Recently in Cooking Stuff Category

red potatoes, bite sized pieces
yukon gold potatoes, bite sized pieces
fresh trimmed green beans, bite sized pieces
sun-dried tomatoes, bite sized pieces
minced red onion
organic mayonnaise (I like spectrum natural, your mileage may vary or better yet, make your own)
greek yogurt
dijon mustard
seasoning to taste

boil equal quantities of potatoes until tender.*  cook proportionate amount of green beans in separate water until desired tenderness (I like them just cooked, and still crunchy).  drain potatoes and green beans, mix together, and add tomatoes and onions until a pleasing color arrangement is achieved.

*alternate: coat the potatoes in olive oil and toss with a little sea salt and maybe some minced garlic or some other seasonings.  bake in oven at 400 degrees until color is good and outside is crunchy looking.  a nonstick tray works best.

now add equal parts mayonnaise and yogurt, and enough mustard to achieve a pleasing color and taste.  add seasoning of your desiring to taste.  I usually use Adobo and garlic powder.  chill and serve.*

*alternate:  serve warm.  warm roasted potato salad would require less of the mayo/yogurt coating and more seasoning.

Fresh green beans (like, you should be tempted to eat them out of the bag fresh)

Olive oil

Seasoning (I've done this with Mrs. Dash, Adobo, Cape Herb & Spice mixes, and just plain garlic.  Seasoning.  Whatever you feel like using.)

Fresh grated Parmesan cheese or Brie or Goat Cheese (whatever strikes your fancy; you may see a trend here)

Breadcrumbs (I prefer French, my mom prefers Italian)

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Trim the green beans, and blanch them by inserting them in boiling water for one minute, then quickly remove from heat.  Toss the green beans with oil and seasoning.  Arrange half in an ovensafe baking dish, cover with a layer of cheese and breadcrumbs, then put in the other half and cover again with cheese and breadcrumbs.  Bake for about 40 minutes or until as tender as you desire.  Devour.

*Warning.  Not for the low of cholesterol.*

6 Yukon Gold potatoes

1 stick of butter (at least)

4-8 cloves of garlic

2 cups of whole milk

Salt to taste

 

Scrub the potatoes but leave the skins on.  Take the skins off the garlic, but leave the cloves whole.  Put the garlic and the potatoes in a large saucepan with sufficient water to cover them entirely.  People with no doctor's notes can add salt to the water.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low.  Go do something else for a while.  Come back in about 30 minutes; the potatoes should be fork tender and the garlic should be soft.  If not, keep boiling and check again in a little while.  When they are done, roughly quarter the potatoes.  If you are going to do this in the same pan, leave the heat at simmer and add the butter to the pan so that it will melt while you work.  Now break out the potato ricer.  Rice the potatoes with the garlic back into the pan, being sure to bring in the skins periodically.  Once all the potatoes are mashed, add the milk and if you haven't already, melt the butter (preferably in a butter warmer; failing that, the microwave) and add that too.  Stir gently to incorporate all the ingredients.  Season to taste.  Devour.

They came out really, really good. A little heavy though.... I'll know better for next time.

I had this great recipe for Spinach Dumplings, and I was totally into it until... I was at the point where I had to touch the freshly cooked spinach with my bare hands.

No.

I have these weird cooking moments.  I have no problem with slabs of beef or lamb.  I have no problem with salmon filets.  I can't touch the innards of anything, and I hate fish bones.  I can't cook anything that has actual eyeballs still attached.  In general, I'm okay with vegetables.  I don't remember ever having to deal with freshly cooked spinach before.  I can eat it, no problem.  But not with my hands.

The recipe step that I got stuck on was forming it into little balls to fry.

And... I couldn't do it.  I could just tell, that simply wasn't going to happen.

I had a hard time washing the spinach (fresh, organic baby spinach).  There's just something about the way it feels.  And picking up the slimy, limp, cooked spinach was just beyond me.  I couldn't do it.

However, I was hungry.  Very hungry.  What to do?

BAKE THEM OF COURSE!

I added some more stuff to make them more sticky, dumped them onto a greased baking sheet and tossed em in the oven.

Pictures forthcoming.

Ok, I have a wild turkey, which with the help of my mother (<3 love love!) I have been preparing.

First off, naked turkeys are GROSS.

I had to wear gloves to do this.  GROSS.  I just couldn't take it.  Turkey organs are disgusting.  DISGUSTING.  And you have to stick seasonings inside it.  What an absolutely horrible experience.

However... it smells and feels (in a meaty, I want to eat you kind of way) WONDERFUL.