Beef and Tomato Kebabs

Did the Costco run the other day and picked up some tri tip steaks. Froze some for later and cut some up for kebabs that night. You can marinade the cubed meat in bags or put them on the skewers with the tomato and marinade both the meat and tomatoes together.

1 1/2 pounds tri-tip steak, sirloin, rib-eye, or tenderloin
cherry tomatoes

Marinade:

2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs mustard (preferably Dijon or some other grainy type)
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 Tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the beef into cubes. Mix together the marinade and pour it over the skewers or just the meat cubes, whichever you prefer. Try to marinate for at least 2 hours, turning occasionally.

Barbecue over high heat, turning occasionally, until done, typically 1-2 minutes per side.

Recipe Conversion

Just found a cool site that will convert between the different measuring systems for US and British.

Here's another one.

And another one that includes imperial to metric, including Canadian and Australian, US, and more.

Please share any others you have in the comments and I'll put up a reference page.

Also thought I'd put a small plug in for my e-book, Getting Started with Cheap Cooking. I'm currently donating ALL the sales from it to a local homeless shelter, which serves veterans and their families.

Cookies from Leftover Cereal

We all have it, I'm sure. Little bits of leftover cereal sitting around in boxes, going stale. No one's going to eat it. I tried mixing the various bits of leftovers at one point and the girls looked at me quite strangely when I tried to get them to eat it one morning. And they're normally good eaters...but they're not big cold cereal fans, hence we periodically try something and then it sits.

But today I found a way to use it up. On one of my cooking lists, someone mentioned making Rice Krispie treats and subbing up to 1/4 of the rice krispies with leftover cereal. I added some leftover stale Kix to chocolate chip cookies tonight. A big hit!

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs milk
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups leftover cereal
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream the sugar and butter, then mix in the egg, vanilla, and milk. Add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and mix well, then stir in the cereal and chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfuls and bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Summer Squash Casserole

We went down to the farmer's market this morning. The girls want a dog. (Our local shelter exhibits some of the available ones each Saturday.) I wanted produce. Some gorgeous baby summer squash caught my eye and I bought a mix of yellow crookneck, zucchini, and another lighter green one.

1 pound summer squash
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 egg
1/2 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs

You don't need to peel the squash. Just slice them thinly and then steam or simmer in some water until soft.

Mix together the egg, onion, mayonnaise, cheese, salt and pepper. Add the squash and a few Tbs of butter and mix together. Pour into a small casserole dish, top with the breadcrumbs, and dot the rest of the butter.

Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.

Marinara Sauce Redux

Again with the tomatoes...

This time I started with a recipe from Feed Your Family Fast, Healthy Meals on $10 a Day but roughly tripled it. The colander of tomatoes had been staring at me for a couple of days and more appear daily on the plants! I'll say up front that it came out runny. And very orange. It tastes great but the color is certainly different than store-bought sauces.

The major difference from the previous recipe was more onions and no tomato paste. And the fact that I was cooking three times as much at the same time. Since it's still simmering on the stove as I type, to try to cook down, I think I'll go add one or two cans of tomato paste and let it continue simmering. I only put some dried basil in rather than the mixed Italian herbs.

The other major difference was that after I peeled the tomatoes I just put them whole in the pot rather than chopping them. I noted the other day that I lost a lot of juices by chopping them --but perhaps that's why the earlier recipe wasn't so runny! After they'd cooked I used my little hand blender so it wouldn't be so chunky. I like it chunky but the kids are less appreciative and I was hoping to end up with something I could use on pizzas as well as pasta.

Pasta or Pizza Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes

1 Tbs oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
12-14 Roma tomatoes (about 1.5 pounds) peeled and diced
1 small can (4 oz?) tomato paste
1 Tbs or so Italian herbs
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Bring a pot of water to boil and carefully put the tomatoes in for a few minutes, then drain. This makes the peels just slide right off.

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Add everything else and simmer for 30 minutes. If it looks a bit thicker than you'd like, add a bit of water.

I've made this before with canned diced tomatoes but not yet fresh. I'm just at the simmering point as I write this and have already added a bit of water. I think alot of the juices ran off the cutting board when I was dicing them.

The garden is loaded with Romas right now so if this turns out well, I think I'll make a quadruple or more batch tomorrow and freeze it in pizza-sized portions for this winter.

Postscript: This was too herby...something in the Italian mix was way too strong for my taste. But it did have a nice texture.

Favorite Cookbooks

I had time to actually read some other blogs this morning and found In My Kitchen and a request to post favorite cookbooks. Lots of good ones recommended here.

My own favorites are here, but I'm woefully out of date.

I'd love it if you shared some of your favorites here in the comments.

Black Bean Mole

Another bean dish from this excellent frugal cookbook!

I did NOT soak the beans, just rinsed them and then covered with water and cooked about 2 hours, plus the 30 minutes at the end so don't be put off if it's early afternoon and you decide to try these. I used them as a starter course but they'd make an excellent dinner with some cornbread or tortillas and some simple vegetable. I've had mole sauce on chicken before but never like this. It adds an interesting and delicious flavor to the black beans.

1 pound black beans
3 quarts water
1 celery stalk
1 jalapeno pepper, halved and seeded

2 Tbs oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs cocoa powder
3 Tbs red wine vinegar

sour cream and cilantro as garnish (optional)

Rinse and look through the dried beans. I rarely find anything but still look. Old habits die hard. Cover the beans with the water and add the celery and jalapeno. Simmer for 2 hours or until soft. Remove the onion and jalapeno.

Heat the oil and saute the onion until golden. Sprinkle with the sugar and stir. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Turn off the heat and add the cocoa, chili powders and vinegar. Stir this into the beans and simmer another 30 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped cilantro if you have it. I added some peach salsa as well and it was delicious. Not a favorite for the kids, who prefer the plain pinto beans.

Salmon with Peach-Tomato Salsa

I set out tonight with the memory of the delicious salmon dinner my brother and sister-in-law prepared for us up in Washington state last week. We'd gone to Pike's Market in Seattle and picked up some fresh wild salmon for dinner. My brother created a foil "tray" with a lip slightly larger than the salmon and put the salmon skin side down on it. He then brushed it with a butter and lemon juice mixture, the barbecued it, not even needing to turn it over. The skin sticks to the foil when you lift the fish off, making it easy to serve. My girls just loved it!

So I'm starting with frozen salmon filets, farmed rather than wild. I'm thinking I needed a bit of flavor to make up for this meager beginning and decided to make the mango salsa my mother told me about. I went to the store specifically for mangoes but what they had were not ripe yet. I broke down and bought a jar of sliced mangoes, which a good friend had turned me onto at one point. I picked some fresh tomatoes from the garden and diced them up. Then when I went to open the jar of mangoes the lid didn't "pop" like it should and little air bubbles started to rise, like the contents had been fermenting. I risked a small taste and it had an odd flavor. Dang I hate that! And I didn't want to run back out to the store.

I was about ready to just serve it as plain tomato salsa when I spied the lovely ripe peaches on my counter. Aha! I diced them up and added them to the tomatoes, green onions, and ginger. Oh--heaven! This might even be better than the mango salsa!

3 cups diced fully ripened tomatoes
2 cups diced fresh peaches
1/4 sliced green onions
1 Tbs minced jalapeno pepper, seeds removed (optional)
2 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbs lime juice

Mix together and let sit 30 minutes or so.

Julia Child

Like many, I have fond memories of watching Julia Child cook, on TV and later on a wonderful video set my library has available. She always looked like she was having fun and enjoying herself, even while things slipped from her fingers or gave her trouble in some way. Rather than the cooking shows which seem to make things inaccessible to "mere mortals", Julia made it look fun, made it seem like anyone could do what she was doing with a little effort. I also love it that she didn't start cooking until her late 30's. To be continually discovering new loves and passions, to continually learn and be open to the world--what a legacy she leaves. More so than the actual books, recipes, and videos (which I do love), I admire her joy and explorations, her encouragement, and her passion.

One of the first cooking blogs I found was the The Julie/Julia Project and her post on Julia Child is well worth reading if you haven't found it already.

Paprika Chicken - for 2 or more

Here's an easily adjustable recipe for bone-in chicken pieces. I made it with chicken breasts only as I was only cooking for two but it would be equally good with a cut-up chicken or just your favorite parts. I'm listing my approximate measurements for 2 bone-in breasts and a lot of soupy sauce that tasted delicious on the rice I made at the same time. Adjust accordingly to fit the number of pieces you're cooking.

butter - 3 Tbs
flour - 1/4 cup
paprika - 3 Tbs
salt - 1/2 tsp
milk - 1 cup
sour cream - 3 Tbs roughly

Melt the butter in a deep skillet large enough to hold your chicken.

Salt the chicken pieces. Mix the flour and paprika together, then roll the chicken in it until well coated. Brown the chicken in the butter, turning frequently and moving around in the pan so it's evenly browned, about 10 minutes. If you're doing a lot of chicken you may want to do this in batches so each piece gets nicely browned and is not crowded at this stage.

The original recipe said you could use milk or water. I used milk. Heat it a bit (I use the microwave) and pour it in the pan. You basically want enough liquid to cook the chicken in. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Cover and cook for 30-40 minutes, until cooked through. Watch the heat so you're not boiling the liquid. You want a slow simmer.

Turn the heat off and stir in the sour cream. Serve with rice or noodles and a simple side dish of vegetables. I served it sliced fresh tomatoes, straight from the garden.

Blog Search Engine

Just found Blog Search Engine and submitted this blog.

Kiplog's Foodblog - links

Kiplog's Foodblog - links

Once again just wanted to point out a great collection of food blog links, from The Aardvark Cooks to Yum. Go browse and expand your repetoire!

Tomatoes for Breakfast

I have wonderful red ripe tomatoes waiting for me in the garden each morning. If I don't have any sitting in a bowl on the counter, leftover from the day before, I wander out in the garden after feeding the cats and pick a handful of the ripest ones I can find. Early Girl and a big beefsteak are my best producers.

Today I toasted an English muffin, spread sliced tomatoes on top--squeezing them in to fit as much as possible--then topped each with a slice of Cheddar cheese. I then broiled them for a few minutes until the cheese melted. Perfection for breakfast!

Yesterday, I toasted some sourdough French bread, spread cream cheese on it, and topped with slices of tomatoes. Other days I skip the cream cheese and just spread butter on the bread before topping it with tomatoes. Salt the tomatoes lightly to bring out the flavor.

Some days I scramble an egg or cook it over easy and serve it with toast and sliced tomatoes.

Some days there might be a bit of leftover bacon and I have a BLT sandwich for breakfast.

Tomato, Basil, and Onion Salad or Pasta

I'm not sure why but my basil never took off this year. I have parsley and oregano and rosemary galore, but no basil or cilantro--which I desperately need for my tomatoes! But my tomatoes are doing great and I grew a batch of red onions as well. I pulled some up, let them dry, and braided them. Not sure if the garage will be too warm to store them in though... Anyone out there try to keep onions?

In the meantime, I pull one up, let it dry on the ground a day or two and then brush the dirt off and bring it into the kitchen for dinner. Yesterday, I used one to make this salad. No quantities give because it's all to personal taste really. If you can get some French bread to sop up the juices, it's all the better.

chopped fresh tomatoes
chopped fresh basil
chopped red onion
olive oil
salt

Mix it together and let it sit an hour or so before serving.

If you want to turn it into a pasta dish, add some diced mozzarella or cheddar cheese. Let it sit for an hour, then cook some pasta. Fettuccini works great, but so does just about anything. Drain the pasta and add it to the tomato mixture and toss it together.

Potatoes Romanoff (Do Ahead Mashed Potatoes)

We had company for dinner last night. I like to have as much done ahead of time so that I have time to visit and talk. These potatoes taste great and are easy for entertaining as you can do them earlier in the day and just refrigerate until about 30 minutes before you want to eat. Pop them in a 350 degree oven until they're hot.

Freeze Ahead. You could also freeze this. Line your baking dish with foil first, leaving a few inches of foil hanging over the edges. Put the potatoes in, cover with more foil, and freeze. When solid, remove the foil and wrap the edges up over the top, then slip into a freezer bag and label. Thaw and bake as above.

6 russet potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream (lite works great)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup diced green onions (scallions, or red onions if you like)
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
paprika

Cut the potatoes into thirds and they will cook faster. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and simmer until a fork pokes easily through them. The smaller the pieces, the faster they'll cook. If you're not in a hurry, you can leave them whole. Drain when done.

Whip the potatoes with the milk. Add the sour cream, salt, pepper, onions if you're using them, and 3/4 cup of cheese. Beat together. I use my big standing mixer for this, but if you've got one, use a hand mixer in the same pot as the potatoes cook in and save a dish.

Butter a 9x9 pan or small casserole dish. Spread the mashed potatoes in it, cover with the remaining grated cheese, and sprinkle paprika over the top. Cover and refrigerate if you want. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes (depending on whether the potatoes got cold or not) and serve.

Options: You can also use cottage cheese instead of or in addition to the sour cream for a creamier taste.