Bruschetta with Bite

With sincere apologies to my friends and family in colder climes, it is beginning to look and feel like spring. Soon there will be garden parties, lunch on the patio, and all sorts of outdoor picnic occasions. This handy canape can be fixed quickly, transported easily, and it tastes sublime. 

I have always made bruschetta with fresh tomatoes, but I found myself with none on hand, but I did have a can of Muir Glen's Organic Fire Roasted tomatoes. I drained the canned tomatoes in a mesh basket for a few minutes, put them on a cutting board and chopped them a bit, and then added:

The juice of one large lime

A generous spoonful of parsley

A generous pinch of French tarragon

An even more generous spoonful of dill weed

Four cloves of pressed garlic

I toasted the bread with a generous amount of butter.

Add a spoonful of the tomato mix and presto! An easy appetizer! I think I liked the fire roasted tomatoes as much as the fresh ones.

Overcorrection might be a necessary part of the process of change. Sam Harris

Shaved Carrots and Sliced Brussels Sprouts

Veg! Veg! Veg!

It seems like we can't get too many vegetables. We all want to eat as many as we can. This is a tremendously simple way to jazz up a couple of old favorites.

To make this dish in a 9 x 13 casserole, you will need about 6 - 8 large carrots. I made the carrot curls with my peeler, but if you have a mandolin, this would be an ideal use for it.

Use about a dozen and a half sprouts. Shuck the outside leaves and slice them quite thin.

Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over these; and put them in the oven uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes.

While these are roasting, make a drizzling sauce of:

3 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons soy sauce

Juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of dill weed

2 tablespoons of parsley

When the 20 minutes are up, drizzle half of the sauce over the vegetable mix. Bake for 20 more minutes.

Drizzle the rest of the sauce over the mix and cook for a final 20 minutes. The sweet roasted goodness of these is amazing. Enjoy!

Glory follows virtue as if it were its shadow. Cicero

Crab Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

 I was searching my kitchen for something to plump up my twice baked potatoes and struck gold. I opened a can of crab meat, drizzled some fresh lemon juice over it, sprinkled some chili powder on it, and added it to the potato spice mix.  Voila!

1. Slice the leftover baked potatoes in half and scoop out the insides.

2. Set the shells on a baking sheet and put some melted butter into the potatoes - at least a tablespoon per potato.

3. Ad some parsley flakes, bouillon powder, black pepper, ground caraway, and sauted onion and garlic to the potatoes. If you are pressed for time, you could get away with onion and garlic powder.

4. Mix the crab/lemon/chili powder into the potatoes and mix it all together well.

5. Fill each of the potato shells; top with paprika and bake at 350 for about a half hour.

These are so delicious! You might want to try them at a dinner party.


No problem can be solved at the level of consciousness at which it was conceived,
Albert Einstein

Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken

My son, Reggie, and I made this when he was still a teenager. We have both changed the way we cook since then, so I am posting a new improved version, complete with a fabulous photo of Reggie at the Grand Canyon.

Ingredients:
¾ to 1 pound chicken
Chicken tenders or boneless thighs are both good shortcut items.

Sauce:
½ cup butter
1/3 cup flour - any kind
4 cloves pressed garlic
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup of chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 package ribbon noodles

1. Put the chicken into a baking dish covered with foil and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Season the chicken with any combination of curry powder, chili powder blend, salt, pepper, and add a little butter, olive oil, or bacon grease. The oil is more important if you are using all white meat since it has so little fat in it.
2. While the chicken is baking, make a white sauce, and cook the noodles.
To make the sauce:
a) Melt the butter and flour over a medium high heat until the butter is bubbling.
b) Slowly add stock and milk while continuing to stir.
d) Continue stirring and add garlic,salt, pepper, Worcestershire.
e) When the sauce is smooth and has the consistency of thick gravy, turn off the heat, add grated cheese. Cover and set aside.

3. Put 4 quarts water into a large spaghetti pot with 1 tablespoon salt and bring to a boil. Add ribbon noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender.

4. When chicken is done, place the pieces on a cutting board and cut into pieces about ½ inch square. Put the pieces into the white sauce and stir just a little.

5. When the noodles are done, drain them and pour into them into the chicken and sauce mixture.
Note: If your sauce has thickened a little too much, add some of the pasta water to get it back to the right consistency.

Art is the signature of civilizations. Beverly Sills

Orange Flavor

Orange Flavor

Dried orange zest can add flavor to a savory dish or a sweet one. It can be used as an addition to seasonings for fish or chicken or in breads or muffins along with cinnamon or cardamom.

Choose an orange with a nice thick peel and cut the peeling into small pieces. Place the pieces on a baking sheet and let them dry. If you have high humidity, you may need to put them in a warm oven for a few hours. 

Once they are dry, grind them in a coffee grinder and store them in an air tight container. You can do this with lemons and limes, as well. The flavor is slightly more intense than fresh zest, so you won't need very much,

Every single choice is a chance to move toward the life you want.   Unknown

Holiday Pancakes

Holiday Pancakes

Pancakes can be made with whatever you have handy - a few eggs, a bit of ground grain or seed, some flavoring and salt and as much liquid as you need to make a pour-able batter. Whether or not you add some baking powder depends upon how fluffy or dense you like your pancakes.

In this instance, I ground some oat flakes, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, and slivered almonds in a coffee grinder and added them to three beaten eggs and about a third cup of coffee liqueur. Some salt and cardamom for flavor and the pancake batter is complete. To quote Ina Garten, "How easy is that!"

The ratio of eggs to flour to liquid depends a little on what kind of grains and seeds you use. Chia seeds absorb a great deal of liquid, so only about a cup and a half of the flour mix is used. As your batter sits, it may thicken. Just add any liquid: water, milk, or a nut milk if you prefer.

I like a dense, high protein pancake, so I usually start with 3 or four eggs. Then add a small amount of liquid - about a half cup. Then add flour until the batter is the right consistency.

Fry in a neutral oil such as avocado. Silver dollar sized pancakes are nearly always easier to flip and cook, especially if you use an alternative flour.

You have to wake up in order to grow up. Loch Kelly

An Infusion of Color

Whether you want to infuse vinegar for a salad dressing or vodka for a cocktail, gorgeous color and delicate flavor can be had very simply. This infusion was done with some chopped cranberries. Pour the vinegar or the liquor over the berries in a glass jar and let it sit overnight in your refrigerator. Strain the liquid and discard the berries. 

The flavor is mild and cranberries are a little tart, so sweetness has to be added with another juice. This drink is made with cranberry infused vodka poured over ice and sweet grapefruit juice. Just a couple of tablespoons add plenty of flavor and color.

Cheers!

The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.   Harry Truman