The Sprained Ankle and the Kitchen

They don't go together very well. I missed a step coming down the stairs last week and tore a few ligaments so am trying to stay off the foot as much as possible. It's turning lovely colors at the moment and is still quite swollen. Really, the timing could have been better! I had no baking done whatsoever. However, I did get the tree and minimal lights up and someone else was hosting Christmas dinner so my obligations were minimal so I guess it could have been worse as well!

Anyway, more cooking to return soon to the blog. I've been relying on "the kindness of strangers", well really friends... and my children have been in charge of dinner for a few nights. Grilled cheese and lentil soup. Quesadillas and chicken noodle soup. Delivered pizza. I'm detecting a trend: bread and cheese! Thank goodness for the delicious beef stroganoff that a special friend made on Christmas Eve! And my sister took pity on me and sent me home with some leftover turkey this morning. The kids made what few cookies we had this year: sugar cookies and gingerbread boys. Now, after the big family dinner I've got more cookies than we need, of course, so perhaps it's just as well we didn't bake any.

Writing Up Recipes

When I first started this blog, 2 1/2 years ago, I rarely wrote up actual recipes. The entries were more free form typically. I was trying to capture what I'd cooked, not necessarily exactly how I'd cooked it. As time went on, I've tried more to create actual recipes I could repeat and began working on formatting them so they were easier to read.

There are things that some cookbooks do that drive me crazy, personally. One of the ones I like alternates between listing ingredients in bullet point lists (my preferred style) and just bolding them within the recipe like I did here for taco meat pies. I can deal with either but to alternate back and forth drives me crazy!

And some cookbooks list the ingredients in seemingly random order. I can understand putting the main "hunk of meat" up front if you're trying to scan for something to do with a particular cut, but in general I like the ingredients to be listed in the order used. And if an ingredient is used in two different steps, it should be either clearly labeled "divided" or just put in the list twice.

In a blog, I can't easily do side by side listings, but when I write things out by hand I frequently list the ingredients of a step to the left with the instructions to the right, so it might say:

* ingredient 1 * ingredient 2 }
* ingredient 3 > blend together 3 minutes
* ingredient 4 }
* ingredient 5 /

That makes a very easily scannable recipe and takes up less vertical space. I can quickly see the ingredients I need scanning down the left and the equipment and approximate time required by scanning down the right.

Even when ingredients are listed in the order of use, I frequently use a highlighter to highlight the main ingredient and any odd ingredient I might not have around. This makes it very easy to take advantage of grocery sales (by scanning for main ingredients) and make up a grocery list (since the odd "might not have on hand" ingredients jump out at me).

When I was first learning to cook, I was very dependent on clear directions. I would easily get confused about when to cover a dish or not, when to lower the heat, how often to stir. Now, unless I'm learning some new technique or ethnic method, I don't need the fine details, although they don't get in my way either. What seems obvious to an experienced cook can be utter confusion to the new one.

Anyway, I was reflecting on this as I typed up the creamy lentil soup recipe. I'd made changes to the original recipe as I made the soup and could easily change it again the next time I make it. But I now try to record as accurately as possible what I did and make notes about what I might do differently next time.

One thing I find myself drawn to in cookbooks is the stories behind the recipes or the introductory descriptions of how certain recipes came about, when particular dishes are served most often, details of what might seem odd but why it's good, and what substitutions can easily be made. This could be why I like food blogs so much. There's some real person cooking for a real family or real friends (or themselves!) and I like that connection.

Creamy Lentil Soup

This one came via my sister. I used some turkey broth rather than the chicken broth her recipe included. We all love lentil soup and this one was a real winner. The milk and cumin added a bit of different flavor to it. Having the rice in it reminded me of adding oatmeal to the my cream of broccoli soup. As written below, I thought it was perfect. My kids thought it a bit spicy so you may want to cut down the black pepper and just spice it up at the table. The original recipe called for a mix of canned broth and a cup of water. I just used all broth.

1 Tbs oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup dried lentils
1/2 cup rice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
36 ounces broth (turkey, chicken, or vegetable)
8 ounces tomato sauce
2 cups low fat or skim milk

Heat the oil over medium heat and cook the carrots and onion 5-10 minutes, stirring.

Add the lentils, rice, salt, cumin, pepper, broth, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, stir, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes--until the lentils are tender.

Use a hand immersion blender to blend the soup or transfer it half at a time into your food processor or blender and blend a bit. I personally like it to still be a bit chunky so I didn't make it totally smooth.

Stir in the milk and heat over low until warmed through.

Fried Rice with Pork, Carrots, Celery, and Onion

The pork chops last night were great--but we still had about 3/4 of one left over. Tonight I used it to make up some fried rice. I had leftover rice from dinner last night. Fried rice comes out a bit better if the rice you use is leftover and dried out a bit, but if you're stuck just cook up the rice first thing.

3 cups cooked rice
4 Tbs oil (divided)
1/2 an onion, sliced in big slices
4 ounces (?) diced leftover meat, raw or cooked
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
2 stalks carrot, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs, beaten
3 green onions, sliced

Heat 1 Tbs of the oil in a large skillet (or wok) on medium high heat. Add the onion and cook a minute or so, stirring frequently. You want it soft and just beginning to brown.

If the meat is raw, add it and cook a minute or so until done.

Add the vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp tender, a minute or two.

If the meat is cooked, add and heat through, another minute, stirring.

Add the garlic and stir a minute or less and then remove the meat and vegetables from the pan and put them in a bowl to keep while you cook the rice.

Heat the other 3 Tbs of oil in the pan until hot, then add the rice and stir 2-3 minutes. Add the beaten egg in and stir, cooking until done, another minute or so. Add the meat and vegetables and stir to heat through.

My kids like to add extra soy sauce at the table.

This works well with a variety of meat and vegetables. If you suspect you're going to end up with some leftover meat from something one night that would work well, just cook up the rice that night so you can make it with leftover rice. It goes together quickly once you've got things sliced or chopped so it's a great weeknight dinner.

Brined and Fried Pork Chops

I know pork chops are leaner than they used to be and hence older recipes will turn out dried hockey pucks if you're not careful. I have a few good recipes that consistently turn out moist chops. But I've been reading about brining and have brined pork tenderloin with good results before and thought to try it with pork chops last night. I just brined them for an hour in:

1 quart water
4 Tbs kosher (coarse) salt
2 Tbs sugar
5 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp celery seed
juice of one orange plus the rinds

I mixed this all up in my big 2 quart Pyrex bowl and then dropped the chops in and refrigerated for an hour.

Afterwards, I dredged them in seasoned flour (salt and pepper) and fried them in shortening. These were thick bone-in chops. I cooked them about 5 minutes on one side, then 5 minutes on the other side so they were browned well. I covered the pan and cooked another 5 minutes. You'd need to vary this of course with thinner chops. These were about 3/4" thick.

They were quite tasty! I think next time though I'll brine them and cook them my normal method, sauteeing them in the pan with less fat and then doing a sauce with some wine and mustard and capers.

I've just received a cookbook to review and have to say I love the concept! The Warehouse Gourmet is out to help you shop the "big box" stores in an economical fashion. None of that overly processed pre-packaged stuff in here. Instead, the book is full of great-sounding recipes for "6 pounds of ground beef" or "3 flank steaks" and other common big package meat items. I've already tried one beef marinade that turned out great. Next time I get a chance to get out to Costco, I'm going to try a few more recipes. But I've gotten pretty good at "reading" recipes and predicting the results and these ones sound good!

You can buy the book off their website. It's a nice looking, sturdy, spiral bound, well done book. I love cookbooks that stay open!

Oh, they've got a food blog too.

Turkey Soup

On Thanksgiving, I threw the turkey carcass into the freezer, not wanting to deal with that then. Over the weekend I pulled it out and made some lovely broth! Then the other day, I used some to make some very simple vegetable soup.

2 Tbs oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pound of green beans, trimmed and sliced
6 cups turkey broth
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
2 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat and saute the carrots, celery, garlic, onion, and green beans about 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. When the onions are translucent, add the rest of the ingredients and bring to simmer. Cook for 30-40 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

I was looking for a light soup. If you wanted a heartier one, add a cup or two (or a can) of cooked beans, or 1/2 cup rice or barley, or a cut up potato or two. You could also add some chard or spinach (or other greens), which I would have done had I had some around. Slice the greens thinly and add with the broth. A red pepper would have been nice too, both for color and flavor.