Thursday, November 26, 2009

Green Bean Casserole

The side dish I am making for dinner today is the often made fun of green bean casserole. It's easy but yeah...it does get boring. So each year I add or try something new.

This year we are starting with green beans, obviously, with the tips cut off.



There were so many beans to steam I had to do it in two batches.

After they are steamed, tip them in a bowl with cream of mushroom soup, salt and pepper and a bit of milk. Just free hand pour it to the consistency you like.



Fry up several strips of bacon, chop in to bits when done. In just a bit of the bacon grease saute minced garlic. This looked good...but needed something else. I wish I had chopped some mushrooms but...

Tip in a bit of Marsala..free hand pour. The aroma is wonderful.



Layer a casserole dish with some green bean mix and put in a bit of the bacon-marsala-garlic. Toss in grated Parmesan cheese. Stir gently.

In the other casserole I used cheddar cheese instead of the Parmesan. I just don't like the looks of this one at first but it tasted good. Still, the Parmesan was the better mix.



Here are some snaps of the meal and family.

The family shots are for Aunt Ellen and family :-)
So you can see us all!

Sweet potato casserole, dressing and gravy, smoked turkey, cranberries, rolls and fresh pineapple.



Doug, Dad and Gregg - Mia and Barb




Cousins, Mia and Tristan





Gregg didn't really eat the gravy...I don't think so anyway......... Tristan did eat that pile of turkey though.



Mia made two pies...homemade - and they were incredibly delicious. I think she has a future as a baker.



I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Nigella's Potato Ricer

The theme at IHCC is side dishes this week. Since I love potatoes and I recently saw a Nigella episode on the Food Network where she featured both sweet and white potatoes, I thought...why not do a simple side, right?

Do you know what this is? It's a potato ricer.



I saw Nigella using one of these when she blended baked sweet potatoes with white potatoes. At first I thought, what's the point. It's like mashing potatoes....but it changes the texture of the potato.

You put the boiled potato in here.......




Then you squeeze the handle and the potato comes through like worms and strands, leaving the skins behind. How cool is that?



Now the potato is in slender threads and looks more like grated cheese.



Now take the baked sweet potato and scoop it into the riced potato. Mix with a spoon, gently.



This was served with a leftover chicken tenderloin. The tenderloin had been breaded in Panko and lightly fried. Cleaning out the fridge I also came up with a wedge of Chaumes cheese. A nice meal when hubby was out of town and I didn't feel like cooking much for myself.

That's right...no vegetables.....just chicken, potatoes, cheese and Red Stripe beer. Not the healthiest, but I cleaned out the fridge and I was able to check off another Nigella recipe from the Express and the Bites books.




Now, this will make a great side for Thanksgiving and I am happy I "practiced" it before the big day.

If for some reason I don't get online before Thanksgiving - have a great turkey day everyone!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Just an update and a cool new car!

It's been a fast paced few days and I haven't been online to see what is going on with Nigella's theme on the cooking club, haven't updated my blog or visited others too much, haven't played Guild Wars....

The Cliff's Notes version is:

I couldn't get rid of the neck pain and went back to the doctor who pronounced that my problem was stress. My shoulder and neck were tight as a drum. So, I took 4 Advils three times a day and 1 muscle relaxant 3 times a day. Now I am fine. Oh yes....it's like the first day after having a really nasty cold when you can breathe again. That's when you really appreciate it....the breathing freely I mean. Now, no neck pain. And that's wonderful.

Doug went out of town on business and that means I have to walk the devil dogs alone.



They don't like to walk at the same pace or direction so...it's a challenge to put it mildly. Aja actually shook the collar and leash off and I thought I'd never get her back. Another evening Kobe was rushed by a strange LARGE dog late in the evening. I didn't know if he'd attack or what. Scary. Fortunately Tristan was with me and he ran the dog off.

The really cool thing that we did this weekend was buy a car!

Why does it take three hours to buy a car? I have no idea but this is a beauty and it's a nicer ride than the truck. Since we sold the camper we really didn't need the gas guzzling Ram.

It's a comfy Toyota Camry with some cool features.



It has a nice looking grill and I am loving the sunroof.



Doesn't he look happy?


I am very happy he's home and we have a new ride. Happy the health issues are gone and I have actually cooked and took photos...just haven't downloaded but I have one post almost ready for tomorrow.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Shrimp Scampi



It's easy, especially since I don't have to peel the shrimp. For some reason, when I peel raw shrimp I start to get a rash. Not just on my fingers but on my arm then on the back of the neck. Sounds like allergies....but I can eat cooked shrimp - no problem.

Just peel and set aside, spritzing a bit of lemon juice on the shrimp. We used a pound and a quarter. The pink shrimp have a sweeter taste so we grab those when they are on sale.



I have some of the essentials of the meal at the ready - white wine, fresh Buitoni pasta and Bertoli Olive oil.



Chop garlic very fine, heat a pan with about 2 TB olive oil and you are ready to cook.



So fast, so easy....it's on the table in in under 10 minutes once you have the shrimp peeled. I used 3 large garlic cloves, started sauteing, when the shrimp were very pink from the heat and oil, I dusted them with roughly 1 tablespoon of flour. Use a wooden spoon to mix it up then free hand pour a bit of wine over the shrimp. Sprinkle with dill.

The water for the pasta was at the boil point just when I splashed the wine into simmering shrimp. Angel hair pasta only takes a minute, literally, to cook.



We served it with Le Petit Francais bread.

As long as the wine was opened we decided to polish it off. A crisp Chardonnay went smoothly and I imagine any of the higher end wines would be even better.



I love simple meals....for those of you in need of a quick to prepare, quick to the table meal....this one fits the bill.

Cheers!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Nigellas Chicken Bacon and Mushroom Pie

Head on over to IHCC for Nigella's latest inspirations for the theme Potluck.



You will need the following ingredients.......



* 4 pieces of bacon, cut or scissored into 1-inch strips
* 1 teaspoon garlic infused oil
* 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
* 8 ounces chicken thigh fillets cut into 1-inch pieces
* 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 1/4 cups hot chicken stock
* 1 tablespoon Marsala
* 1 (13-ounce) 9 by 16-inch sheet all-butter ready-rolled puff pastry
* 1 pie crust

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Fry the bacon strips in the oil until beginning to crisp, then add the sliced mushrooms and soften them in the pan with the bacon.





Turn the chicken strips in the flour and thyme (you could toss them about in a freezer bag), and then melt the butter in the pan before adding the floury chicken and all the flour left in the bag.
Stir around with the bacon and mushrooms until the chicken begins to color.




Pour in the hot stock and Marsala , stirring to form a sauce. The aroma of the sweet Marsala hitting the pan is amazing. It should cook down fro roughly 5 minutes.



Instead of individual pot pies, I used a bottom crust in a 9 inch pie pan. Pour the chicken, bacon, mushroom mixture into the pie crust. I used the puff pastry for the top, slicing it up and pinching it into the sides.

Cook the pie for about 20 minutes.



Nigella Express, page 175.


By the way, this is a keeper. Love it! Easy and tasty.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Venting, or just self therapy...no food this time

OK, I have a buzz going and I will try and remember to use spell check, but I'm not promising I will remember. I'm just saying........

What a time I have been having. Mentally and physically. It's over the new motorcycle, it's over the cat, it's over my neck pain. Haha pain in the neck...but it's not funny really.

So, here is the background of the story that spans years.
Before I met Doug I had a little gold motorcycle that was just kick-ass fun. I bought it when I had scant little money to splurge on anything. Anything. I was working three jobs, all part time, in hopes of having enough money to afford a place of my own or a decent place to split rent with someone. So I bought this Suzuki from a girl without ever having had a lesson.

She gave me the basics, shifting, brakes, etc. and by the grace of Zeus I made it home and I was able to ride. I went to work and home. I went to work and bought groceries and then home again. No social life...but I did like riding my little bike.

Then I'm on the way home from a long double shift at a retail place called Chess King when a person (I'm trying to be politically correct but I'm so not PC) pulls away from the stop sign right in front of me. I hit the car, the driver's door, I go over the hood and roll and the forks of the bike are bent way beyond repair. Helmets are a good thing. Please wear one folks if you ever ride or are a passenger.

Following that accident I am not afraid to ride again...know why? Because it wasn't my fault. I sued and won. Because it wasn't my fault. How I wish I had gotten a bike again after I'd healed because I was not afraid to ride.

Fast Forward many years....... Tristan (my very amazing son) wants a motorcycle. He's 19, I'm now 102 and the maternal worry-gene goes into major overdrive. I am afraid he'll get hurt...oh, how I worried. Now I know how my father felt. Sorry Dad.

Now Doug's reoccurring bike fever has really asserted itself because there is a gorgeous Triumph Bonneville America parked out front, roaring out of the driveway on a regular basis. So he starts looking and lo and behold, we find a cool looking Harley Sportster needing a home. We bought it and Doug went riding around on his own for awhile. Then I get on the back and am having a BALL!

We rode that little vibrating Sportster out to Mississippi to visit family. After such a long trip we bought a bigger bike, the Road Glide. Now I am starting to want a bike. I watch other women bombing around on big and little bikes and feel like I may want to get my own.

Fast forward again........ I enroll in the motorcycle safety class. I wrote about that here, and that is where I hurt my leg. Know what else it hurt? My pride, and sorely damaged my illusion that I could hop on a bike and it would all come back. Confidence shattered....but I thought I'd get over it, especially as I had a Kawasaki Vulcan 900, a beautiful bike of my own, just sitting and waiting for me to get my endorsement.

Like a child outside WalMart on the coin operated rides, I would sit on that bike before and after the class, gripping the throttle and imagining myself riding down the country roads.

A few days after the class my leg was healing but I developed a neck pain. It felt like a vise, like Gollum's boney fingers were gripping the base of my skull and pressing. I went to the doctor again. He asked if I was under stress. By then I knew Hextall had been killed. I was also afraid my bike was to big for me, never having ridden it, I harbored that fear. Doctor said I could always get a smaller bike. True that.

So here was the conundrum....I have a pain in my neck because I was afraid to ride the Vulcan. But I couldn't know if that pain would go away if I could ride it. So, last Saturday Doug and Tristan went with me to a deserted parking lot so I could practice.

My mouth was as dry as cotton and my heart pounded. I didn't think I could do it and kept putting my feet down. The guys were very supportive and gave me pep talks, the one that my son gave was that a friend of his could ride. I will call her Malevolent-Force-of-Evil.

I said, "Yeah! If "Malevolent-Force-of-Evil" can ride (and she doesn't ride well) then I can!!"

I started the bike, I stated " I'm better than Malevolent-Force-of-Evil" and I took off. Shifting into first, then second, then taking a turn without looking (That's not good) then shifting too fast into third. Came to a stop at the stop sign. Waited. Probably waited too long. Then I tried to make the turn.

Guess what, I didn't give it enough throttle and then...the laws of physics took over and down the bike went. Almost on my bad leg. I was able to pull it free quickly. Now I was really feeling bad. The bike seemed huge. HUGE. I am meant to grow into it with practice.

So I don't know where I am right now. My neck is occasionally giving me fits and I know it's stress, and I know it's also a lack of confidence in myself. There is no problem with shifting or braking. I am completely at ease in the shifting department. Now turning...I don't know... and that has me baffled. I could turn in class....

I am at a point where I need to figure out if I am content to be towed or if I just need a smaller bike. My Dad would say - stay off bikes altogether. Of that I am sure. I don't know what I want right now...I guess it boils down to that and getting over that knock on my self confidence.

Tomorrow, I'll have a foodie post. Nigella's cookbooks are a familiar comfort.
For anyone who read this far, thanks for listening :-)

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Leftovers make good lunches





A few days ago I made Nigella's Buttermilk Roast Chicken and it was a pretty big hit. Not only was it easy, but tasty too...and..a bonus is always making soup with leftovers.

A few pieces of chicken.....




Whatever veggies you have on hand......this particular day I had a few mushrooms, celery, carrots, yellow squash and a half an onion.




A block of frozen homemade chicken broth and leftover linguine........




Simmer it for a half hour..........



Served with sweet iced tea, French bread and a few slivers of Gouda cheese........a healthy and inexpensive lunch.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Hextall

A few weeks back I wrote about my cat going off and missing for awhile. I had almost given up hope of him returning and lo and behold, 5 days later he showed up yelling to come in, starved down to a skinny gray mess of fur.



Well, he disappeared again 2 weeks ago. Last night when we were walking the dogs a young lady who lives about quarter mile from us pulled off and asked if we had a cat. She let us know that she found a cat, hit by a car, and yes he was gray. And it was 2 weeks ago, just after Hex disappeared. So, I finally have closure on what happened to him.

He had always come home, always slept close by, always sat in my lap when I had coffee every morning for the last 16 years.



Other cat owners and even our vet tech said when cats get old they will sometimes just wander off to be alone in their final hours. That was the scenario I had thought was likely since he is old. He'll be missed.

Cheers Hextall.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Potato Mushroom Gratin

Geez...I can't believe this is only my second post this month. The last one took me two days to put together. Thank you all for the good wishes regarding my fall and I am definitely on the mend now.

I'd also like to acknowledge our troops for Veterans Day and special shoutout Marine Jim Toth and Army Sgt. Rosario Lopez. You are in our thoughts.

Join me over at IHCC for Nigella's latest inspirations for the theme Man Food.

This has been one of Nigella’s recipes I have looked at again and again. She proposes baking this potato dish with her roasted chicken, but my oven just isn’t big enough to accommodate a roasting pan and a casserole dish. I paired this side dish with shredded BBQ chicken which I’d cooked in the crock pot.

Modifying the recipe just a wee bit, you’ll need the following ingredients………

3 average-size 1/2-pound baking potatoes, thinly sliced

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons garlic-infused oil

10 ounces white button mushrooms, sliced to make 4 cups (original recipe calls for 8 oz. cremini mushrooms)



1. Heat the oven to 425° F and butter a shallow baking dish or gratin. Slice up the potatoes and mushrooms............




2. Bring the sliced potatoes, milk, wine, salt, and pepper to boil in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, and leave it at a simmer while you get on with the mushrooms.



3. Melt the butter and garlic oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.

4. Pour the mushrooms and their garlicky, buttery juices into the pan of potatoes, stir to mix, and pour straight into the gratin dish. Bake for 45 minutes alongside the chicken or until piping hot and crisp on top.

This isn't the best photo but I assure you, this was good the first night and even better reheated. All the different tastes blended together.



This would have been a great side with the roasted chicken but it went well with the crockepot shredded BBQ chicken too.




I am sending this to Crock pot Wednesday over at Dining with Debbie as well as the IHCC.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

An Injury and an Award!

Normally I don't flash any leg but thought you would like to see the immediate result of having 350 pounds of motorcycle fall on my leg. It was much worse in the bruising department as a few days went by!



I fell in my safety class…how hilarious is that?! I wasn’t paying attention, didn’t press the handlebars to the left (which is where the track was) and saw the grass.

I thought, If I hit that wet grass I’m toast. I went right into the grass, the bike went up on its side, came down on me and pinned me in the dirt. The instructors came down and helped get the bike off me, ascertained that I did not break my leg, and I went to sit my happy ass on the sideline while I nursed my pride.

Finally I was able to get back on and finish the course, take the exam and I passed! Even with a bum leg!!

I will say that I was quite the quitter early on. Being the only female in the class and being so close to finishing and taking the final exam...that kept me motivated. And my husband and son rode out to watch me in the final hours of class and to boost my morale ;-)I can say I am glad that I did it but it was tough going.

My leg was swollen by the end of Sunday evening. Had this injury occurred the day before then I could most assuredly say that I would have needed to reschedule as I could no longer bend my swollen knee.

After an x-ray to be sure I had not broken a rib, I have taken it easy all week, popping Advil, drinking whiskey to relax one evening (I was positively stupid by the time Jeopardy came on, ice and heat on the sore neck...now I am getting back to normal...such as that is.


To fun stuff - Laura of A World in a Pan and Nat of Girls are Made of Sugar and Spice have kindly bestowed upon me a cool award!




I am meant to share 7 things that you may find interesting....toughie, this one.


1. I didn't drive an automobile (nor was I licensed to drive)until I was 26 years old.

2. When I was 19 I traveled around Europe with the intent to stay or until the money ran out. The money ran out in 18 months but I saw many wonderful sites!

3. I first tasted oysters when I was in my 20s, after I'd moved to Florida. My favorite way to eat them is raw but I like fried as well.

4. I have a wonderful husband who shares the same interests I do - food, ales, wines, travel, motorcycles, Monty Python and the same sense of humor.... just to name a few.

5. I have had breast cancer twice, twelve years apart, and survived to be a pain in the butt to all around me ;-) I feel fortunate.

6. My favorite chocolate is dark and I'm partial to Green and Black brand.

7. In retrospect I realize that by today's standards I may have been considered a "stalker" of author James Michener by the number of letters and invitations I sent him in the 1990s!

More fun stuff..... I will nominate seven bloggers whom I enjoy reading and corresponding with. It's a toughie too as there are so many blogs I frequent.


1. Blogging Canada: Cathy at Accountants Can Cook!

2. Karen with Cooking with the Captain whom I am just recently acquainted and enjoy her recipes

3. Joie de Vivre who is one of the very first blogs I started following. Love her book reviews, recipes and French tips!


4. Laquet has two blogs that I enjoy but she's been inactive on both for awhile. I will select her Snipped and Snapped as I enjoy looking at all the photos. She gives me my "English and French fix" when ever we correspond ;-)


5. The Wandering Coyote also has two blogs and I am going to select her food blog ReTorte. She has been so very helpful to me with Internet questions,Foodbuzz questions, recipes and tips and so much more. There has not been a single recipe of hers we have tried so far that hasn't been a winner!

6. Kim over at Stirring the Pot has been a recent addition to my sideboard. She has some great recipes and a great sense of humor!

7. Last but not least, Janel of Janel's Jumble has a cool blog with good book reviews and much more. Check her out!


So this is what you have to do:

1) Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
2) Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
3) Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
4) Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.


It's taken me forever to get back online so this is a pleasant thing to fool about with. I hope to be cooking and blogging about it soon.

Cheers everyone!

It's been a good run...........