Craving Italian

Hello.  It is hot in Oklahoma.  How about where you live?  Tomorrow the temperature is suppose to be in the high 70s and 81 on Wednesday.  It sure doesn't make me think of Thanksgiving, but here it is!!!  People, we have about 10 days to get that coveted turkey.  Can you only imagine the chaos of grocery stores this weekend?  I think I will make my way there this week and keep that bird frozen until I thaw it.


For weeks now I have been in a culinary slump.  I can't think of a thing to fix for dinner, but yet, I keep gaining ounces a day which really translates to pounds.  UGH  So tonight (craving Italian) I thought I'd be creative using pre-made ingredients I found in the pantry.  I was feeling like Pioneer Woman.  Marinara over polenta just like the package recommended.  Well............it was a looser.  Oh, it wasn't quite as bad as I go-on.  Each ingredient on its own is pretty good, but the flavor of Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara over Trader Joe's tube of polenta just didn't taste as good as each of one individually.  But the sautéed chicken was good.  Next time............


I loved the marinara even though the hubby said it wasn't the best he's ever had..........hey, he's a man.  What does he know.?


Memory:  We didn't have much Italian food when I was a kid, but mom could make a mean spaghetti with meat sauce using the old Kraft box.  Spaghetti, can of sauce, and a package of cheese.  What more do you need?  You'd open up that can and pour it over the cooked ground beef.  Pour that over cooked spaghetti, and top with that cheese in the silver envelope.  Remember that?  Was that box enough spaghetti for a family of seven?  I guess so because we sure didn't use two boxes.


I love you.  By the way, I am no Pioneer Woman.










   

The Omelets Have It

The omelet's have it!  Omelets have been on my mind since Sunday when I had one at the Embassy Suites hotel.  I couldn't wait to tell you about my omelet experience from the weekend, but when Rachel Ray had a guest chef making "baggie" omelets today, I got right on it.  So here I am.  Good morning everyone!!!!


Truth time -- I am not a huge fan of omelets.  I have tried some in restaurants and they were either tough or undercooked, i.e. eggs runny (and like my mother, that gags me).  I have tried to make them at home without success.  After a overnight visit to the Embassy Suites this weekend, I decided that I might give them another chance.  So this post is really just for me.........to help me remember.


By watching the chef at the Embassy Suites, I now may attempt omelets again.  Here's basically how she did it.  First of all, she had all her ingredients in prep bowls in front of her (that's probably a no brainer for most of you guys).  She also had a bowl of beaten eggs with cream or it could have been milk...probably was just milk.  Her omelet pans were hot, but not scorching hot.  She ladled a bit of melted butter which might have had a little olive oil in it (that's probably the mixture I will use).  After the butter was sizzling just a tad, she added the chopped meat of choice.  After 15 seconds or so the chopped vegetables were added and cooked over a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes just until the veggies were tender-crisp.  No eggs up till this point.  Then she added a couple of ladles of the egg mixture to the meat/veggies.  Do not stir.  That cooked for 30-45 seconds and she gently lifted up one side so that the uncooked eggs could run beneath the already cooked eggs.  After another 30 or so seconds she flipped the entire mixture over in one flip just to make sure the eggs were thoroughly cooked.  She sprinkled cheese over the cooked eggs and gently slid the eggs onto the plate while at the same time folding it in half.  I had requested vegetables only; spinach, onions, tomatoes, pickled jalapenos (which really imparted a lot of flavor).  It was a beautiful presentation and I admit, I ate the entire thing.


Things I learned:  1) have your ingredients prepped and ready, 2) cook your vegetables and meat before adding the egg mixture, 3) watch the heat; the chef adjusted the heat throughout the process, and 4) don't fold your omelet until I you plate it from pan.  And add those jalapenos for me!!!!


Thanks Embassy Suite Chef.


So that is my post today; the omelets have it!


I love you.


A guest chef on Rachel Ray loaded all the uncooked ingredients in a baggie, squished it around, and put the bag in a pot of boiling water and cooked it for 15 minutes.  I am sure this is good; however, the one on TV wasn't all that eye-appealing.     


   

I Need to Get More Sugar

It's Sunday night and the weekend is coming to a close.  Kids will go back to school tomorrow, and many will head back to work..............but I won't!  Sometimes I get all giggly on Sunday nights.  I don't have to work tomorrow.  I don't even know what I will do, but I suspect I will do something with apples.


I bought all these apples last week and my daughter and I made 1) My mom's fresh apple cake; 2) 2 loaves of apple bread with caramel glaze; 3) a loaf of Apple Fritter Bread; 4) a delicious apple pie; 5) Apple crunch bars; and 6) a pan of apple cream cheese bars. 


We peeled and peeled apples.  Luckily I have a peeler from Pampered Chef and well worth its price.  It makes the most beautiful apple peeling strips.  What to do with them.........all these peels.  I found a recipe to make syrup using just water and peels and cores.  All you do is cook the peelings and cores until they are softened and the cores mushy.  Strain the juice; discard the peelings.  Heat the juice with sugar.  10 cups of juice will need about 3 or 4 cups of sugar.  Heat until temperature reaches 218 degrees.  Continue cooking until syrupy.


Sounds easy peasy, huh?  Au contraire mon ami!  Au contraire!  Nothing is ever that simple for me.  I simmered and simmered and simmered and it just would not get syrupy.  Finally I turned off the range, let the pan cool and refrigerated it.  The taste was wonderful, a very light apple jelly taste.  I kept thinking about it during the night and I just could bear to throw it out.  What have I got to lose?  So the next day I boiled it again.  It was coming together nicely now.  I took a little out to test the consistency.  Not quite there.  Boiled it a little longer, testing, boiling, testing, boiling and all of a sudden, it was ready.  It was thickening so quickly that I removed it from the heat.  I grabbed my jars and starting pouring this pink wonderful liquid, molten lava actually, into them.............both of them..............two one cup jars.  All that liquid had boiled down to two small jars.


I couldn't wait to taste this glorious syrup so as soon as the lid popped (sealed), I opened it right back up.  I grabbed a spoon to have a taste of my syrup.  I put it in the jar and it would NOT sink into the liquid.  So I began to force it.  Finally I got about half the spoon bowl in and forced up the now caramel.  You see, I boiled that liquid all the way through the syrup stage, all the way through the jelly stage, all the way through the gummy candy stage, all the way to the caramel stage and not far from the brittle stage.


I consider myself a great cook, but there are times when even the best cooks have disasters.  But you know what, I am going to try this again this week with the rest of the apple peels.  First I need to get more sugar. 


I love you. 

And It Was Good

I fixed a wonderful meal tonight; a meal of old like Mom used to make.  Cube steak, mashed potatoes, gravy and frozen corn that I had cut off the cob this summer.  It was great!  Hubby was delighted.  We don't eat like that much anymore. 


But...........oh................we used to.  We used to eat like this everyday.  When I was a girl, we raised our own beef and there was always meat in the freezer........lots of beef.  Too much beef, they tell us today.  Mom didn't care much for steak--grilled steak or charcoal steak, that is.  But she was all about frying every cut including the T-bones and ribeyes.  Yes, that was how she cooked it.......almost every meal was fried steak.  Salt and peppered, floured and fried in shortening.  Every time.  And you know what, it was good.


And then I raised my own family, and I, too, had lots of beef in the freezer, thanks to my parents.  I fixed lots of steaks, too, and I am my mother's daughter so I cooked them as I was taught.  As the years went by, I learned that red meat isn't the most healthy thing to eat so we have gradually lessened it in our diets.  Every once in a while though, I have to go back to the old ways and fix some cubed steak with gravy and tonight it was exceptional.


Doesn't it just amaze you how our diets have changed in the last 50 years or so.  We lived out in the country and cows were a major part of our life.  We didn't have pizza delivery.  We didn't have a Dairy Queen on the next mile.  We didn't even have a restaurant 10 miles away.........so we had a freezer.............so we had beef..............so we had fried steak every meal.  It fed 5 kids.  And it was good.


I love you.

Soup Spoons

Another good WINDY sunny Monday morning to you and Happy President's Day!  Comments I hear around here go, "Man, if it weren't so windy outside, I'd.............."  It is THAT kind of wind.  Makes you want to stay inside with earphones just to block that noise.  You know the noise I am talking about--the kind that makes you want to hide you head in the couch pillows.


I want to talk about spoons today, not just any spoon, I am talking large spoons that comes with a five-piece flatware setting.  Normally, I think these are referred to as soup spoons.  


Anyway, yesterday, I made a simple German meal which turned out to be fantastic.  Red Cabbage and Pork Schnitzel with Dill Cream Sauce.  Yesterday for some odd reason, I used one of my metal soup spoons from the drawer, not my usual wooden spoons.  I was stirring my dill sauce just like I did when I was 16, just as Momma taught me (only I never, ever, ever made dill sauce), curved side down against the skillet.  Then it occurred to me.  I don't remember my mom ever using a wooden spoon.  She always stirred the gravy with an old soup spoon, curved side against the bottom of the skillet circling the bottom of the skillet.


So............if you are ever out antiquing and see a set of flatware where the bottoms of the largest spoon are worn more than the rest of the pieces, chances are someone used the soup spoons just as my mom did.........for stirring.  Oh, by the way, not only did we use them for cooking, they'd be the serving spoons as well...........and I don't ever remember them ever being used for soup UNLESS all the teaspoons were dirty.  The smaller teaspoons were used for soup..............and for adding sugar to ice tea.............only in later years did we actually find long teaspoons for tea...........so, if you lived at my house, you made do. 


I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy the 20 MPH winds.  The wind only gets stronger the rest of the week.  Keep you hat on.


I love you.  Oh by the way, I am going to publish my German meal recipe tomorrow.  I know you just cannot wait.  {WINK}

Roast Gravy

The instructions for this gravy are for my favorite son. After you put your roast in the oven, start making the flour mixture for the gravy. The earlier you do this, the less lumps you will have because they will soften. Put about 1/2 cup all-purpose flour into a cup and start adding water slowly, all the while mixing with a fork. You will probably end up using about 1/2 cup of water. It should be the consistency of just a tad thinner than Elmer's glue. I never measure the flour or water; after 40 years of making this gravy, there is no need to measure. Set this mixture aside while the roast is cooking, but stir it around now and again to make sure there are no lump.

This picture is the roast juices after the roast has been removed. Now is the time to start cooking the gravy. I usually pour the juices into the skillet I seared the roast in, but you have to make sure there are no burned bits still in the skillet. I just take a paper towel and wipe the skillet out if it looks burned. Heat the juice to boiling.

Pour the flour mixture slowly (important) into the boiling juices and . A whisk makes this process much easier. You have to stir fast or the flour mixture will start to cook and make lumps. Continue to add the flour mixture and stir until it thickens to the consistency that you want. How fast the gravy thickens will in part depend on how thick your flour mixture is. If it thickens more than you want, just add a little water. Boil it for a couple of minutes and it will be ready to serve. Add salt if needed.

Regina's Oven Pot Roast

Yesterday, Sunday, it was cold and rainy. I couldn't think of anything more comforting that the smell of a pot roast cooking in the oven while I took my Sunday afternoon nap. My kids have asked me how I make this so this post is for them.

As you can see, this is a bone-in roast. I normally wouldn't buy one with a bone, but beggars can't be choosers. Also, you see all the fat? While the fat and bone really make a more flavorful roast, there is a lot of waste and unnecessary calories. But who is counting?

Take it cellophane off and leave the roast on the tray. Generously sprinkle pepper, onion salt, and flour. No need to use additional table salt since using onion salt.

Turn the meat over and repeat the seasoning. Here is a close up of how generous I was with seasoning.

Shawna this picture is for you. Spread that flour all over the meat with your hands. If you prefer you could put a cup of flour in a paper bag, drop your roast in, and shake it.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil in a skillet (I always use cast iron for this.) Heat it until the oil starts to dance as in the picture. This is pretty hot and that is what you want, but you must watch it closely because it will start to smoke and burn. You do not want to use burned oil

Put the roast in the hot skillet and sear to dark golden brown, but be careful because you could easily burn yourself if the oil bubbles up.

Turn the roast over after it has seared to dark brown. Actually, the browner the better for the gravy. You should stay with the range while doing this because it can burn quickly. You may need to turn on the vent. This process is very messy and will spatter grease all over your range. Do NOT burn, just darkly sear.

Add about one cup water to the bottom of your cooking pot. Add the roast with the darkest side down. The roast has only seared so you will need to cook this in the oven at about 350 degrees; however, you can lower your temperature if you think it is cooking too quickly.

NOTE: I used my Pampered Chef stoneware. You could use the pot of your choice, but I like way stone bakes. Also, the darker the stain on the stoneware, the better.

Here is the cooked roast with all the delicious dark juice after about 3 1/2 hours. It was ready earlier, but I wasn't. I turned the oven down to 275 to cook the last hour.

Notice how the roast just falls apart. The bone just pulled right out.

This is Johnny's first plate. He loves my roast and cannot resist seconds. I will tell how to make the gravy in another post.






Look at my plate....love this pot roast, but cannot allow myself very much.