 cups water
3 cups sugar
10 teaspoons instant coffee
bring to a boil and simmer about 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool.

Add:
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 fifth Vodka

Strain into dark glass bottles or ceramic canisters. Allow to steep 3 months, shaking occasionally, before "mixing" or serving straight up!

Quotable Quotes; in the category Let's Not Forget Mahler!

"A matinee, a Pinter play,Perhaps a piece of Mahler's. I'll drink to that. And one for Mahler!"

Stephen Sondheim "Ladies Who Lunch" from the musical "Company"

Stuck In A Jam?

A while ago I posted about making marmalade. Yesterday I made marmalade from the abundance of citrus fruit I bought this season and which I obviously won’t use up otherwise. Even so, I may have to make another batch (when I get the energy).

This batch contained 2 Texas grapefruits, a cara cara orange, a Meyer lemon and about a dozen clementines. I sliced all the fruit as thin as I could and followed my favorite marmalade recipe. I started on Friday afternoon and the marmalade was ready to cook on Sunday. I pulled 7 half pint jars from the canner and had another nearly full pint that was destined for the refrigerator to be eaten first.

While the marmalade bubbled I hulled a container of strawberries that the market had given away with a minimum purchase and a coupon. Turkeys were also on sale this week and I was determined to get one. Since we usually spend the Thanksgiving holiday with the in-laws, we often miss out on the fridge full of leftovers, even though they supply us with baggies of food to take home.

A turkey thawing in my tiny fridge means there is not any extra space, even for a small container of strawberries. Since I was already in the midst of the canning process I figured another jar or so could not hurt. I added sugar to the berries and simmered them until they turned into a thick syrupy mass. Since the quantity was so small I decided to dispense with the canner and just pour the strawberry jam into a jar to be eaten this week and kept in the fridge. I got nearly a full pint. English Muffins were also on sale this week so I hope to make a pretty good dent in the marmalade and jam.

Strawberry jam is not my favorite. I far prefer the tarter flavors of red currant and damson, or the bitterness of marmalade, and for PBJ I prefer the classic Grape. But homemade strawberry jam is not to be dismissed lightly. Bill and I licked the spoon and scraped the pan. I look forward to spreading some on toast.

To make strawberry (or just about any kind of) jam cut fruit into slices or chunks (fruits like blueberries or raspberries do not need slicing). Measure and add almost the same amount of sugar. I like my jams less sweet so I usually use about ¾ cup sugar to every cup fruit, sometimes even less. Place in a heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Adjust the heat so the fruit continues to boil and cannot be stirred down. Choose a pot quite a bit larger as the boiling fruit will rise up a lot. Use a long handled spoon too to avoid burns. Cook until the jam reaches 220 degrees Fahrenheit or 8 degrees above the boiling point of water for your area. If you don’t have a thermometer, until the liquid sheets off the back of a spoon.

Pour in to hot, sterilized canning jars and cover with hot, sterilized lids and rings. You can process the jam in a boiling water bath or a pressure canner or just keep it in the frigde and eat it within a few weeks. Homemade jam is a special treat and makes a great gift, especially if you give it with some homemade bread and dress it up with ribbon. Be sure to process the jam if you plan to give it as a gift.

Quotable quotes; in the category I Guess You Can’t Have Your Jam And Eat It Too!

“The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today.”

Lewis Carrol – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Adobo

Adobo (not to be confused with the seasoning blend sold by that name) is a sort of stew in a salty/tangy/sweet sauce. It can be made with beef, chicken or pork. My recipe is authentic as it was given to me by a girl whose mom made it for the family. I made it once and took it to the International Dinner at church and was told it was “just like my mom’s” so I guess it’s authentic. However, I have been told that other recipes roast or broil the meat after stewing to achieve a sticky glaze. I have never tried it that way.

If you are going to make pork adobo, buy a pork shoulder roast. These are big so you can plan enough adobo for the family, or cut the meat into smaller portions and use one for adobo and the others for other dishes. You might also find country style ribs for sale. These make good adobo too, cut into chunks or left whole. The pork will have to cook quite a while to become tender. Plan on an hour or so at a low simmer. Using chicken, your cooking time will only be about 25 – 35 minutes.

As with most dishes, I learned to make this then started making adjustments, substitutions and alterations almost immediately. Bill likes to add some beer or wine when he makes it. I am satisfied with water, if needed. I figure everybody cooks according to their own tastes and what is on hand. If the food is good, why worry about it?

Adobo
(Measurements are approximate)
Pork or Chicken – two or three chicken leg/thigh pieces is enough for two with maybe some leftover. Likewise two or three country ribs or a 1/3 to ¼ piece of a big pork shoulder is enough for two. If you want leftovers, double the amount of meat.
½ - ¾ cups soy sauce (use up the packets you have from all that Chinese take-out)
3 – 4 tablespoons Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce
3 – 4 tablespoons rice wine or shaoxing wine
3 – 4 tablespoons vinegar – use rice, wine, cider, plain or Asian vinegar
dark soy, sweet soy, mirin, beer, wine, or water. Total liquid should be a cup or more.
1 onion, sliced
Several cloves garlic, smashed or minced
A fat pinch of sugar
A fat pinch of basil
Fresh ground pepper
A pinch of red pepper flakes

Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil in a pot that is narrow and deep. You will want the meat to be covered by the liquid as much as possible. Add the meat and brown, adding the herbs and spices, then add the liquid (I mix them all together in a cup or bowl and pour them into the pot) and sugar. Give it a good stir and bring to a boil. Lower the heat as low as you can, cover the pot and simmer about an hour for pork or beef, half that time for chicken. When tender uncover the pot partway and turn up the heat a little. This will cook off some of the liquid and the sauce will thicken. Be careful not to let it burn.

Meanwhile, make some rice. Follow the instruction for your rice cooker or do this. Place rice in a heavy bottomed pot. Each cup of rice will make two to three cups when cooked.

Optional – add some oil and cook over low heat a few minutes until the rice becomes chalky looking. Now add water, chicken broth or a combination of both until the water is two finger widths (or about an inch or so) above the level of the rice. Bring to a simmer and cook until the liquid reaches the level of the rice. Give it a good stir, cover and lower the heat and leave it to cook for 20 minutes. Do not uncover the pan! Turn off the heat and leave the rice to steam about 5 minutes more. You can move it to a cool burner if you wish.

When the adobo is ready, uncover the rice and stir to fluff it up. Serve the adobe and sauce over the rice.

If you have leftovers, you might wish to chill the sauce in a separate container. The excess fat will rise to the top and can be skimmed off before reheating with the meat. Or you can pack the adobe, sauce and rice in separate containers for easy reheating at lunch time.

If you have too much leftover rice, be sure to make garlic fried rice the next day – or make extra and plan on it!

Quotable quotes; in the category Be Sure To Let Me Know Which Pot To Avoid!

“I guess I fell into cooking.” Bobby Flay

Garlic Fried Rice

Simple pleasures are best. How often have we heard that one? Very often it proves to be true!

Bill and I like to eat or take out occasionally from a Philipino restaurant in Chicago called Pampanga’s. Our favorite dishes there are Tocino and Longanisa. Tocino is a bacon-ey sort of fatty pork dish, redolent of garlic and spices and some sort of subtly tangy glaze. Longanisa are sausages (Bill loves sausage, all sausage), with similar spicy, garlicky flavors. Bill used to get an order of each and we shared them (I got all the pickle and papaya – I thought it was limp cabbage slaw until a friend set me straight). Since each order came with a generous amount of steamed white rice we did not feel the need to order any extras. Indeed, we both ended up stuffed and offering remaining bits of pork and sausage to each other when we had trouble finishing.

Once we ordered garlic fried rice. It was delicious. I don’t remember what we ordered with it – probably Tocino and Longanisa - but that doesn’t matter. I am talking of rice!

Essentially, this was leftover rice stir fried with bits of garlic. I decided to try to make it at home. I mean, how hard could it be? I gave it a try and it was good – but I decided to check it out anyway and googled garlic fried rice. Lots of hits came back but they were all about the same. The only real difference I found was that some recipes sauteed the chopped garlic in oil for only a few seconds, and others cooked it until it became brown and crispy. Try both ways, they should both be good.

Garlic fried rice seems to be a breakfast food and a means of using up yesterday’s leftover rice. Serve it with sausages and eggs, alone or with anything you usually eat for breakfast (or anything that sounds good). Or serve it with tonight’s Pork Adobo or stir fry or whatever! Three ingredients, one pan, it’s all good.

Garlic Fried Rice

Garlic, minced or chopped – 3 to 6 cloves or even more!
Olive oil or Vegetable oil, a few tablespoons
Leftover cooked rice (match the amount of oil and garlic to how much rice you have)Note: You can buy the garlic pre-toasted and add it to the rice, or use it as a garnish.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and stir and sizzle anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes or until it begins to brown and turn golden. You can let it continue browning or add the rice now. Stir and toss the rice, combining well with the garlic and oil. Press into a single layer and cover the pan. The rice should be heated through. You can continue to cook and toss until the rice begins to brown or serve as soon as it is hot.

Last time I made this I served it with Pork Adobo I had made that day. The rice was leftover Basmati rice I had made a couple days before and served with Keema (spicy ground beef, Pakistani style). The Basmati made a delicious garlic fried rice. Try this with any leftover rice – Jasmine, Basmati or plain old long grain. It has to be good.

Next time, I’ll tell you how to make Adobo. And garlic fried peanuts!

Quotable Quotes; in the category Some Things You Just Cannot Do Without!

“Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook”

Chinese Proverb

Some Dim Sum?

I love dim sum. But I hate crowds. If we go for dim sum on Sunday mornings there are lots and lots of people. There are also many extra goodies on the tea carts that are not available other days of the week. If we go on Saturday mornings, there are fewer people but usually only the basics are available - shiu mai, shrimp dumplings, funn roll and other favorites. We go on Saturday. It's a toss up. We miss out on some of the fancier (read expensive) things like lobster roll, but we don't have to battle the crowds for parking and maybe our bill is a little smaller.

I love sticky rice at dim sum, the kind that comes wrapped up in a lotus leaf. I also love the sticky fried rice at dim sum, the kind that comes on a small plate covered with an inverted clear plastic dome. There are always a few slices of Chinese sausage on top of the rice. I love that sausage. Nothing else tastes like it. Not even chicken.

We usually get the fried rice. Why? Because Bill says the sticky rice I make at home is better than the version we get at dim sum. I'm sold. Compliments go far, and we have the added bonus of not having to unwrap that ungainly lotus leaf all over the table and try to neatly portion out the rice and goodies inside.

Sticky rice is not hard to make. I takes a long time because the rice and lotus leaves have to soak in water overnight, and it takes an hour or more to cook in the steamer basket. But the actual preparation is not difficult or time consuming, and the ingredients are readily available. Sort of. If you live in Chicago or another bustling metropollis with a vibrant Chinatown. And getting the special ingredients, while a challenge perhaps, is also a part of the adventure.

If you would like to make sticky rice at home, here are the ingredients and methods I use. Give it a try - or else try dim sum next time you have the urge to eat something "different", fun, and tasty.

Sticky Rice Steamed in Lotus Leaves

3 cups glutinous (sticky) rice
3 large dried lotus leaves
½ cup dried chestnuts
8 dried black mushrooms (or shitake)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Filling

2 teaspoons vegetable or peanut oil
2 Chinese sausages thinly sliced diagonally
¼ pound diced boneless chicken thighs
4 thinly sliced green onions
2 minced cloves garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
¼ pound thinly sliced Chinese Barbecue Pork
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 salted duck eggs (optional) whites discarded and
yolks cut in half (I use regular hard cooked eggs, white and yolk)

Allow time for overnight soaking to prepare this dish. Although the preparation and cooking are lengthy, it is a fairly simple dish to prepare and requires little hands on work. If you do not have a wok and bamboo steamer you can substitute a large stock pot (the one you use for boiling pasta) with a steamer rack. If you have a pizza pan that is full of holes (intended to brown the pizza crust) that would work too. The fragrance of the lotus leaves steaming will make your kitchen smell like a Chinese tea room. Settle down with some Pearl S. Buck and enjoy a good read.

Soak the rice overnight in water to cover; Soak the lotus leaves in a large pan, dishpan or basin with water to cover; Soak the dried chestnuts overnight in a small pan of water to cover. Next day, drain and cover with fresh water and parboil for five minutes, then drain again; Soak the mushrooms in warm water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain, remove and discard the stem, and slice the caps.

Line a bamboo steaming basket with 2 of the lotus leaves, pointed centers downward, overlapping and allowing the edges to drape over the edge. Drain the rice and season with salt and pepper. Spread it evenly over the leaf lined basket.

Heat a wok or skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and heat. Add sausages and chicken and stir fry one minute. Add 1 tablespoon of the green onion, the garlic, ginger and mushrooms, and stir fry one minute. Add the barbecue pork and dried chestnuts and cook another minute. Remove from the wok and add the oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and sesame oil.

If using duck eggs (or regular eggs) arrange them over the rice. Spread the remaining filling evenly over and sprinkle with another tablespoon of green onion. Place the 3d lotus leaf over the top with the pointed center facing up. Tuck the edges of the leaves into the steamer and place a heatproof plate upside down over the top to hold them in place.

Cover the steaming basket (if using a stock pot, cover with the pot lid) and place it over a wok of rapidly simmering water. Steam over medium heat about one hour until the rice is tender and translucent. Add more boiling water to the wok or pot as needed.

Remove the lid and the plate (careful, it’s HOT) and unfold the lotus leaves, draping over the edges of the steamer (you can buy a darling, if flimsy, set of tongs just for removing plates from the steamer at a Chinese grocer). Garnish with the remaining green onion if desired. Place the entire steamer basket on a platter and serve with fragrant Oolong tea and fortune cookies.

Notes: Glutinous rice, also called sweet rice or sticky rice is very short grained rice that becomes starchy and sticky when cooked. It is often served as a dessert with sliced mango and is usually soaked before cooking. It can be found in Asian markets.

Lotus leaves can be found in Asian markets. I have found them stacked and wrapped in a plastic or cellophane wrapper, about a dozen or so leaves per package.

Chinese Barbecue Pork, Chinese Sausages, dried chestnuts, black or shitake mushrooms and dark soy sauce can be found in Asian markets, especially if you have a Chinatown area near you. If you cannot find or do not like some of the ingredients they can easily be omitted or substituted. Regular soy sauce for dark for instance, roast pork instead of barbecue, etc. You can also use regular button mushrooms. The sesame oil and oyster sauce are fairly essential but should be readily available. I know of no substitute for the sweet Chinese sausages.

If using salted duck eggs, they must be cooked before using. Scrape off the black coating and wash, place in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Rinse, cool and remove shells. Use only the yolks in your recipe.


Quotable Quotes; in the category Where Shall We Go For Dinner?

“Never eat Chinese food in Oklahoma.”
Bryan Miller (NY Times Restaurant Critic)

It's Electrifying!

A few weeks ago the light in our kitchen ceiling fan went out. Several months before that, the light in the kitchen hall had gone out. We had not gotten around to replacing that so we went to Menards to check out fans and light fixtures.

We could not find the fan/light combo we wanted and the neighbor who would be the one replacing it was at a month long seminar so we did not feel the need to hurry. We continued to shop for fans, not finding anything we liked, learning that Sears no longer sold the massive stock of fans and light fixtures they once did.

Then I saw a tiny display of switches. One was designated as a light switch (pull chain type) for a ceiling fan. Could it be that only the switch had broken and the light still worked? It would only cost about four bucks and a little time and effort to find out.

I questioned Bill who said he could not stand on the ladder long enough to make the change. He did believe he could guide me as I was able to abide the ladder legs and we decided to try - on a bright, sun-shiny Saturday afternoon two weeks before said neighbor was due back.

It took the better part of an hour. I had to remove and reattach the switch twice because wouldn't you know, it only fit if everything was lined up properly to the original configuration (although there was no marking to indicate where that was).

At last, the new switch was installed and tested, the glass light shades washed, dried and replaced and the tools and ladders put away. And not a moment too soon as the afternoon sunshine was fading into evening dimness.

I feel as if we got a new ceiling fan and a sense of accomplishment all for $4. The fact that the house has not blown up is a bonus.

Quotable Quotes; in the category How Shocking!

"Electricity can be dangerous. My nephew tried to stick a penny into a plug. Whoever said a penny doesn't go far didn't see him shoot across that floor. I told him he was grounded."

Tim Allen

I Like To Do That Too!!!

You'll notice I added another link. Click on the Hello my name is Heather link and scroll down to the green, yellow and orange crochet hooks in the March 2007 archives. Pay attention to the colorful buttons, thread and other things as you pass. This is a site Louise sent to me and I love the topics and the photos - especially her predilection for lime green and those pinks and pastels. I like her baby booty patterns and the candy looking crochet hooks. Face it, anything that looks like candy has to have something going for it.

I love to make and do - always have. Although I never got around to creating an internet business or "officially" designing, I continue to search out and be inspired by other-people's-patterns. And every once in a while, I make up something original all on my own.

A couple years ago I started making my own gift bags for Christmas presents. I don't know where I got the idea - it was probably inspired by a combination of sources. And the fact that I save everything because it is guaranteed to be something I desperately need within 13 minutes of the garbage truck picking it up once I throw it away after holding onto it for the last 18 years "just in case".

I save paper. Seriously. Lately some companies have been using brown kraft paper as packing material. Long, long sheets of it, crookedly torn off at the ends. I guess they don't have it in a roller with a cutting blade. I can't bear to throw it away. It's better than any old brown bag and NO PRINTING ANYWHERE ON IT!!!

To make a bag, I cut the paper to size, cut a long strip for a handle, wrap the bag section around an appropriately sized box, fold in and glue the bottom so the bag will stand up, and let dry. Then I fold over the top two times (for strength) and fold the strap piece in half twice (for strength), gluing each fold. I tuck the ends of the strap under the folded over top of the bag and glue that, and glue the strap so it stands up pertly from the top of the bag.

It's done. But you can decorate it if you want to. Stickers, glitter glue, scraps cut from wrapping paper or old greeting cards, cut 'em out and stick 'em on. If the brown paper is a little crinkly, the fix is easy. Just smoosh the whole thing and then smooth it out again. Now it looks like you meant it to be that way!

I guarantee even you mother-in-law will like her present if you stick it in a hand made paper bag. I mean, who else in the world bothers to MAKE A BROWN PAPER BAG FROM SCRATCH???

Anybody???

Listen, this is how I keep my sanity. This is why they make jokes about basket weaving and knitting as therapy. Seriously, there comes a point when you are working something out when part of your brain just turns off . . . "let's see, if I cut this piece this long and stick this part under here . . . "

Next thing you know you are in a zone and when you "wake up" you have a beautifully hand crafted brown paper bag. It's amazing!

I was trying to come up with an idea for something to give some of the "girls" in my life - nieces, friend's daughters, children and young adults. The past few years I have saved make up bags - the kind you get free-with-purchase when you buy something at the Clinique or Estee Lauder counter so you can get a free lipstick.

I have filled these bags with everything from candy to cosmetics to baseball cards but I was running out of ideas. Then I decided I wanted to crochet something. Probably 'cuz my crochet hooks and some thread were in the room. What did I come up with? Lip Balm Cozies. You read that right.

Lip . . . Balm . . . Cozies . . .

If I had a digital camera I'd post a picture of them.

Here's how I made them. I crocheted a few stitches to see if it was going to be the right size then I just went to town. Oddly enough my little finger is just about the size and shape of your average chapstick. As I crocheted around and around the thing just kind of fit itself over my pinkie, like the finger of a glove. When I got near the top I worked in a few beads (which I had strung onto the thread beforehand) around the top. Then I crocheted a l - o - n - g string as a sort of a handle and added a few beads into it as well.

Note to self: make handle longer - everyone who got one tried to loop it around their neck like a necklace.

Why a lip balm cozy? Probably because I've never seen one. And everybody knows that the best gifts are things that are unique and have virtually no practical use whatsoever. And when they take up no space and pretty-up some mundane object most people take for granted? All the better!

Maybe next time I'll melt some bees wax, add some lavender or peppermint oil and make my own lip balm. Maybe.

Quotable Quotes: In the category You And What Army?

"I tried being reasonable. I didn't like it". Clint Eastwood