Roasted chicken, white noodles and snow peas

This is a total comfort food meal for me, and a real standard in our house. Even before I became a real foodie, roasting a whole chicken was a form of therapy for me. I had one particular friend, Turtle, with a good sense of smell. He would come from up the hill and sop up the drippings in my poor-excuse-for-a-roasting pan whenever I had a particularly hard day.

I have officially given up on a Cook's Illustrated (no! really!) recipe because it is too high maintenance, and I like my results better. I am not rotating my dang chicken every 20 minutes or so, and please, let me slather it in some form of fat. It just comes out so much tastier! I used grapeseed oil on and under the skin, sprinkled it with Trocomare, and shoved a whole peeled lime in the cavity. I will never go back to butter. It was so tasty.

White pasta

8 oz egg noodles
2 T butter
2/3 cup sour cream
Trocomare

This is a basic super easy white sauce I do. I just cook and drain the egg noodles and add the butter and sour cream and Trocomare (an herbed salt blend). This is gobbled up by everyone in the house, and can be easily added to and made a main course. Add roasted chicken leftovers and spinach and cooked garlic. Or, add peas and prosciutto.

Glazed snow peas

oil
Snow peas, ends trimmed
carrots
grated ginger
diced garlic
honey
soy sauce

Heat oil in skillet. Add snow peas and carrots, cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, honey and soy sauce, and cook one more minute, or until garlic just opaque.

Tuna Steak with Tibetan Hot Sauce

Tonight I made tuna steaks. When I worked at a health food store, I got a free jar of something called Tibetan Hot Sauce. It was more like a cooked hot salsa than a hot sauce, and it was fantastic over seared tuna steak. When the jar ran dry, the store wasn't carrying the product. So, I had to recreate it, or something similar enough.

Seared tuna steaks with "Tibetan Sauce" over wilted greens and lemongrass rice

a stalk of lemongrass
rice
one tuna steak per person
oil (I use grapeseed oil)
a big bunch of greens (I used arugula and sorrel because that is what I had in my garden. Spinach would work fine)
lots of diced or crushed garlic, at least 3 T
salt and pepper
sesame seeds
toasted sesame oil
diced tomatoes (one can or a few ripe large tomatoes)
onion (I used green onions because I am growing them. I added the white parts in the sauce and saved the green tops for garnish)
2 or 3 stalks of celery, sliced length wise and then chopped
2 T tomato paste (I use Amore)
soy sauce
grated ginger
lemon basil
cilantro

Put 2 1/2 c of water in a pot, and bring the lemongrass to a boil. Cover and simmer until water gets and attractive dark color and smells divine. Take out lemongrass and use this water to make the rice. I use about 1 1/2 c of rice

Sear tuna on each side to desired doneness. I recommend cast iron. I like mine very rare. Keeping a tuna steak frozen until cooking makes it easier to keep a dramatic red center (which I did not successfully do this time because I was distracted.) Picky likes his grey all the way through.

While the tuna steak is cooking, add 1 T of oil to a hot skillet. Saute greens until wilted and starting to change color. Add salt and pepper, half of garlic, and sesame seeds and stir for a minute until the garlic turns opaque. Put greens in a bowl and cover to keep warm. Wipe out pan and add tomatoes, celery, onion, tomato paste, and soy sauce. Cook until onions and celery are softened slightly. Add remainder of garlic and ginger and herbs, cook for another minute or two then remove.

Put down rice, then greens, then tuna steak, then top with sauce, scallions and sesame seeds. I also add roasted hot sauce, for which I will post a recipe soon. If there were no kids eating this, I would add the hot sauce while the tomatoes were cooking.

Fried rice from leftovers

Picky is an eager shopper. He likes to buy two of every impulse buy. When I had him order dinner for us yesterday when I was running errands, he ordered double of all the appetizers. So, today I have a dozen extra large jerk-style chicken wings looking at me. No problemo.

Fried rice is one of my favorite things to make with leftovers. You can use steak, (beef or tuna), shrimp or shellfish, chicken, or keep it vegetarian. I shredded up the leftover chicken wings and added them to these ingredients:


oil
broccoli, chopped
carrot, chopped
green onion (you can use white or yellow)
grated ginger
diced garlic
a scrambled egg
your leftover protein
cooked rice (I use 1 cup uncooked to make 2 1/2 or so cooked)
sesame seeds
soy sauce
toasted sesame oil

These ingredients are very flexible. Even the rice can be substituted with soba noodles, or spaghetti in a hitch. Any of the vegetables can be switched out for others. Squash, sugar snap peas, sweet peas, cabbage, bean sprouts, and many other veggies work well. If I plan the meal out ahead of time, I sometimes have a can of water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and those yummy straw mushrooms, but last night I didn't. This is by no means an authentic formula. If had something called fish sauce in the house, I think Picky would throw it away.

I added the ingredients into a hot wok in the order shown. letting each cook a minute or two, or longer if needed. (For example, I was using raw broccoli, so that took a few extra minutes). I deglaze the pan each time with a little soy sauce, but I usually have to add a little more at the end. If I start the rice then start prepping the ingredients, the rice is done by the time I need it. I just scoot the veggies over in the wok and scramble the egg right there. If your protein is precooked, you can add it late just to warm it, and this is a super quick meal.

Someone give me a flippin' hand!

While I was cooking tonight I wondered, as I often do, how some people (who are much more coordinated than me) do that cool flippy thing with a skillet full of hot food. And, how do you practice doing it without burning yourself and making a huge mess? Okay, for me an even huger mess.

So, I shot a question over to my buddy BadBadIvy at her new, AWESOME site Home-ec 101. She should be putting up an answer soon. She told me that her husband can do it really well. I told her that I think it's a guy thing, kind of like armpit farts.

Hamburgers to DIE for

So, I decided to start a cooking blog, and I proceed to make red meat three times in a week. I swear, I thought we usually eat it about three times a month. We'll have to keep track on here and see.

If I had to pick one food item that is worth a real brag on my part, it would have to be my burgers. Good thing too, burgers are Picky's favorite food.

These were made with buffalo meat. If you are going to use beef, I usually use ground round, because that is what my mother used. I am also not fat phobic. I haven't ever tried this with turkey, but who knows.

This is a true non-measuring foodie recipe. Sorry, for those of you who don't like foodie types like me who don't measure, but I really don't measure when I make burgers. I adjust everything to the amount of meat and my mood.

Put the meat in a medium bowl and make a well in the center. Wash your hands and take off them rings.

Put in the well:
diced garlic
honey
crackers (I use ak mak) ground up in a food processor
an egg
mustard (ground or wet...lately I use a smoky mustard and it is phenom)
salt and pepper (I use Trocomare)
oil of oregano (I got mine in the supplement section of a health food store. Yummy, fragrant and kills germs!)

Mix just until incorporated, cook til they're done to taste (silly Picky likes everything wellllll done), and accept compliments with grace.

Meaty day

Picky made me this yummy prosciutto and cheese sandwich for lunch. I added marinated fresh tomato from my garden, and it was delicious! Tomatoes soaked in olive oil and balsamic vinegar are a favorite of everyone in my house. Oh yeah, except for Picky. He won't even eat prosciutto, come to think of it. Boiled ham, sure.

I am new to this food blogging thing. Please laugh with me at my horrible picture. Not only does it lack in all sorts of food picture ways, but there is a bite out of one of them. Yes, I couldn't wait to take the picture, and had a bite.

Tonight we will be having corned beef and cabbage. I will be using this recipe from my buddy Stefania. Every recipe I have made of hers has been fantabulous. She mentioned me in an entry and I glowed with pride. Maybe I'm yummy too, because everything else in her blog sure is.

The one difference will be that I will be using my own homegrown cabbage! I am so excited. I glow with pride once again. These have to be the coolest things I have ever grown. OK, I admit it. I also added a bottle of Guinness as part of the "Cover with cold water" step. Inspired by my buddy Mountainmomma's Irish dad. Thanks!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, or as my friend's boy says, Happy Mattress Day!

Easy night for Picky

Tonight will be an easy night for Picky. We are having steak. I was never a big red meat fan or steak fan, but I have learned to make it and even enjoy it occasionally. Picky would talk so fondly of his family splitting a T-bone as a child, it tugged at my comfort-food heart strings.

I don't get T-bones, usually. I am making top sirloin tonight, which is my favorite cut. Cook's Illustrated (I luff that magazine) recommended top sirloin as the best inexpensive cut of steak, and I must say I agree.

I usually throw a marinade on the steak of balsamic and olive oil and salt and pepper. We almost always have cheesy polenta on the side, and I think that will be the case tonight. S is the one who is too picky for the chessy polenta (of all things not to like!) so we usually save that for nights he is not eating dinner with us, and he will be with his grandma tonight.

Here is my recipe, and it is an original:

Cheesy Polenta

• 2 cups whole milk or buttermilk
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup polenta or yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

In a large pot over medium-high heat, bring milk, water, and salt to a boil. Gradually whisk in polenta. Reduce heat to low, and cover. Cook 20 minutes, until creamy, lifting the lid and stirring every 3 or 4 minutes to prevent sticking. Remove pot from stove, stir in pepper and butter. Gradually stir in cheese.

I prefer it with Gorgonzola, but I am the only one who does. Please note: Gorgonzola is not a picky friendly cheese. I have been able to sneak it in my quest veggie muffins, which I will post soon. They are dang good. I will post pics later, if all goes according to plan.