popover mix

They sell mixes for pop overs. That's just dumb.  Everything is in the mix but the eggs and the milk! You only have to add 2 things!!! Uh,  "everything"?  That would be flour and salt. Not that they can't be tricky to make. But measuring out the flour and salt is not the hard part...                   The trickiest part is actually the rest of the meal because popovers have to be eaten right away. I have to be desperate to eat them the next day (OK, so I always do if there are any left, but it's still desperation) and there's no very satisfactory way to heat them up later.

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THE (essential) chicken soup

 If there is anything that defines me as a person I am pretty sure it is my chicken soup. So here aare hte essentials:


Roasted chicken (includes rotisserie). Leftovers (from a nice big bird) are perfect and help avoid an over abundance of breast meat.

Simmering all the chicken lefotovers -  don't forget any congealed juices at the bottom of the pan (or bag if it comes from the store that way), gristle, necks, you name it, for a an hour or more.

Youve' got to eventually pick out the the bones, remove any skin floating about and whatever chicken parts you's rather not see in your soup. I leave in gristle as by the time I've stoped cooking it's gone from view.

No fat. Use a fat separator to get as much of the fat pff as possible. You don't add anything to the soup until you've done this so as not to lose any fat soluble flovors (at least that's my theory).

White wine. It's makes a important but other than avoiding too oak-y or too sweet I don't think the variety matters. Enough will come through the cooking process so I know it's there but not enough to know if it was cheap or your finest reserve (so go cheap). Probably a cup and a half to a large saucepan with one leftover chicken, 2 or so to a big ol' soup pot with 2 carcasses or 1 untouched pre-roasted bird.

 Chopped up celery, leaves and stalks. At least a cup (the top 1/3 of a new bunch should do it -but the use whatever parts you have) to that large saucepan. You could skip the wine but you CAN NOT skip this!

 A couple cups of chopped up onion.

Simmer along as long as you like but at least until celery and onions all translucent.

NOW you can add whatever suits your fancy -as long as it includes some salt. Don't add rice until last, don't add any kind of noodles until very last. Carrots and potatoes go in sooner than later (and just one white starch, OK?). Herbs can go in sooner and/or later depending on the flavor you are going for and myself I think this goes for dried or fresh.

Nice extras: olive oil sauteed mushrooms added ~ 30 minutes before serving*.

                     wild rice added about 1 hour before serving

                     squash added about 15 minutes before serving

                     sun dried tomatoes, early on, but after the celery and onion is cooked

                     a handful (measuring is sooo important) of freshly chopped
                     parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage -in that order of proportions, added 15-20
                     minutes before it's showtime.

 And don't tell but I leave this on the stove for days sometimes as I go through the steps. I just bring it to a boil everytime I take the lid off to mess with it and then just turn it off (lid on) if I have to leave or go to bed or shop or whatever will take me away too long. No one has to know.

                 
* I assume it simmers at least up to "serving" time.

Simply Scones

 I have no picture of the scones my family love so because a. they never last long enough to be photographed and b. they aren't all that pretty.  But they will make you feel beautiful. Like a flower.
And they aren't my recipe. They are the date-nut scones in a little book called Simply Scones written by 2 authors whose names are on the book which is in the other room. Fortunately it's easy to find on Amazon.
 The key is the chilled butter and the pastry cutter. I always skip the egg white glaze and, quite honestly, for this one you can also ignore the "unsalted" descriptor for the butter - you could add less salt ... or not. In a blind taste test I'd never know... unless

you make the cream scones. Then you do need to watch the total salt closely.

 And know mater which scones you make never worry about how they look because over handling scones (or biscuits) is a SIN.

Chicken-Catch-a-Tory

This is Chicken-Kauia. We were told they are very tough. It's the only reason we don't move there.

So I used to use a recipe for chicken cacciatore that would probably no longer be recognized by the author but you, my children, recognize it by the "gunk" at the bottom of the pan that Dad keeps stealing.

 And personally I think it would make even this guy tender:

The essential ingredients are chicken pieces (I like thighs best),  fresh garlic cloves, olive oil, celery and some form of mushroom (dried gives a richer flavor), calamata (or close) pitted olives, and some leftover red wine. Optional: cooked salty bacon, fresh herbs, esp. rosemary and parsley, sundried tomatoes. Quantities vary.

 Sautee garlic and finely chopped celery (the leafier the better) in olive oil. I'm guessing a couple cloves garlic to 1/2 cup of celery. When it's getting translucent add some red wine -say 1/2 a cup and let it cook off. Then add the mushrooms, olives  and more olive oil and more wine depending on your mood. Dried mushrooms will take more liquid (even if soaked first). Add whatever else you've got,  chopped herbs, and the chicken. -browning it on both sides. Now be sure the chicken has stuff all around it and almost (but not quite) covering it. The "stuff" should itself be surrounded with juices (from the grape, the vegetables themselves, chicken et al) but not swimmingly. Is that clear?

Turn the heat down (oh it was medium high to sautee stuff and then brown the chicken).Cover the pan and let simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Serve over rice or bulgur (cooked by adding boiling water  in a 2:1 ratio to coarse bulgur + some olive oil and salt).

A good bread to mop up the pan is a plus and any vegetable but peas (I'm just kidding Carolyn).

Note: if using thigh you can leave on the some skin but you really have to remove all that extra and especially fattybits on the sides. Unless it's Kauia chickens because they don't have any extra fat...

baby potatoes

OK, so they cost like 3 or 4 times as much as regular old potatoes but if you get a bag of these little "pee wee" potatoes (that's what they are called at Wegman's at least)  all you have to do is toss them in some olive oil, sprinkle some salt (coarse salt if you've got it -from the sea or not) and bake for 30 minutes (ish) at 350 (my go to temp.) And everybody thinks I'm a genious - or if you do it they'll think you are a genius. So you saved time, clean-up and get a major ego boost. This is what cooking for your family and friends is all about.

Also this picture has nothing to do with the food tip but I like to think of myself as looking kinda angelic as I bring the potatoes to the table.

Note: The pee wees are smaller than even baby potatoes, averaging about 1" in diameter. I did not measure the variance.

Slow cooker pork shoulder and the joy of roasts

Yes dear children I am trying to catch up... As you know last summer I discovered (what everyone else knew) about how much easier a big roast can make your life. And when I say "roast" I really mean any big chunk of meat you cook. Because once you've cooked it then all week it is there for sandwiches, salads, fried rice, sauces, soups and just plain leftovers. Why did it take so long for me to figure this out?

 And one of our favorites was the pork shoulder roast so here is how I did it (more or less):

Put big pork shoulder roast (bone in or out, but the netting with the bone out is possibly more of a nuisance than the bone, so take it off) in a big crock pot in the MORNING.

Pour on several cups of white wine. It should be surrounded but not drowned. A sweetish one is good but keep it cheap.
Then a tablespoon or so of whole peppercorns. White or black -I prefer the white ones but both work.

Salt the top of the roast (oh, fat side up if it's not too late) and add some sprigs of rosemary.

Turn the crock pot to high, switch it to low when things start to smell really good. Or just low all day. It kinda depends on the crockpot I guess, but honestly I've been very inexact about this and have found little difference.

In the EVENING serve the pulled pork with potatoes etc etc etc. Keep your dad under control if you have big plans for more meals. If you can put all that's leftover and juices together in the fridge the next day you can scoop off the fat. This is why I love my crockpot with the removable"crock" part. Never really thought I'd be a slow cooker fan but I totally am now.

The pigs in the picture are Hawaiian and we fed them but they still looked rather tough to me.

Tomato sauce and hedonism

Today's cooking topic: Hedonism- It's a good thing. And a picture of gardenias and a few sprays of vitex seemed to illustrate the point. Just stop-and-smell-the-flowers works for cooking as well as for Ferdinand. Just stop and smell the ingredients. - really .
 Especially for spaghetti sauce. My approach is based on what Grandma taught me of course, and her's is based on that of an Italian her father had met while living and singing in Italy. Neither the opera nor the diplomatic career lasted but the food preferences did.
 The original recipe involved among other things a filet mignon used to flavor the pan and then tossed. Clearly that part didn't survive the Depression (the Great one). Instead Grandma used fat back. I don't disdain that but I'll go with any meat. And I keep the concept...

 Spaghetti Sauce:

Start it as early in the day as possible, but if you must be last minute use a wide deep skillet and cook it down as far as possible. Given time let it simmer for hours uncovered and losing liquid slowly.

 Saute (in the pan you'll use for the sauce) in olive oil chopped garlic cloves, onions, celery and sweet peppers (unless you use the pre-roasted ones).
 Add a large can of tomatoes -stewed, diced, pureed -anything not pre-seasoned. You can mix and match types. Whatever is on the shelf -less precooked if you have all day, more for last minute.
 Now add a small can of tomato paste -very important for a richer tomato taste.
 Now the wine. Red is best and not gone bad but not necessarily the good stuff. It will be cooking a long time and I defy anyone to be able to tell the difference between boxed wine and a fine Bordeaux after 3 hours with tomatoes and garlic! At least a cup -again it depends. Keep sniffing.
 Dried mushrooms. Canned are 2nd best and for once fresh come in 3rd due to how well the flavors hold up. If you aren't fond of mushrooms crumble these up as much as possible and don't add too much but you lose alot of the body without them.
 Next a fistful of herbs -mostly rosemary, a little oregano. Fresh if this is a quick sauce. Dried is fine if it's cooking all day -in fact possibly it's better. Again smell them to get the balance. Or maybe it just convinces your mouth this is what you personally want for dinner and I made the balance thing up.
Lastly (and don't tell Grandma) a tablespoon of sugar -or 2 if the pot's bigger. Maybe the tomatoes aren't as sweet as they used to be but I just can't get the flavor I recall without this.

Walk around the kitchen alot with a large wooden spoon to stir occasionally (alot if you are going for fast and as the mood strikes for a simmer) and wave as you tell interesting stories (again the wine helps).

 Meat is optional: If it's chicken put it in anytime. If it's steak, especially the tougher cuts I tend to have, add it at the start. Seafood at the very end (no fish). If it's fatback cut it into small pieces and fry it up at the beginning, drain it on papertowels before adding it and no need to add olives for saltiness. (So without it you do need black-not-canned-olives for the salt)

You want the sauce nice and thick. Be sparing with the sugar but it's impossible to say how much without knowing the exact state of the tomato products used. Keep sniffing and keep adding stuff.
-sauteing the fresh vegetables is important and celery should be finely chopped. It cooks away but what it adds in flavor is important. Still, other than the tomatoes there's no other one ingredient you can't do without. Mushrooms and garlic add a meatiness. So does cooking time.

Last but not least NEVER cut you spaghetti or use pre-grated cheese (yes my darlings, although your father and I tried to shelter you from it some people do think parmesan comes in a bottle). In honor of your grandmother the first bite should be without the sauce, and "au bur". Then the sauce is kind of more exciting. Well, I'm not sure if that's why she does it but it's true.

Today's take home message: Revel in it.
 - or pretty much any leftover can be hidden in the sauce.