Best Yet Collard Greens

I've been playing more with greens lately. A few weeks ago I tried an updated version of greens cooked in chicken broth, which was quite good. Last night Iwent for the older style of cooking with some form of ham, from Mama Dip's Kitchen. I've really liked a lot of the recipes in here. I can't see that there is really that much fat in this method frankly, and probably less salt than all that bouillon.

The original recipe called for chopped ham. I had some salt pork in the freezer, so I used that, cutting a piece into some big chunks. The original recipe called for 3 pounds of collard greens to serve 6-8 people; I used a 1 pound bag for the 3 of us and had some left over.

2 Tbs oil
1 chunk of salt pork, maybe 2" long
1 quart hot water
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1-3 pounds collard greens

Heat the oil and cook the salt pork for 10 minutes or so, until a bit crispy. The original recipe called for 1 cup of chopped ham so you could use that as well. Add the hot water and bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes to make a quick broth. Add the salt, sugar, and collard greens, bring back to a boil, then lower to a simmer, stirring now and then. Cook at a slow simmer for
about 45 minutes. Add the ham back in if you want. I fed the salt pork to the dog, who thought she'd hit the jackpot.

Broccoli and Tofu in Spicy (or Not) Peanut Sauce: A Nearly 30 Minute Meal

A currently inactive blogger posted this recipe back in March I think. Her blog's not a food blog or I'd link to it, but since she's not posting anymore I'm not sure what she'd like. If I hear from her, I'm happy to add a link back.

I modified her recipe somewhat so will try to give you both versions. I'll post what I did, then post how her original varied from this and why I made the changes. My kids ate this "sauce-less" although I think they were missing the best part. Still, they ate it. With the sauce, it was fantastically delicious! It goes great over steamed rice, so start that going first and the timing (25 minutes) will be about perfect with the prep work and all.

Peanut Sauce (make this first)

3/4 cup peanut butter (I used chunky)
3/4 hot water
6 Tbs rice vinegar
3 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs molasses

Everything else:

1 lb firm tofu, cut in 1" cubes
1 Tbs or less oil (more later)
1 lb broccoli, cut in pieces, trimmed, stems sliced on the diagonal
2 Tbs oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 Tbs minced ginger
2 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt (or less)
2 green onions, sliced

Prepare everything so it's ready to go. Start the rice first. Then do all your chopping and mincing up first. Make the peanut sauce and set it aside.

Heat 1 Tbs oil in a large deep skillet (or wok I guess) over medium high heat. Stir fry the tofu until lightly browned. Remove to a bowl.

Heat the other 2 Tbs oil. Add the onion and stir-fry a few minutes.

Add the broccoli, ginger, garlic, and salt. Stir fry 5 minutes or so, until the broccoli is crisp-tender and bright green. Stir in the tofu and cook another minute. Pour the peanut sauce over it and heat through, just another minute or two. Serve over rice, topped with sliced green onions.

The variations:

The original recipe called for simmering the tofu for 10 minutes. I thought it would be better fried a bit until lightly browned, like I do when I make tofu curry.

For the sauce: the original recipe called for using cider vinegar or rice vinegar. Also, honey or molasses. I love molasses and I think they add a richer flavor. It also called for adding cayenne pepper to taste, which I left out because of my kids. Given that they ate it sauce-less I wish I'd added it!

The original recipe called for serving chopped toasted peanuts on top, along with sliced green onions. I used chunky peanut butter so skipped the peanuts on top.

This was really flavorful, very quick and easy to throw together.

Yet Another Chicken Soup

I made chicken broth the other night. I always keep a bag of chicken bones and parts in the freezer and it tends to get full just about the time I run out of chicken broth. I cannot remember the last time I bought a can or box of chicken broth. I freeze my homemade broth, some in 1 cup portions and some in 4 cup portions for soup. Out of a gallon bag of chicken parts and broth to cover, plus the quart bag of onion ends, carrot ends, and celery tops and ends that I also keep in the freezer I made 4 1 cup portions of broth, 2 1-quart portions to freeze and 1 quart to make soup from.

I started with my mom's Middle Eastern Chicken Soup. But I used green and yellow zucchini from the garden instead of peas, and parsley instead of dill since my dill had up and died. ;( It was as good as ever. I served the soup with potato pancakes and applesauce. It was a great simple dinner for midweek. So the soup was basically:

4 cups chicken broth
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup raw rice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1-2 cups diced cooked chicken ( I just used what I picked off the bones after making the broth)
1 green zucchini
1 yellow crookneck squash
1 large tomato, chopped
the juice of one small lemon
3 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Bring the broth to a simmer. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and simmer 10 minutes.

Add the rice, cumin, cayenne pepper, and simmer 10 minutes.

Add the cooked chicken, squash, tomato, lemon juice, and seasonings and simmer another 10 minutes or so.

This has just a bit of a kick to it, from the cayenne. If your family isn't fond of spicy dishes, leave the cayenne out or lessen. My youngest just loved this, saying it was spicy but good. My eldest thought it was a tad too spicy, but after finishing up the original small bowl she filled up on potato pancakes so they were both happy with dinner. One spicy thing; one bland thing (the potato pancakes). And I've got a good lunch for tomorrow, which is a good thing as the morning is filled with phone calls and a fiddle lesson!

Heavenly Zucchini Bread

I somehow managed NOT to overplant the zucchini this year so am just now getting around to making zucchini bread. I had a zucchini bread recipe I liked well enough but just felt like experimenting a bit this afternoon. The primary differences is that this has more than double the sugar, so it's much more like a dessert. Less baking soda and less cinnamon. Oh, and this one says to beat the eggs well before adding anything else. It came out fantastically light and delicious. I got it from one of those "community" cookbooks, the old fashioned blog-sharing I guess! Real people cooking real recipes! I always leave the nuts out because my girls don't like them, but add 1 cup of chopped nuts if you'd like. I think the next time I'll try my "less sugar" recipe but beat the eggs well first, which I've not done before.

3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
1 Tbs vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon

Beat the eggs well, then add the oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla and blend. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Pour into two greased loaf pans and bake 1 hour at 325 F.

Strange Sandwiches

I love reading old cookbooks. Today I was glancing through one from 1948 called 'The Economy Cook book" compiled by the staff from a magazine called The Journal of Living. There are some standard recipes in there, a few old fashioned ones I might want to try, and then there's the sections on sandwiches. Some of their tips are interesting, like using flavored butters to make sandwiches more interesting: lemon butter, parsley butter, pimento butter. The money saving tips are along the lines of "don't make more sandwiches than you can eat."

Some of the sandwich filling ideas are new to me. Here's a sampling:

Bacon-celery: chopped bacon, chopped celery, and mayonnaise.
Baked beans and raisins: baked beans, raisins, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, minced green pepper, minced onion, and mayonnaise. Hmmm....
Minced carrot spread: carrots, green peppers, celery, nuts, mayonnaise
Fruit spread: mashed cooked prunes, nuts, and cheddar or cottage cheese
Ham and peanut butter: ground ham, peanut butter, Worcestershire sauce, salad dressing, and mustard

About the only sandwich spreads in this section I've eaten were the deviled egg and a peanut butter-raisin combo. So I'm wondering: Were these popular back then and have just dropped from favor? I've seen baked bean soup before, but never a baked bean sandwich. And we like baked beans. That one I'm tempted to try.

What's the most unusual sandwich combo that's popular in your home? Or that you remember from your childhood? Peanut butter and potato chips were another one I remember liking, as well as peanut butter and banana slices.

Corn, Bacon, and Potato Chowder

A friend was over for dinner the other night. My eldest had requested grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner--a classic combo! My friend mentioned that he's taken to adding a small can of corn to tomato soup and it sounded really good. But it got me thinking about corn chowder over the next few days. I bought a bag of frozen corn the next time I was in the grocery store. In my head, the chowder had potatoes, bacon, corn, and milk. I found recipe with potatoes and no corn, corn and no potatoes, corn and chilies. I finally found one in Pioneer Lady's Hearty Winter Cookbook:, The: A Treasury of Old-Fashioned Foods and Fond Memories that used creamed corn but I figured having a nice white sauce as a base would be good enough. It also called for celery, which I think would have been a nice addition but I didn't have any.

1/2 pound of bacon
1 small onion, diced
3 Tbs flour
1 quart milk
1/2 pound frozen corn
4 or 5 potatoes (about a pound), peeled, cubed, and simmered until tender
salt and pepper to taste
a few sprigs of parsley
paprika for garnish if you like

Cook the bacon in a large pot or do what I did: Bake the whole pound laid out in strips in a jelly roll pan at 450 for 15-20 minutes. Lift the bacon out on to paper towels to drain. Either add or leave 3 Tbs of bacon grease in the large pot. (Pour the rest into a clean can and store covered in your refrigerator. I use it for fried potatoes, corn bread, and a few other things. Not exactly heart healthy but oh so good!)

Cook the onion in the bacon grease 5 minutes or so, until softened. Add the celery if you want some and cook a few more minutes. Sprinkle the flour in and stir. Cook over medium-low heat 2-3 minutes, stirring almost constantly. I find it's easiest if I heat the milk in the microwave during this time. Stir in the milk slowly, using a whisk or a nice flat wooden spoon. Turn the heat up to medium and bring to a boil, stirring almost constantly. Turn the heat down but make sure it's still simmering and cook a minute to thicken the base of your soup.

Add the corn, potatoes, bacon, salt and pepper. Heat through. Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley, then sprinkle with paprika if you like it like we do.

The soup got mixed reviews. 2 of us thought it was really good. 1 of us thought it was bland. She liked it better when she added more salt and pepper. I think the celery would be a nice touch and add some good flavor, but other than that

Soup with Ground Beef, Chard, and Rice

Another old favorite... Chard grows easily around here. In fact, I've been harvesting chard off the same three plants for a while and probably need to plant some more now to take me through the fall.

1 onion, diced
1 pound (or less) ground beef
3 stalks celery, sliced
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 bunch Swiss chard or spinach, trimmed and chopped
1 28 ounce tomato puree
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup sherry
2 cups water
1/3 cup raw white rice
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp seasoned salt

Cook the ground beef and onion over medium heat in a stock pot or Dutch oven, stirring often, until the beef is cooked through and the onion is soft. Drain off the fat.

Add the celery and carrots and cook a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the rice is done.

Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, and Honey

I recently bought a new kitchen table and hutch /buffet thing. This meant I had to do something with the two small bookshelves filled with cookbooks that used to live in my kitchen eating area. For now, I've moved them into the family room, adjacent to the kitchen. I'm not sure they'll stay there, but we shall see. But since I moved all my cookbooks I rediscovered some old ones I've sort of forgotten about. It's almost like buying new cookbooks! I tend to get into ruts, as I'm sure most cooks do. I have my favorites, of course. But luckily I got over my "never write in books" rule years ago. So as I'm looking through my old cookbooks, I'm rediscovering old favorites, including this chicken recipe.

1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup white wine or chicken broth
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup oil - divided
2 Tbs lemon juice
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup honey

Combine the garlic, wine, Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbs of the oil, and lemon juice and marinate the chicken for at least 15 minutes, preferably a bit longer and up to 1 day.

Heat the remaining oil or a mixture of oil and butter in a large skillet. Mix together the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow pie pan or something similar. Take the chicken from the marinade (but save the marinade!) and dredge it in the flour mix. Saute the chicken in the oil/butter mix until browned on all sides, about 8-10 minutes.

Mix the honey in with the marinade. Pour this over the chicken, cover, and simmer 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is done.

Zucchini and Sour Cream

I'm growing zucchini this year and struggling to find some recipes we like other than zucchini bread. This was one was a hit with me and one child. The other didn't care for it. You win some; you lose some. I used sour cream tonight because I had it, but I would have readily substituted yogurt if I didn't, since I've been making my own each week.

1 Tbs butter
1 1/2 cups chopped zucchini
1/2 cup diced onion
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup sour cream

Melt the butter over medium heat, then add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. I used some frozen diced onion since I didn't feel like I needed a whole onion. My kids aren't crazy about onions. For myself, I could easily have doubled the onion.

Add the diced zucchini and cook, covered, for another 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down to low, salt and pepper to taste, then add the sour cream. Stir the sour cream in and keep warm until serving.

Greens with a Little Flavor

I know the southern style of cooking greens involves a ham hock and tastes great. But what about when you don't have a ham hock lying around (although I often do) and you still want something to do with your greens other than just steam them? Cook them in some chicken broth or chicken bouillon, as suggested in Cheap. Fast. Good! I tried these out last night on my niece, who loves greens, and the recipe won rave reviews.

1 -2 pounds mixed greens
1 quart water
5 chicken bouillon cubes
lemon juice or vinegar at the table

Heat the water and bouillon cubes until boiling. Add the greens and cook, covered, at a low boil for 15 minutes or so. Drain, chop if necessary into bite-sized pieces, and serve. I grew up with lemons on the table for greens but have lately taken to using cider vinegar instead sometimes. Cheap. Fast. Good! says you can top these with bacon bits if you miss the pork flavor on your greens.

Melissa's Vegetable Soup

I bought a cabbage the other day and was thinking I'd make cabbage rolls or some-such thing. But I used half of it up tonight in my vegetable soup. The weather has turned cool and I got the yen for soup. Plus, we were all getting our hair cut tonight. I have found the nicest young woman who comes to our house and cuts our hair! It's fantastic. She does a super job, the girls love her, and it's very convenient for me. I cooked up the vegetable soup while she was cutting their hair and baked some bacon for BLTs, then I ate while they were getting their haircuts. The girls ate while she cut mine. Works for me!

I do love this about fall, having the soup pot going. I just keep adding to each night with whatever leftovers we have from something else. Each night we start with a small cup of soup. It's so chock-full of vegetables, I know the girls are getting a good 2 servings of them and it's happily eaten. Plus, I always have a good lunch on hand because that and a piece of toast will do me.

I don't use recipes any more for soup like this, but I remember that when I first started out cooking, I needed recipes everything. Now, I wing it totally. But I named this after our new favorite hair stylist! Here's about what I did:

1 Tbs oil
1 onion, diced
2 green onions, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 green pepper, diced (I used some from my freezer bag)
1/2 cabbage, sliced
a bit of chard from the garden, sliced
1 yellow crookneck squash from the garden, sliced
4 tomatoes from the garden, chopped
1 sprig of basil from the garden, chopped
1 sprig of parsley from the garden, chopped
6 cups turkey broth ('cause that's what was left in the freezer, otherwise use chicken or vegetable or plain water)
1 12 ounce can V8 juice
1 envelope onion soup mix because the broth tasted a bit bland
salt and pepper to taste

I like to saute the vegetables in a bit of olive oil first, then add the broth and other liquids, then simmer for 45 minutes or so. I taste and add whatever seasonings I feel like and simmer a few more minutes.

Youngest didn't want BLTs and I had some leftover meatballs and sauce in the frig so after her first bowl, I added the meatballs and sauce. She liked the meatballs but said the soup tasted better before I added the sauce. Whoops! I still thought it tasted good. I have some leftover spaghetti too so may chop that up a bit and add it tomorrow.

I think that may have been the last of my poultry broth in the freezer. Time to make more! Much as I hate to see the end of my tomatoes and such, I do look forward to cooking again! Seems like my summer meals become salads and barbecued meat.

Baked Tomatoes

I love fresh tomatoes. I do. But I do also like some variety now and then... The other night I tried a baked tomato recipe. The only hassle was having to skin the tomatoes, which I did by plunging them in boiling water for a minute or two, which loosens the skins up wonderfully. But I wonder if it's even necessary. You don't really need a recipe for this, or rather you don't need measured ingredients.

skinned tomatoes, cut in half
salt and pepper to taste
mayonnaise
chopped green onions, optional
grated Cheddar cheese

Place the halved skinned tomatoes in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Spread a dab of mayonnaise on top of each, then sprinkle with chopped green onions if you're using them. Top with grated Cheddar cheese.

Bake at 325 for 20 minute.

I liked them, but like just raw sliced tomatoes better. The girls were "eh" about them.