More fun in the kitchen

 

 

 

First: I had my knee surgery Monday. It went well, although my knee is pretty sore. It seems I had two meniscus tears because the little bone spurs I'm developing as the result of arthritis actually tore into the meniscus when I was hit by the truck. The doctor cleaned the whole mess up, including a floating object. The knee hurts a lot, but I can walk on it and am not nearly as incapacitated as I was after the tendon surgery. Time will tell whether this works. I still have a lump on my hip, although it's a lot smaller than before. It probably needs to be drained again. But overall I'm doing pretty well.

Whenever I'm feeling sad or nervous, I like to cook. I also like to cook when I'm happy, so I suppose it's an all-purpose outlet. I've put together a few recipes here that I made in the run-up to my latest operation. They're all pretty easy and they're quite tasty too. I had a lot of fun taking the pictures because Rob and I just went out and bought some square white serving plates, which really frame the food well.

It all started when Rob wanted to get one plate for himself -- one plate that he would use and NO ONE else could touch. So he went into the local Vons and came out with four square serving platters. I mentioned that these weren't the actual dinner plates (dumbass) he wanted and the quest was on. The square white plates had been on sale at local Vons and Rob was determined to get a set, again that only he could use. After he actually found the dinner plates, I decided we needed the salad plates and the square bowls. It's not like we actually needed new dinnerware, but once we started, we had to keep going until we had the whole set. We've found that food looks fabulous all arranged on the plates, so we're happy with our new purchases as we sit around pretending we're fine dining. Rob still insists he's the only one allowed to touch the plates, but I ignore him -- as I always do. After all, how much crediblity do you give a man who doesn't know the difference between a platter and a dinner plate?

Here is a trio of recipes that are easy, inexpensive and tasty. And they all look great on square white dishes.

The first is a standard recipe for me. I've been making some form of beef stroganoff since I was a kid and made it with hamburger. It's super easy and I just love how it tastes. The trick is to make sure not to boil the sour cream and to use a good quality white wine and sweet Hungarian paprika.

Beef stroganoff

3 tablespoons canola oil
2 pounds inexpensive beef -- whatever's on sale -- cut into two inch-long strips, 1/2 inch wide and 1/4 inch deep strips
garlic powder
1 large onion chopped
1 pound sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 cup sour cream
hot, buttered egg noodles

Heat oil in a skillet. Add beef strips, sprinkled with garlic powder to taste, and cook until browned. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until starting to become soft. Add wine and cook until sauce thickens and is reduced. Sprinkle with paprika. Turn off heat and add sour cream. Serve over hot, buttered noodles.

The second recipe is the result of having passed by gorgeous heads of escarole each Sunday at the Ojai farmers market and coveting them. I saw some recipes for escarole soup and decided to make my own version. This is easy, delicious and super healthy.

Escarole and bean soup

1 head escarole, rinsed and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 quart chicken broth
1 can white beans, rinsed
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Parmesan cheese
Rustic Italian bread, sliced, sprayed with olive oil spray on both sides and sprinkled with garlic powder and broiled until browned on each side.

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven. Add escarole and stir over medium heat until the escarole starts to wilt. Add about a third of the broth and cook until the escarole softens completely. Add the rest of the broth and the beans and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes. Serve over pieces of toasted rustic bread. Top with cheese and red flakes to taste.

Finally, I'm a sucker for braised red cabbage. It's so easy and healthy and it can be made up a million ways. This version pits the sour/sweet brightness of cranberry against the pungent cabbage and the sweet, earthy apples. With such strong elements, I didn't want to muddy the taste with anything else. You could remove the pork chops when they're browned and cooked through and make the cranberry glaze separately, but I had more fun making the pork chops bright red and liked how the flavor permeated them.

Red cabbage with cranberry glazed pork chops
For the cabbage

1 small head red cabbage cored and chopped into one-inch pieces
2 large apples, cored and chopped into half-inch pieces -- I used pink lady apples from the local farmers market
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup cranberry juice
salt and pepper to taste

For the pork chops
2 large pork loin chops
3 tablespoons canola oil
4 springs of fresh thyme
salt and pepper
1/2 cup cranberry juice
3 tablespoons butter

Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet. Add cabbage and apples and stir until beginning to wilt. Add cranberry juice and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Heat canola oil in a second skillet and add pork chops. Add thyme leaves and salt and pepper. Brown on both sides. Add cranberry juice and cook until reduced and thickened. Add butter when sauce is thickened and remove chops. Serve with cabbage.

Comfort food on a rainy day

 

We've finally received some rain after a two-year drought here in Southern California. When I first moved here, I was amazed at the panic that occurred during rainstorms that were -- in my Midwestern experience -- fairly light. But it quickly became evident that the reason for the panic was that the entire infrastructure is unprepared for any precipitation.

There's almost an arrogance here in Southern California, especially for those of us living by the ocean, that we really don't have to worry as much about such niceties as shelter from the weather. After all, the weather here is perfect more often than not. As another transplant put it, "If my car breaks down here, I'm not in danger of dying." So the roads are pretty much slapped down without regard to such basic engineering nicities as grading, which means that any time it sprinkles, water pools up everywhere, even on the highways where the speed limits are higher and the danger of hydroplaning is greater than in any state I've lived.

Rudimentary sewer systems -- everything drains to the ocean -- don't help the situation and the soil that makes up the hills here is sandy and unstable, kind of like packed sandcastles, so it's really easy to make it slide.

But after more than 10 years, I'm used to it. We actually live in one of the safest areas around, considering all the natural hazards. So when the rain comes, we just settle in and listen to the drops falling on the skylight. I also like to cook up warming meals that fill the house with the wonderful scent of cooking food.

This is Rob's very favorite recipe, so I make it for him on special occasions. But, just to keep things fresh, I trot it out randomly from time to time. It's super easy, but the flavor is amazing. This is one of the recipes that I make regularly that uses Reynolds oven bags. After years of trying different methods, -- slow cookers, braising in Dutch ovens -- I've found the bags offer the easiest way to make some really wonderful meals. All the food goes inside, so there's very little mess, the food cooks evenly and the flavors develop very well in the steam-filled environment. It's close to a traditional Swiss steak, but with a few differences. I know some people would look down their noses at the onion soup mix addition, but it really adds a depth of flavor. The low cooking temperature ensures a tender dish.

The thing that really sets this recipe apart is the mashed potatoes. I've worked for years perfecting my mashed potato recipe, and it's pretty close to perfect. The important thing is to take the extra time to make sure all of the ingredients are the same temperature.

Swiss steak and mashed potatoes

1 2- to 3- pound chuck roast or round steak, whatever is cheapest, slightly salted and pounded with a meat tenderizer
1 tablespoon flour
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
1/2 cup red wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 large can Progresso crushed tomatoes in puree
3 bay leaves

Heat oven to 295 degrees. Place flour and soup mix in a large Reynolds oven bag and shake to coat the interior. Place meat in the bag and shake to cover the meat. Add wine, Worcestershire sauce, crushed tomatoes and bay leaves in the bag and massage to mix. Tie the bag and poke the top with a couple of holes to steam. Place the bag on a roasting pan and cook for at least 3 hours or until meat falls apart.

Mashed potatoes

3 pounds peeled Idaho or russet potatoes, cut into large (2-inch) pieces
1 stick butter, softened (Put cold butter in microwave for 15 seconds to soften)
1 1/2 cup milk warmed in microwave for 1 minute
salt
pepper

Cook potatoes in salted boiling water until they are tender when speared with a fork. Drain thoroughly. Return to dry pot and mash together with butter with potato ricer. Add milk until soft and fluffy. Season to taste. Serve hot.
Accident update

For those of you following my recovery from my 2007 accident, I am scheduled for surgery Sept. 21. We're starting with a arthroscopic procedure, and hoping that does the trick, although the knee looks to be in pretty bad shape at this point. But my foot was in a lot better shape than the doctor initially thought, so with any luck ...

Pigs feet and sauerkraut

 

My dad was always a culinary adventurer. He just loved trying anything new and unknown. I've always been fearless when it comes to food, so the two of us would often share some of his more creative offerings. I have to admit, I drew the line at brains and eggs. I found brains to be so repulsive and they set off my gag reflex. I did, however, eat the fried tripe and pigs feet and sauerkraut. I didn't like the pigs feet and sauerkraut at first because it seemed fatty, but dad explained that it was cartilage melting down as it cooks to become gelatinous.

Somehow I got it in my head that pigs feet and sauerkraut was my signature New Years' dish. It's kind of a take on pork ribs and sauerkraut, but the pigs feet really add so much more to the taste. And because I always tended to work on New Years' Eve and New Years, I always brought a bunch of pigs feet and sauerkraut to work with me for lunch, much to the delight (so not) of my fellow workers.

One Year I got so enthusiastic eating it, I got intestinal cramps and had to go home, but every other year I look forward to my annual treat and eat it without any issues. I started tweaking the recipe a little in recent years, before it was just pigs feet and sauerkraut, but now, with the addition of apples, it's so much more.

For years and years I had a tradition of setting out in search of pigs feet. When I lived in Ohio, this was often a long and frustrating search, which took me to the far reaches of the county until I could find them. In California, where pigs feet are more common in grocery stores, they always seemed to disappear right around New Years.

After living here a few years, I realized why; they are used to make menudo, a Mexican stew made with tripe, hominy and often hooves that is known as a folk cure for hangovers. New Years is prime hangover time, so pigs feet are scarce. Then I realized that the Mexican markets would probably have them.

I've fairly recently discovered that our local Mexican markets are a treasure trove of hard-to-find and exotic (to me) items. My hunch was right and now each year finds me in my local market explaining a couple of times that I really DO want pigs feet, of which there are usually piles and, as an added bonus, Mexican markets also have butchers -- usually bunches of them -- right there ready to trim your meat. And despite the fact that communication can sometimes be a bit tricky ("Why did you get that? "I'm not entirely sure.") shopping there is always a treat. Most Anglos tend to look down their noses at the Mexican markets, which is their loss.

Sadly, I can never get anyone to share in my porcine bounty, so despite the fact that my house always smells like cooking sauerkraut at the New Year, my kids have never tried my signature New Years' meal. Oh well, that means more for me, along with glistening hair and shiny nails, although I'm sharing the recipe because if my family has anything to say about it, it will die with me -- such babies.

Pigs feet and sauerkraut

2 large jars or packages of prepared sauerkraut
4 large pigs feet -- have the butcher quarter them for best cooking.
3 large granny smith apples, chopped into large (1/2 inch) squared
1 tablespoon caraway seed
Place everything in a crock pot and let 'er rip. I have found that it does need to be set on either 6 hours or 10 hours to cook properly. The pigs feet are done when they fall away from the bone. Watch out for pigs knuckles.