Making Do

Vegetable Soup with Dumplings

Vegetable Soup

• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 3 ribs celery
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• parsley
• chives
• water

Chop up the vegges and throw them in a pot with the spices and water.
While that is heating make the dumplings

Dumplings

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
  
• 3/4 -1 cup milk

Add enough milk to to make a batter that is not runny.
When the soup is simmering drop the batter in, in spoonfuls.
Cover and simmer for 10 min.
Serve immediately.

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Curried Cauliflower

• cauliflower
  
• cornmeal
• curry powder
• salt
• egg
• milk
• oil

Break the cauliflower into florets.
Mix the cornmeal, curry, salt, egg, and milk until it coats the spoon.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
Coat the cauliflower with the batter
Fry until crispy and browning on the edges.
Serve immediately.
(Leftover batter makes great hush puppies.)

Crabcakes

1# crab meat

2 eggs

2 T sour cream

1 c. soft bread crumbs

1 t lemon juice

salt

pepper

1/2 to 1 c. chopped green onion

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

Form into 12-13 patties 1" thick

Chill in frig

Bread with Panko

Fry in butter until golden

Summer Squash

When I was watching "Weeds" with Buddha and Kaaren Tuesday Buddha made a squash dish from a recipe his mother sent. It was very good.

Summer Squash Au Gratin

Ingredients

• 4 cups sliced yellow squash
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 35 buttery round crackers, crushed
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place squash and onion in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in a small mount of water. Cover, and cook until squash is tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well, and place in a large bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together cracker crumbs and cheese. Stir half of the cracker mixture into the cooked squash and onions.
4. In a small bowl, mix together eggs and milk, then add to squash mixture. Stir in 1/4 cup melted butter, and season with salt and pepper. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cracker mixture, and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Theory of the Dish
Summer Squash, eggs, milk, cheese. What could be simpler? Kaaren can't have anything green so Bu used yellow squash, but it would work just as well with zucchini.

Put me in mind of another summer squash recipe I like.

Cheesy Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients

• 5-8 small zucchini, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped fine
• 1 egg
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup grated cheese
• 2 Tbsp parsley
• paprika
• Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix everything but the paprika and Parmesan. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with the paprika and Parmesan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Theory of the Dish
Pretty much the same as the previous recipe but with more cheese, less grain and a few more herbs.

Since zucchini is in season I picked up a few and made Mom's recipe for:

Sauteed Zucchini

Ingredients

• 1 med Zucchini, chopped
• 1 med onion, thinly sliced
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Heat oil in frying pan
2. Add zucchini, onion, salt & pepper
3. Saute until the zucchini is soft

Theory of the Dish
This works with most vegetables. You could add garlic, and leave out the onions, or add basil and oregano if you want to get fancy. You could even sprinkle it with Parmesan if you want.

Sandwich festival

Continuing the theme of summer food and easy cooking, I thought I'd describe a recent sandwich dinner. It needs no particular accompaniment. If you find a vegetable sandwich insufficiently filling, have another.

Summer sandwiches (serves 2-4)

Filling:
6-8 small tomatoes, cut in half
2-4 medium onions, cut in half or in quarters
2-4 medium zucchini, cut into sticks (the size of sticks of gum)
10 oz. button mushrooms, cleaned, dried and halved
[other options: fennel, eggplant slices, sweet potatoes, peppers, whole garlic cloves]
toss the vegetables with olive oil to coat
sprinkle with salt and pepper
spread on 2 baking sheets or roasting pans
Roast in 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

Sandwich composition:
Take a slice of hearty bread of your choice. Arrange on it your choice of roasted vegetables.
Top with fresh basil or cilantro sprigs.
Other toppings: muffaletta mix (chopped green olives & peppers in oil and vinegar), wasabi paste or horseradish, roasted red pepper strips or spread, pitted black olives, hot sauce

For hot sandwiches:
Top your roasted vegetables and herbs with slices of mozzarella, havarti or another mild cheese. Place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the sandwich is toasted.

To cook or not to cook, that is one question.

Now that summer is nearly here, we're changing our menu a little bit each week. This item you see here is an end-of-winter fruit salad, so it relies less on fresh fruit from local farmers and more on decoration. The key: star fruit may not always taste great (this one tasted like tough, watery grapefruit), but it puts on a good show.

The past few weeks, we've done a better job of trying out new restaurants in the area than we have of trying out lots of new dishes. Just last night, we took a healthful walk over to the nearest frozen custard stand (the chef recommends: la glace à la vanille avec du fudge chaud et d'ananas).

However, I am planning to buy lots of nice things from the farmers market very soon. Do you hear that, vegetables? I'm coming for you. Soon. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But someday. And then we'll see who gets wrapped in a crepe and covered with cheese sauce!

Omelets and Pizza

I started off the day with a nice omelet. I learned how to make omelets from Martha Stewart. Back when I was living with Lynn I would occasionally catch Martha's TV show. I don't remember why. But she gave a very simple explanation on how to make:

A Good Omelet.

Ingredients

• 4 oz sliced Baby Bellas
• 1/2 small onion diced
• 3 slices of deli ham, diced
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese
• 3 eggs
• Salt and Pepper
• butter

Instructions

1. Saute the onion and Baby Bellas (I don't know why Baby Bellas are cheaper than regular mushrooms).
2. Briefly beat the three eggs with the salt & pepper
3. Melt the butter in your best omelet pan
4. Pour in the beaten eggs. Use a spatula to move the edges of the cooked eggs in toward the center, while you tip the pan to spread the raw egg out around the edges.
5. When most of the egg is cooked sprinkle on the toppings.
6. Fold the omelet in half and slide it onto a plate.

Theory of the dish
It should be fine even without fillings, and omelet is just a fancy scrambled egg. And to be honest I used 2 slices of American Cheese, and onion powder instead of an onion.


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I was recently gifted with a bag of "Tuscan Gourmet" Pizza Mix. It consisted of a bag of spiced flour and smaller bag of sauce spices. I decided to make it tonight for dinner.

"Tuscan Gourmet" Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 bag "Tuscan Gourmet" Pizza Dough Mix
• 1 bag "Tuscan Gourmet" Pizza Sauce Mix
• 2 (10.75oz) cans tomato Puree
• 3 Tbsp Olive oil
• 3/4 cup water
• topping of your choice: sausage, onion, sliced Baby Bella mushrooms, red bell pepper, pepperoni, shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan.

Instructions

1. The pizza dough was very easy to make, just add water and 1 Tbsp olive oil and mix. I oiled my round pizza pans and sprinkled the with corn flour. The dough didn't quite make two 13" pizza crusts the way it claimed. They were a little bit smaller. But I put them in the 425°F oven for 20 minutes as instructed.
2. And the sauce was much the same, just add 2 cans of tomato puree (I didn't have tomato puree, so I used a can of tomato sauce and a can of crushed tomatoes) and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. I had purchased some bulk mild italian sausage, so i fried up a couple of links and chopped them up. Then I sauted the onions, mushrooms, and bell pepper in the sausage fat.
4. When the crusts were brown I ladled on the sauce (thinly, there was a lot left over) then the sausage, mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. Then I put on the cheese layer, shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan. Then I topped it with a layer of pepperoni. and put them back in the oven for 15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Theory of the dish
This kit was a bit heavy on the spices for me. I prefer simpler flavors. But I had learned from past mistakes and was sparing with the sauce and cheese so the end result wasn't too soggy.
The only difference from this and my made from scratch version was the special spicing. And lack of leavening in the crust.

Peanut Sauce

This is a version of peanut sauce that I found in a pan-Asian cookbook for the dish "Swimming Rama" (chicken breasts in peanut sauce over steamed spinach). It's a sauce that's good warm or room temperature. It was a big hit at a music party I had when I made a batch of it, added chicken breast chunks, and put it out in a crock pot accompanied by a bowl of brown rice. My first voice teacher told me that singers tend to have oral fixations -- boy, do they love to eat! I've also used this sauce at room temperature for dipping homemade Vietnamese Spring Rolls. I love the sweet-salty peanut sauce from our local "Saigon Noodle" place, but this sauce has a great peanut flavor. I usually douple the recipe; the sauce freezes very well.

2 t. vegetable oil
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. chunky or creamy peanut butter
3 T. packed brown sugar (or more if you want it sweeter)
2 T. fish sauce (or less to taste)
1 t. paprika
1/4 t. ground red pepper (or less if you want it mildly hot)
1 c. canned unsweetened coconut milk
1 T. cornstarch
1 T. water
2 T. lime juice

1. Heat oil in saucepan; saute onion and garlic until tender
2. Reduce heat, add peanut butter, brown sugar, fish sauce, paprika and red pepper; stir until smooth. Slowly stir in coconut milk until well blended.
(At this point, sauce may be cooled, covered and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.)
3. Stir sauce constantly over medium heat until bubbling gently. Reduce heat. Combine cornstarch and water; stir into sauce. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Stir in lime juice.

Sauce can be thinned easily with water to use for dipping. If I put it out in little bowls for dipping, I top it with a sprinkle of crushed roasted peanuts.