Vegetable and Shrimp Stir Fry

March 20, 2015March 20, 2015 / featherheadlady / 3 Comments

If you love vegetables, stir fry is the perfect meal. You can use almost any combination of vegetables you have on hand. I more often than not make stir fry without meat but tonight I added some pre-cooked shrimp. You can also use left over chicken, beef or pork. But the stars of this dish, for me, are the vegetables. There really is no right or wrong combination of ingredients but this is what I used tonight.

Vegetables:

Baby bok choy

Celery

Carrots

Mushrooms

Onion

Red bell pepper

Snow peas

Canola oil and toasted sesame oil

Sauce Ingredients:

6 T water

3 T catsup

2 T soy sauce

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp grated garlic

2 tsp honey

1 T cider or rice vinegar

1 T cornstarch

Cut up all of the vegetables into bite size pieces.

Heat a tablespoon of canola oil in your wok until it’s very hot. Add the vegetables and drizzle with a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil.

Cook the vegetables until tender crisp stirring frequently. Be careful not to overcook them.

Mix the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. With a microplane grate the ginger and garlic.

Whisk in the water, catsup, soy sauce, honey, and corn starch.

Add the shrimp to the wok with the vegetables. They’re already cooked so they just need to be heated.

Add the sauce, stir and cook over high heat until it thickens a bit. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Stir fry. It’s what was for dinner tonight.

NOTE: Shredded green cabbage, summer squash, broccoli, green onions, green beans, baby corn, water chestnuts. Any of these vegetables are great for stir fry.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

March 16, 2015 / featherheadlady / 3 Comments

It’s that time of year. Saint Patty’s Day. The day many of us enjoy the ultimate boiled dinner. For years a very good friend hosted a Saint Patty’s Day party and she cooked a lot of corned beef for the occasion. I had made corned beef brisket myself for years before her party but hers was the best I had ever tasted. No mustard required!

Ingredients:

Corned beef (of course)

1 large onion quartered

6-7 whole garlic cloves

1 T red pepper flakes

1 T crushed bay leaves

1 T oregano

1 T basil

1 T coriander seeds

salt and black pepper

…and that little seasoning packet that comes with the corned beef

Put your corned beef in a large Dutch oven or heavy kettle. Pour boiling water to completely cover the meat and bring to a boil over medium high heat.

Once the pot starts to boil, skim the white foam off with a slotted spoon. I know, it looks a little gross. Once you’ve removed and discarded the foam turn the heat down and add the onion and the garlic to the pot.

In a mortar and pestle combine and crush all of the dried herbs and spices and add them to the pot.

I add these after skimming the foam so that I don’t lose a lot of my seasoning in the process.

Add a generous T of salt, cover and simmer over low heat for 5-6 hours. Near the end of the cooking time prepare the vegetables.

Cabbage

Carrots

Red potatoes

Onion

Green Beans

Cut the cabbage into wedges removing the core. Scrub the carrots and cut into thirds. Cut the onion into quarters.

Cut the potatoes, rinse well and trim the green beans.

Remove the meat to a foil lined pan, along with a generous amount of the jus. Seal the foil and keep warm in the oven while the veggies cook.

Add the vegetables to the pot with the broth. Potatoes, carrots, onion, beans and cabbage on top. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat. Cook until the vegetables are all fork tender. About 45 minutes to an hour. The vegetables pick up the great spicy flavors from the broth.

Remove the meat about 10 minutes before serving. Allow the meat to rest for a few minutes and slice against the grain. Put all the vegetables in a large serving bowl or on a platter and top with the slices of corned beef. Fill up your plate and enjoy!

Serve with a good rye bread and a nice cold Irish beer like Guinness or O’hara’s Irish Wheat. This boiled dinner is a meal in itself and doesn’t need any other side dishes.

Leftovers are great as, well, leftovers. This is one of the meals I think tastes as good or better the next day. Or you can make a corned beef or Ruben sandwich. Maybe some corned beef hash for breakfast. It’s all good! Enjoy. Happy Saint Patty’s Day.

Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad

March 12, 2015March 17, 2015 / featherheadlady / 3 Comments

This is is one of my favorites salads; it’s a recipe I got from a dear friend and I make it frequently. The fresh lemon and herbs always taste like summer to me so I especially enjoy this salad in the winter!

Ingredients:

1 bunch green onions, green and white parts sliced thin

1 lb ripe tomatoes diced

1 cucumber peeled, seeded and diced

1/2 cup chopped mint leaves

1/2 cup chopped basil

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1 can garbanzo beans aka chick peas

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 T minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

8 oz fresh feta crumbled

Get out a large salad bowl and start chopping. Slice the green onion.

Dice the tomatoes and seed and dice the cucumbers.

I like to put all of my fresh herbs in the salad spinner to wash and dry them well. Then I remove all of the stems and put the herbs in my food processor and give them a few pulses.

Place the green onions, tomato, cucumber, and herbs in a salad bowl. Rinse and drain the chick peas and add them to the vegetables. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and minced garlic in a small bowl and whisk.

Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss with a spatula to coat the vegetables. Add the feta cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

This salad is great on its own served with fresh or toasted pita bread. The cheese and beans provide plenty of protein for a good lunch. I think this salad pairs especially well with fish and pork. I served it for dinner with trout and smashed garlic cauliflower.

Enjoy!

Lasagna Soup

March 10, 2015 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Nearly eight years ago I traded my cigarettes in for knitting needles and became part of a phenomenal group of women. We refer to ourselves as the Knit Wits. We meet weekly for lunch and knitting and road trips and we share recipes for some of the best food ever. Our pot lucks are ridiculous. Seriously ridiculous!

This recipe, for lasagna soup, was contributed by a very special Knit Wit who passed away two years ago at age 85. We all miss her so much but every time I make one of her recipes I know she’s smiling. She loved to cook and feed people and she was an expert at it. She’d be proud that all of us continue to make and enjoy her food. I know that this soup will easily become one of your favorites as well.

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian sausage (hot or sweet or 50/50)

2 cups onion rough chopped

1 cup carrots sliced

2 cups mushrooms sliced

1 red pepper rough chopped

2 T garlic minced

4 cups chicken broth

1 14-oz can stewed tomatoes

10 oz can tomato sauce

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup uncooked pasta (penne, mufaloa or your favorite)

4 tsp fresh basil or 2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp oregano

2 cups fresh spinach

salt and pepper to taste

sliced provolone or fresh mozzarella

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

In a Dutch oven or heavy kettle brown the sausage over medium heat. If you have sausages vs bulk sausage remove the casings.

Add the onion and carrots.

Sauté for about 3 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, pepper, garlic, basil and oregano.

Sauté until garlic becomes fragrant. 1-2 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil.

Drop in the pasta and simmer over low heat until the pasta is cooked.

Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted.

Slice the provolone or fresh mozzarella (I prefer the mozzarella) and put some in the bottom of the soup bowl. Grate some fresh pram to top the soup.

Ladle the hot soup over the cheese and top with the parm.

This is a very hearty, filling soup. Enjoy with some crusty Italian bread or a slice of warm garlic bread. This dish will make you wish you were a Knit Wit!

Smoked Trout Pate on Old Country Trenary Rye

March 7, 2015March 7, 2015 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

I just returned from a week in the Upper Peninsula spending time with family and friends. It’s absolutely beautiful but it’s also the land that time and the internets forgot. So no blog posts while I was away.

One of the highlights of this trip was the annual Outhouse Classic held in the wee town of Trenary. Where they race outhouses built on skis on a rough, snow covered track. The festivities also include beer tents, coolers full of turkey legs for your gnawing pleasure, and, of course, pasties.

Trenary also has a somewhat famous bakery whose specialties are Trenary Toast (a dry cinnamon sugared sweet bread perfect for dunking or making milk toast) and an old country rye bread that’s very hearty. The bakery also had an outhouse entry.

On to my pate.

The UP is known for all kinds of freshwater fish from inland lakes as well as the Great Lakes. My dad used to make the best smoked fish I’ve ever eaten. He no longer makes it but it’s available at several small specialty groceries on the sweet side of the Mackinac Bridge. For my return home I bought smoked trout and whitefish, old country rye bread, ternary toast and lots of pasties. For lunch today I decided to make a real simple pate served on the rye.

Ingredients:

8 oz smoked trout, skin and bones removed

4 oz cream cheese

1 tsp prepared horseradish

1 tsp dill

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 T grated onion

Because I haven’t been home for awhile I had no fresh lemons but I always keep extra lemon juice in mini zip locks in my freezer. Fresh dill would also be preferable but improvise, improvise.

Combine the cream cheese and trout in a food processor. Make sure you’ve gotten all the bones out. Getting a bone in the pate might even be worse than egg shells in your deviled egg.

Grate the onion and add the onion, dill, horseradish and lemon juice to the fish/cream cheese.

Pulse until its a nice, creamy consistency. It’s as easy as that!

I served up our smoked trout pate with rye bread, beets my daughter did in her pressure cooker, and home canned dilly beans. I added some balsamic reduction to the beets to brighten up their flavor. It would also be good with sliced, hard boiled eggs, tomato slices, green onions, or crisp apple slices.

Enjoy.

NOTE: If you’d like to order bread or toast from the Trenary Bakery you can email trenarytoast@tds.net Or call them at 1-800-TOAST-01. That was unsolicited but I do like promoting the UP.

Pita Bread

February 26, 2015February 26, 2015 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Years ago I bought a cookbook called Ultimate Bread by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno and I love this book.

I’ve made several of the breads recipes; it would be great fun to try them all. I’ve given this book as a gift more than once. If you see it on the shelf at your local book store I’d recommend buying it. Today I decided to take a stab at the Pita bread. Several years ago a friend was staying with us and I decided to attempt an authentic Mexican meal including homemade tortillas. Well, our friend was kind and said the tortillas were great, but in reality they were awful! Like plastic frisbees. Here’s hoping my pita bread will be better than my tortillas. If they are a success my plan is to make lamb meatballs and yogurt cucumber sauce to serve with them.

Ingredients:

2 tsp dry yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/4 cup water

3 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

Sprinkle the yeast and sugar into 1/2 cup of the water and leave for 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve.

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the yeast and olive oil into the well.

Stir the flour into the liquid. Add the remaining water as needed to form a firm, soft dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. About 15 minutes. Kneading bread can be very therapeutic.

Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel and put in a draft free place to rise until doubled in size. About 1 1/2 hour.

Once dough has risen punch it down and let it rest for 10 minutes. Preheat your oven to 425.

Divide the dough into eight pieces and roll each into a smooth ball. On a lightly floured surface roll each into a 9″ oval about 1/4″ thick.

Cover the discs with the towel and proof until slightly risen, about 20 minutes. While the dough is proofing lightly dust two baking sheets with flour and preheat them in the oven for 5 minutes. Place the dough ovals on the hot baking sheets and return immediately to the oven. Bake for 5-10 minutes until puffy.

Wrap the pitas in a clean, dry cloth to keep the crusts soft and to prevent drying out.

Sample.

Not perfect, but pretty close.

We we ate them for dinner with the lamb meatballs, yogurt cucumber sauce, chopped tomatoes with mint and lemon, feta cheese and homemade pickled beets and pepperoncini.

Leftover pitas can be cut into wedges, sprinkled with a little olive oil and the seasoning of your choice and dried in the oven. Great with some hummus or a soft cheese.

German Red Cabbage

February 21, 2015February 21, 2015 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

This is a recipe that was published in our local newspaper many many years ago. I love cooked cabbage and this makes a great side. For some reason I almost always serve this with a beef roast but it would be great with a pork roast or pork chops. It’s very simple to put together and makes the kitchen smell wonderful while it’s cooking.

Ingredients:

1 medium head red cabbage, cored and sliced

1 medium sweet red onion sliced

2 apples peeled, cored and sliced

1 T butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups water

2 bay leaves

1 tsp whole allspice

1 tsp whole cloves

1 T black peppercorns

2 T cornstarch

Core and slice the cabbage.

Slice the onion.

Peel, core and slice the apples.

Combine all of the ingredients except the corn starch in a large, heavy kettle. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 1 hour and 40 minutes stirring occasionally.

Once the cabbage has cooked whisk together corn starch and a little water and stir into the cabbage. Simmer until thickened.

Ready to serve. Roast beef, baked potato and German cabbage. It’s what was for dinner.

Potato Leek Soup with Roasted Poblano Peppers

February 20, 2015 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

On subzero days nothing is more comforting than a pot of soup. And it seems this is a winter that will require many pots of soup. Potato leek soup is one of my favorites. And leeks remind me of some of the shenanigans my 87 year old father has recounted from his childhood. Apparently he and his friends would go out into the woods behind school on their lunch hour and pull up all the wild leeks they could find. Wild leeks that resembled little green onions. They would eat enough of them to get breath so bad the teacher would send them home for the afternoon. Eventually the teachers got wise to the pranking and forbade them eating leeks during school hours. This summer I’m going to look in the woods by my house for wild leeks. For now I’ll buy the leeks my grocery carries and sells by the pound when only a third of the leek is actually edible.

Soup Ingredients:

3-4 leeks, white and light green portion sliced

2 pounds or so of golden potatoes peeled and cubed

4-5 cloves of garlic minced

4 T butter

2 poblano peppers roasted, peeled and diced

4 cups chicken broth

2 tsp dried thyme

1 T franks hot sauce

1 cup half-n-half (optional)

fresh parsley rough chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Slice the leeks and wash them well. Leeks have lots of sand and grit.

Melt the butter in your favorite soup kettle, add the leeks and salt and pepper, cover the pot and cook over low heat for about ten minutes. Be careful not to brown the leeks.

While the leeks are cooking roast the poblanos over a flame or in the oven until they have a nice char. Put them into a covered bowl to steam. Once the peppers have cooled peel and chop them.

Add the chopped peppers and the garlic to the leeks and stir for a minute or so until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the potatoes and broth and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the potatoes are fork tender; about 20 minutes.

Once the potatoes are done use an immersion blender to purée the soup. Or you can use a standard blender and purée the soup in batches.

Stir in the thyme, salt and pepper to taste, and the Franks. If you choose, a cup of half-n-half will make the soup a little richer and creamier.

Garnish the soup with parsley and some shredded sharp cheddar. Potato, leek and roasted poblano soup. It’s what was for dinner.

NOTE: I’m not a soup and crackers person but I do like croutons in my soup. I had leftover garlic bread from a pasta dinner a couple nights ago. I cubed the bread and dried it in the oven and it made perfect croutons.

Eggplant for Breakfast

February 19, 2015 / featherheadlady / 2 Comments

I rarely watch Rachael Ray but on a cold, stay at home, afternoon last week we were watching. And Rachael made her husband an eggplant breakfast. Eggplant, wilted kale and spinach, pancetta, and poached eggs topped with a bechamel sauce. This is my own interpretation of Rachael’s eggplant breakfast which was our breakfast Monday and our dinner tonight. It’s our new favorite.

Ingredients: (Breakfast for two)

Eggplant slices

1/4 cup of flour

2 eggs beaten

1 cup panko crumbs

1 cup asiago grated cheese (divided)

4 T olive oil

oven roasted tomatoes (see my October 27, 2014 post)

Bacon fried crisp

4 eggs

Slice your egg plant rounds about 1 inch thick. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Dip rounds in flour, then egg, then in panko crumbs mixed with 1/4 cup grated asiago cheese.

Fry until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a platter lined with paper towel and keep warm in the oven until assembly.

Fry your bacon until it’s crispy, unless you like it more flexible. Once it’s cooked to your liking put it on a plate lined with pepper towel and keep it warm in the oven until assembly.

Cook the eggs to your liking. Poached, over easy. Whatever you prefer.

Now you’re ready for assembling. First the eggplant, then the tomatoes, then the bacon, then the egg, and finally a generous sprinkle of the asiago cheese.

And there you have it. Simple. Delicious. Even a tad bit elegant.

I have always liked eggs Benedict but ask for my hollansaise on the side. Some of you may prefer this dish with the bechamel. You’re welcome to make whatever modifications suit your taste. To me the key is building on the eggplant.

Serve this with some toasted sourdough, a dish of fresh fruit and maybe a mimosa.

Cream Puffs

February 16, 2015 / featherheadlady / 2 Comments

Cream puffs are one of my favorite desserts to make for guests. They look like a little fancy or, as my dad would say, “store bought.” The puffs only requires 4 ingredients that most everyone has on hand and are very simple to make. The filling I always use is one of my mom’s recipes; a recipe I think my mom got from her mother because my cousins remember it from their childhood as well. I grew up enjoying this filling in a pie. Graham cracker crust, sugar custard filling topped with a beautiful meringue. It’s a great memory. It was a great pie. And it tastes awesome in a cream puff.

Puff Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup flour

1 cup water

4 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

In a heavy saucepan bring water to a boil and melt the butter in the boiling water.

Once the butter has melted add the flour and salt all at once and stir vigorously. Continue to cook and stir until the mixture forms a ball that won’t separate. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until smooth.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.

Bake at 325 for 25 minutes

Turn the oven off, split the puffs, and put them back in the oven to dry for 20 minutes. Put dried puffs on a rack to cool.

Now you’re ready to prepare the filling.

Filling ingredients:

2 cups whole milk

1 cup sugar

3 T flour

3 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk together the flour and sugar in a heavy saucepan.

Whisk egg yolks.

Add milk and egg yolks to the sugar, flour mixture. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly until mixture comes to a full boil.

Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Allow the filling to cool. Assemble the cream puffs.

Serve with some fresh berries or drizzle with a little chocolate, caramel or hot fudge. Add a dollop or two of whipped cream if you’d like.

Cream Puffs. It’s what was for dessert tonight. And probably again tomorrow.

NOTE: Add coconut or bananas to the vanilla filling for a cream pie or pudding. Or, if you don’t have time to make cream puffs, serve the cream filling on its own with fruit of your choosing.