Berry Smoothie

As many folks have posted lately, it’s hard to beat a smoothie on a hot summer day and I even had one for breakfast recently.



I had to have a medical test conducted the other day and I think this is must be the medical professions idea of mind games or a cruel joke – note the name and picture on the bottle. Perhaps they think that calling it a Berry Smoothie and adding a picture of beautiful berries will so condition my brain as to make it drinkable and it may have worked for the first swig or two. However, by the last drink, it was all I could do to get it down – then there was bottle number two an hour later. I’m gonna go way out on a limb here and say I think the smoothies Bev makes are a little better. :-)

Needless to say, after nothing but those two fine smoothies for breakfast, I was a little hungry after my test, so Bev, who was already in town, and a friend, who was with her, decided we should go to Cheddars Casual Cafe - one of their new favorite places, and my first time. We arrived around 11:30 and got right in but there was soon a line and according to our friend, it's always packed. We ordered an onion ring appetizer and it was huge, then Bev and I split a salad and an appetizer - also huge. After splitting a meal, we left stuffed and still brought home a box of food. I can see why it's so popular - the food is reasonably good, the portions are huge and the prices are surprizingly low ($5 for a half pound cheeseburger)- I guess they've decided to make less per meal and make their money on high volumes. I won't sit around with baited breath until I my next visit, but I'd definitely go back - especially if I was really hungry.

Have a great day and thanks for coming by.

Larry

Manicotti Ala Steph

For years, I’ve been wanting to make crepes, but for some reason have been hesitant to try – perhaps because it’s French and therefore must be difficult. After seeing them made several times on TV and being further inspired by Steph over at Plain Chicken, I decided to try her manicotti method. I made the crepe’s using her recipe and the manicotti using her recipe with the addition of some homemade Italian sausage that I discovered in the freezer.

For the crepes. I used an 8” non stick skillet and brushed on a little olive oil for each crepe. I found the key was to get the batter whirled around in the pan quickly, then cooked as Steph described. They were incredibly easy to make and I’ll now look forward to more crepe dishes. I made them up early in the afternoon and kept them covered so they wouldn’t dry out. I got 8 from the recipe using a pretty full ¼ cup dry measure cup.

For the stuffing, I had 1 ¼ lb of the sausage and browned it all in a skillet and drained it on a paper towel. I used about ¾ lb of it in the stuffing.

Steph’s recipe called for a jar of your favorite sauce, but remember that tomato sauce I made yesterday, I turned it into my homemade pasta sauce by the following recipe. I basically used the spice package and substituted the pre-made sauce in place of the tomatoes and paste. I also omitted the sausage since I was adding it to the stuffing.

1/3 cup Extra virgin olive oil
1 med Onion, chopped
3 med Garlic, cloves, pressed
1 stalk Celery, diced
1 ea Carrot, diced
2 qts Diced tomatoes, separated
½ cup Tomato paste
4 tsp Italian herbs (Pensey’s)
2 ea Bay leaves
To taste Salt and pepper
4 tbsp Butter (if needed to smooth out sauce – I don’t use)
1 lb Italian sausage, cut into bite sized pieces

· In a large pan, heat olive oil and saute the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot until all are soft (about 10 minutes)
· Add 1 quart of tomatoes and bring to a boil.
· Remove from heat and puree in food processor or use emersion blender. Return to pan.
· Add remaining tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, and meat.
· Simmer for 2 hours.
· If too acidic for your taste, stir in butter (can also add a little sugar).

After cooking, I used the trusty immersion blender to puree the veggies. I was watching “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” the other night and this lady was making mole sauce and after cooking everything, she pulled out an immersion blender that was about the size of a trolling motor – it made short work of the job. She was making 15 gallons and Guy suggested she just mount a small outboard motor to the side of her pot.

Knowing the sausage increased the volume of the stuffing, I couldn’t use the recipe amount, so I measured out eight equal piles of the stuffing before starting and ended up with about 3/8 cup each.



After I got the big casserole dish all ready with sauce, Bev came in and said why don’t we use these and I agreed it would make them sexier to have individual servings.




I decided it would be easier to put them in a larger pan and cover with foil rather than try and cover each one - we only had three of the larger dishes.


Add a little fresh Parmigiano Reggiano and it’s ready to eat, along with a little Caesar salad.



It was delicious and thanks Steph for the recipe, the crepe idea and the motivation. Didn't think about this until later, but with home made crepe, sausage, and sauce, I’d have to go into the cheese making business for it to be more of a homemade dish. Next time, I might add a little fresh basil to the stuffing.

Have a great day, stay cool, and remember to vote, if you live in Tennessee. Thanks for stopping by.

Larry

Sweet Corn And Tomato Sauce

I was sitting outside under the shade tree (which is about gone now) shucking corn for dinner and into my mind popped a few bits of useless trivia about corn just in case you wanted to know:

· Corn (maize) is a grass that was domesticated in Central America.
· Every kernel has it’s own silk which must be pollinated for it to develop – so next time you get an ear with a little patch of undeveloped kernels you’ll know the reason.
· The sugars in corn begin turning to tasteless starch the moment it is picked which is why the old timers got the water boiling before picking the corn. Modern super sweet and sugar enhanced varieties slow this process down such that it is still pretty good for a few days after picking.
· If you live in an area where corn earworms live, and buy from a local farmer who’s selling pesticide free corn, and it is also worm free, ask him how he accomplished this miracle. If you see a small hole near the silk end of the husk, that’s how the worm got out not in.
· Corn is the number one grain crop, by weight, grown in the world (I would have guessed rice), and the USA grows nearly half of it.
· A high percentage of it is used for something beside human food – such as animal feed, chemicals, plastics, fuel, etc.
· Corn as it now exist has been developed by man and can unlikely exist without mans help – needs lots of water and fertilizer and the seeds will fall in big masses and choke each other out.

We had some tomatoes that needed to be worked up, but not enough for a 7 quart canner run, so earlier in the day, I decided to make them into sauce. I started with 10+ quarts of cut up tomatoes and cooked them until soft. I then juiced them using my standard process and probably had about 5 quarts of juice. I put the juice back in the pot, simmered about 4 hours and ended up with a little over a quart of thick rich sauce – I feel a pasta dish coming on.



Oh and what happened to the corn I shucked – just a rerun of a frequent summertime meal around here.


I'm heading out to do some tree cutting, so have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Larry

The Bradford Pear Saga Continues

Remember my story about the broken bradford pear, and now for the rest of the story. Bev and I got up at 5:00am this morning so she could take her sister to an early morning appointment and I made my coffee and went to get the paper - it was warm and calm outside. While I was sitting here reading blogs, I heard an unusual noise, but Bev thought is was a vehicle going by, so I didn't think much about it. Later when I took the dogs out, this is what I found. I guess this answers the question about whether the tree will survive.


I still hadn’t finished cutting up the larger pieces from the last time and had moved my trailer over with the intent on loading the logs into it as I cut them up. As you can see, I didn’t move it far enough – I think it may be a falling branch magnet.


I believe there is now less than half a tree left and I sure hope it will stay up until it gets cooler. Bev is already thinking about a replacement.


There is probably about 3 times as much as fell the first time.


I sure look forward to dealing with the tree in this weather, it's supposed to be 98* tomorrow – I’d like to just wait until fall, but it’s semi blocking the garages again and I want to move it before the leaves fall off, or I’ll have to deal with them too. All I can say at this point is %#*@$*?#.

Hope you had a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Larry

Won’t Need Any Lunch Today

To my pleasant surprise, after I went to bed, Bev boiled up a pan of red potatoes to have on hand (is she great or what). When she got up, I told her I’d planned to just have cereal for breakfast, but she advised about the special meal she’d planned and I reluctantly agreed - yeah right.



This was the leftover steak from the salad meal.

It’s now August and typically the month when we have temps in the 90’s, but Sunday’s paper said we’d already hit 90* forty times this summer. I don’t claim to know if it’s caused by man or nature or both, but I’m a definite believer in global warming and I’m afraid my little hybrid car's good gas mileage and better driving habits aren't helping much.

Have a great day and stay cool.

Larry

Steak And Avocado Taco Salad

We’re still working on cleaning out the freezer and while digging around the other day, I found a flat iron steak and a whole chuck eye. In talking with Bev, I wasn’t surprised when she said she’d like them atop a salad. Back on Mar 25, I’d posted a Chimichurri Marinade that we really liked so we decided to use it again. The flat iron was about right for one person and the chuck eye was enough for two – so I sliced it into 4 nice steaks. After I learned Bev’s sis wouldn’t be joining us, I put two of the chucks back in the fridge and the little light bulb lit up in my mind – it’s time for a steak taste test.


I made up the marinade and soaked the steaks about 5 hours in a plastic bag – massaged and turned a couple of times. Here’s Bobby Flay’s recipe:

Chimichurri Marinade:

· 6 cloves garlic
· 3 fresh bay leaves
· 2 jalapeno peppers, coarsely chopped
· 1 tablespoon kosher salt
· 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
· 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
· 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
· 1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
· 1/4 cup finely chopped oregano leaves
· 3/4 cup olive oil

· Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.

It says finely chopped herbs because the food processor does little to chop them smaller.

Bev is a big fan of her food processor and I’m not, except for big jobs, mostly because I don’t like to wash it. And for the same reason, I love the mini food processor that we got with our immersion blender – which I also really love. If you don’t have these two devices, you should consider running out today to get them. Think making soup when the recipe says “after cooking run thru your blender in batches after it’s cooled a little,” or just use the immersion blender right now in the cooking pan – you’ll have it pureed before you can drag your blender out.


I put the thicker chuck eyes on several minutes ahead of the flat iron.


The chucks now over low heat and the flat iron on high.


The meat is finished and ready for the taste test.


For the salad, we decided to go with the Avocado Taco Salad posted by Pam over at For The Love Of Cooking – I’d had it book marked and we had avocados we needed to eat plus everything else on hand – I love it when a plan comes together. We just followed the recipe except used a plate rather than the tortilla (I may have to get me one of those molds), and our own paste tomatoes. Also, we used the Pecorino Romano cheese we had on had. Here’s her ingredients list but check out her site for the complete recipe and some great pics:

· Flour tortilla, baked into a bowl
· Flank steak, marinated for at least 6 hours (see marinade here)
· Lettuce, chopped
· Black beans, rinsed, drained and warmed
· 1/2 avocado, diced
· Cherry tomatoes, diced
· Black olives, sliced
· Red onion, diced
· Fresh cilantro, chopped (omitted and put in the dressing)
· Green onions, diced
· Cotija cheese, grated
· Salsa
· Sour cream

I decided to use a vinaigrette with the steak rather than salsa and sour cream and when I did a web search on southwestern vinaigrette, the second one up was from, of all people, Pam. I thought it would go fine with the steak marinade so I used it:

Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

½ cup of chopped cilantro
¼ cup canola oil
1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar OR red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp oregano

Here’s the finished salad


And the finished dish. We considered some garlic-cheese Naan bread but decided this salad would be more than enough.


We both thought each part (salad, dressing, meat) of the meal was delicious and they were delicious together. Bev said I’ll have to use this dressing more often and I think this is a must-try steak marinade. We ended up eating only one chuck eye and about ¾ of the flat iron – fortunately breakfast is just around the corner.

As for the taste test, Bev preferred the chuck eye and so did I, at first. They both come from the beef chuck area but are very different. The chuck eye has the texture and fat content typical of chuck, but the flat iron is more like flank steak. As I ate my salad, I decided I liked them both, but if I had to choose one it would be the flat iron.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Larry

Leftover Grilled Ratatouille

Those of you that are regular readers of this blog will likely be highly surprised by this post, so....




Sided with toasted ciabatta garlic bread. Sorry about the blurry first photo.

I saw my shadow today so hopefully only 6 more weeks of bad weather - I'm ready for snow.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Larry