7 Quick Takes

--1--

Who else is reading The Hobbit aloud to their families this month?  I can't be the only one! 

Coming to theaters December 14, 2012

--2--

Because I am neither a Conservative or a Liberal, but tend to desire aspects of both in order to avoid the evils of each, I have lost several on-line friends over the past few weeks. To those of you who are still around, thank you for not making complete agreement on everything a prerequisite to friendship. Some things are going to need discussion and discomfort to hash out. As all the election shouting dies down, I'll be trying to keep in mind that we live in the real world where nobody sees eye to eye on all things, even the important ones.

--3--

For a quick diversion, I want to share with you one of my favorite pieces of movie music. I'm too picky to enjoy this particular movie in its entirety--I would rent this simply to fast forward to these Kraken attack scenes. I love the panic driven horns!

--4--

Here's another much beloved music piece. I spent several days hunting this one down, thinking that the Italian was Spanish and thereby spelling it wrong in the search engine. I sing to life, too. Love it!

--5--

Today we are having homemade Egg Drop Soup for dinner. I'm not sharing the recipe yet for two reason: we aren't done tweaking it and it requires canned chicken foot broth which most of you will not have on hand. It's not a pretty sight, that ingredient. In fact, having the jars out on the counter cooling after being in the pressure canner may qualify as leaving up the Halloween decorations (if we'd ever decorated for it).

 Raise your hand for chicken feet!

Me! Me! Me!

--6--

So now that you know we eat weird, maybe you are up for another weird fact about the Martins. We don't respect privacy. I thought you should know this just in case you ever come over and try to use our bathroom. Right now there are seven of us and one of them, so my son has dubbed us The Barging Martins. We have no manners. Fair warning.

"Honey? Are you busy? I want to show you this new dance step I learned!"

--7--

It's finally safe to say that I made it all the way through the week on the blogroll over at Standing on my Head. No one came over here and demanded my removal. Next to the likes of Jennifer Fulwiler and Simcha Fischer I'm feeling my inner Guy Fleegman, I'm jazzed to be on the show, but...

"I'm just Crewman #6! I'm expendable. I'm the guy in the blogroll
who dies to prove how serious the New Evangelization is. "

7 Quick Takes Friday

http://www.conversiondiary.com/2010/10/7-quick-takes-friday-vol-101.html

We've got one dog, one cat, five chickens, three goats, and five kids ages 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2. We're a loud bunch. Here's a random take on some of the things cooked up at my house:



1

One of my personal food quirks is that I don't care for spaghetti. Everyone else on the planet seems to love it. I don't hate it or anything, I'd just rather have pretty much anything else. The odd thing about this is, I can make a wicked good sauce by all accounts.

2

One of the many dishes I can't seem to master is fried rice. I'm a pretty decent cook, but for some reason I just can't get beyond a "meh" response to my fried rice.









3

Here's what I've learned to take the fight out of meals. Present a few options at dinner: main course, two veggies, a starch and then let them pick and choose. If they don't like this, they've got that on their plate to eat. No battles, no stress. Our table rules are simple: Be polite (saying, "Yuk!" is not polite) and although you don't have to eat anything you don't like, there's no dessert if you don't at least take a taste of everything.


Parents worry a lot about what their kids will and won't eat. Over the course of a few days if you keep presenting the four food groups in various ways, they'll balance their choices. If you don't believe me, get a blood panel done--I've got an autistic son who I check periodically, so yes, I'm speaking from bitter experience.

4

Speaking of "Yuk!" why do some people not believe that some other people can actually not like a food? I knew this little old lady who was almost offended by my casually mentioning that I don't care for beets. She seemed to think that if I just tried hard enough I could overcome my little problem. It got so that every time I had to eat socially with her she had made a brand new beet dish just for me. We had many discussions about beets. I tried to explain to her that my dislike of beets is not voluntary, neither was it stubbornness. They simply taste like bitter, slimy dirt to me, and I am a little sorry for that, yes. Truly. Although I was flattered that she actually thought so much about me when I wasn't around, I wondered at her persistence. It got to the point that my mouth would start to water at the sight of her and not in a good way.

5

 Some days I love to cook and spend the whole day at it. I dirty nearly every dish and pan and make a symphony of my kitchen tools. Other days I begrudge the knife and spoon it takes to slather on the peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches.

6

Speaking of kitchen messes two of my daughters (ages 4 and 3) decided to help me with the dishes. Two hours later they were still working away. The dishes were no cleaner, the counter was soaked, and that cheap calculator my husband got from the bank was lost at sea, but I can now say with relative certainty that they do not have any attention deficits.

7

When inspiration fails, breakfast for dinner is always a good idea. Waffles anyone?

Taco Soup

It feels like forever since I cooked for you! This is a yummy, easy (other than all the spices--really just dash those in recklessly and irresponsibly) and quick recipe that has a lot of flavor and a very mild kick.

Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey or chicken or sausage)

1 onion diced

2 cans tomato sauce

1 can red beans, undrained

1 can corn, undrained

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 small can diced chilies, undrained

small fistful of uncooked spaghetti noodles broken into 1 inch pieces (for a gluten-free alternative, use a corn-based noodle)

Spices*

Parsley 1 Tbs.

Cilantro 1 Tbs.

Cumin 1 Tbs.

Paprika 1 tsp

Chili powder 1 tsp

Oregano 1 tsp

Onion powder 1 tsp

Dill weed ½ tsp

Garlic ½ tsp

Salt and pepper to taste

Plus 1 Tbs of brown sugar (to cut the tomato bite)

Brown the meat and the onions (drain it if you have to) in the same pot you are going to make the stew in. Add all the other ingredients to the meat. Simmer until the soup thickens (about 20 minutes). Serve with shredded cheddar or pepper jack on top.

Serve as a soup with a side of cornbread and a side salad. Or cook down for about 10 more minutes and serve as a mild, warm dip for tortilla chips.

*Spices Caveat

I cook by nose. I add spices until it “smells right.” These are approximate measurements, trying to recreate what I did. Feel free to add more or less until it “smells right” to you.

**The photo is not of my soup (alas, my memory card is full and I have none other). Mine has little noodles in it. This is just a teaser.

Oven Jambalaya and Adopting a Lousiana Heritage

My biological stepfather introduced me to Jambalaya, but before I share the recipe I'd better untangle the relationship we had.

I was adopted as an infant. When I was 18, my birth mother tracked me down and we began a slow process of getting to know one another. She was married to a man named Royal Peter. He was my biological stepfather; not related to me at all really, except by marriage and by an accident of birth, and through the efforts of two families to get to know each other after 18 years of never having met before. He's been gone now for years, and one of the many ways he influenced me was through food.

When I met him I was of the mind that if I had to cook the food, it wasn't worth eating. I was right about that! I disdained all things feminine and wanted to prove my point to the point that I was actually proud of being a horrible cook. He was a Louisianne and French enough in his outlook that he considered food a heritage. That idea eventually intrigued me enough to start experimenting with my own cultural heritage--Southern cooking, among others. In a way, he planted a seed that is still growing. I love the creativity of cooking and I really love the silence that descends as the first bite of something incredible hits the taste buds and takes control of the brain for a split second before the, "Oh! Wow!" or "Mmmm!" noises begin.

My first exposure to Jambalaya came during a conversation about an impending lunch. I was working on my biological family's ranch at the time. I was outdoors and about a mile from any buildings and by some quirk of necessity and planning I had no transportation. He was the one sent to get me for lunch.

Since it was early spring I was working on sprinklers. Since it was California it was early February. Since it was early February it was nearly Mardi Gras. Since it was nearly Mardi Gras, Roy was missing Louisiana. If he was missing Louisiana, he was going to talk about it. Being hungry he was going to talk about food, too. Since it took me a bit to work myself to a stopping point and since it was a one-person job, he leaned against the bumper of his truck to chat. That's the round about way he got on the subject of food storage in the steamy state.

He said that the week started with roasts on Sunday, sausage and beans on Tuesday, chicken on Wednesday, fish or shrimp on Friday, and leftovers on the days in between. On Saturday, anything leftover from the week that hadn't turned (or had hardly turned), got put into a jumble in a pot, spiced to perfection, and was called Jambalaya. The conversation and the remains of the job took about 20 minutes from start to finish. I could almost taste the talk. He was so descriptive in that Southern gentlemanly way of his, and I was such a foodie even then when I didn't know it yet, I could smell and see all the dishes he described. I've been hunting through Jambalaya recipes looking for him ever since.

So nowadays, whenever I stir the colors of rice and beans, when I smell bay leaf and cayenne I am there again with him in his cowboy hat, big buckle, and boots leaning against the bumper of his truck, his arms crossed and his eyes far away.

Here's our latest conversation:

Oven Jambalaya

3 cups water
1 1/2 cup uncooked regular rice
1 can corn (drained)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can diced peppers
1 small onion diced
1 package kielbasa or Italian sausage sliced into half inch disks*
1/2 pound cooked ground beef or breakfast sausage*
1/2 pound cooked chicken shredded or diced*
1/2 pound fresh shrimp peeled and deveined*
2 tsp chili powder
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
dash of cayenne pepper (to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in a lightly greased baking dish, cover and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour. Yields 8 servings.

*The meats for Jambalaya are both interchangeable and optional. When I made this the first time, the meats I had on hand were kielbasa and beef hot dogs. I sliced them up and put them in the dish. Mmmm! I recommend making a Jambalaya in the traditional way whenever you have a bit of this and a bit of that leftover to make a jumble in the pot. Throw in leftover veggies, too, especially leftover okra!

Serves with cornbread muffins and a green salad anytime!

Beef: It's what's not for dinner...

Just to remind you what you're missing. Ciao!

Ready for Spring?

Yeah, me, too. Chicken just isn't the same in the crock pot.

It's Friday, it's Lent, and you just aren't in the mood for fish? (Black Bean Soup Recipe)

Well, that's weird. Fish is so versatile. It's so good for you. It's...um...well, fishy.

I guess I see your point.

Have you ever considered converting? No? I was almost Jewish once, but that's a different story, and then again, that wouldn't help. If I can't handle going without meat four days out of the year, can you imagine me during Passover? "Hand me the sackcloth and ashes, I'm eating crackers...again!"

At the very least my whining will take the form of recipes you actually may want to eat. I'm a firm believer in not eating food that isn't edible. Diet food? Psssht! Fat free with an ingredient list the length of a Sinclair Lewis novel? Really, no, I just couldn't.

Here's a tip for avoiding that socially awkward ordeal:

How nice that you found the fat free alternative, and by the way, I'm...fasting. It's too bad I can't try any of that right now. You can have it all, really, and did you know I can fast for an entire day? Wanna watch? It's good for me. Yes, even better than Olestra!

Black Bean Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 small bell peppers (use red ones if you want a pretty soup)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
pinch of red pepper flakes
4 cans chicken broth
4 cans drained black beans
salt and pepper to taste

In the soup pot, using medium heat, cook the onions, garlic and peppers until the onions are translucent, taking care not to let the garlic brown. Add the broth and spices* and bring to a boil. Add beans, bring to a boil again. Salt and pepper to taste.

If you have a blender, blend half the soup (in small batches!) and add back to the soup. If you don't like the mess or you prefer to chew your own soup, make a cornstarch roux to thicken it--mix until completely dissolved 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 3/4 cup water, add to soup and continue boiling for 2 minutes.

To round out the meal, serve with cornbread and a green salad.



*Here's a flavor blaster tip: premix the spices and have them in a bowl set aside and ready to go. When the onions are just about ready, toss the spices into the pot and "fry" them for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Then add your broth.

"Can't Be!" Gluten Free Salmon Patties

These are my dear husband's creation. They are incredibly good and worth making regardless of your dietary needs. The addition of canned tuna brings the cost of the dish down considerably. Of course, if you are serving guests and cost is not a concern, don't make the substitution and use 4 cans of salmon.

"Can't Be!" Gluten Free Salmon Patties

2 cans tuna drained
2 small cans deboned salmon drained
2 eggs
3/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup instant mashed potatoes
1 cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1 small chopped onion
4 celery sticks chopped
2 Tbs butter (or oil)
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp dill
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee the onions and celery in butter (use olive oil if milk allergies are a concern) over medium heat until translucent. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until moist and evenly distributed. Make balls about 3 inches in diameter and press flat onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once halfway through. Serves 8 to 10.

Suggestions: Serve with a slice of pepper jack cheese* melted on top, drizzled with a zingy cocktail sauce--I make mine with a dash of horseradish in ketchup. Rice pilaf is a great side dish. Be sure to double check the ingredients for allergens. A side of wilted greens and dried cranberries topped with a sweet vinagrette would round it out nicely.

Happy fasting!

*Use a goat milk cheese if dairy allergies are present or skip the cheese entirely.

Food for Thought Thursday

Make Dos

Everyone must know this experience: the eyes are coming out on the potatoes and the baby carrots are getting a little damp looking. It's time to dump a bunch of stuff together into a pot before the food turns into compost in the refrigerator. Usually I dump it all in a pot and call it a Make Do Stew. But I really wasn't in the mood for a stew, so this is what I came up with.

If you try this on your own and tweak it in your own uniquely creative fashion, please let me know. It smells heavenly right now as it bakes. Garlic bread anyone?

Baked Chicken Leg Make Do

3 potatoes sliced thinly
1 handful of baby carrots (or 2 medium) sliced thinly
1 onion sliced thinly
3 cups wine and cider rinsed ricotta*
1 can undrained diced tomatoes
1 dozen chicken legs (or 4 chicken leg quarters)
1 cup Italian dressing
1 cup wine (your choice--I used a blush but reds and whites each add their
own lovely notes)
1 TBS thyme
1 TBS Italian seasoning
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning (a crab/seafood seasoning mix will work adequately
as a sub)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9 x 13 pan with olive oil or cooking spray to prevent sticking. Layer the potato, carrot, and onion slices on the bottom. Spread the cheese evenly on top of the vegetables. Spread contents of the can of tomatoes on top of the cheese. Top with chicken legs. Pour the wine over the chicken followed by the Italian dressing. Sprinkle chicken legs with the spices, salt and pepper. Bake uncovered for 45 min or until the juices from a chicken leg run clear when poked with a fork. Better yet, check it with the meat thermometer.

Here is the final, product. This Make Do recipe is a keeper!


*Here's a reminder for how to make a wine and cider based ricotta.

Equipment needed:
cheese cloth
colander
string

Ingredients:
ricotta cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup red or white wine
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar


Line a colander with cheese cloth and dump in a ricotta cheese (store bought or homemade). Pour the vinegar over the cheese and stir. Pour in the wine and stir. Tie the four corners of the cheese cloth together. Tie a string around the knot and hang to dry (You can hang it from the faucet to drain into a sink or from a cabinet door handle over a bowl). Drain for 5 to 10 minutes.

Spaghetti! It's What's for Dinner!

I have been enjoying the mayhem of the Advent and Christmas Seasons with my family. Blogging took a back burner. I wanted to share this fun pic with you--my facebook friends have seen it!

Still Afraid of Cheese?

Try this:

Accidental Ricotta

1 gallon whole goat milk
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or 1/8 cup lemon juice)
1 Tbs. Kosher salt

The equipment: stainless steel or ceramic pot to hold the milk, a larger pot to act as the double broiler, stainless steel spoon, candy thermometer, colander, cheese cloth

How to:
Prior to the process place cheese cloth in a colander and place colander in the sink.

1) Place milk in a double broiler and heat until almost boiling (approximately 195 degrees F).

2) Slowly add the cider vinegar while stirring.

You will see a change in the milk when enough vinegar is added. The liquid whey will separate from the solid curds. The curds will look like very small globules (a little like cottage cheese) floating in a yellowy liquid. If this does not happen after 1/4 cup of vinegar is added, slowly add another 1/8 cup.

3) Pour the contents of the pot into the cheese cloth and let drain 2 to 3 minutes

4) Add salt (or other spices of your choice) and gently stir into the ricotta

5) Knot the ends of the cheesecloth and hang the "bag" over the sink for an hour or two to continue draining.

Plan on pasta for dinner and use that fresh ricotta! Try this Accidental Ricotta with a little cilantro and parsley and an olive oil drizzle over fusilli.




Learning From Our Food

Okay, okay, if making cheese still intimidates you, remember this: short of setting it on fire, almost everything you do with milk is edible (as long as you, your stuff, and your milk are clean).

Dealing with fresh from the animal milk and making fresh from the press cheese is fairly exacting if you are expecting a specific result. If you are distracted and miss a temperature here and there, you need a little creative thinking to save the day. The milk itself is fairly flexible. It's the expectations that are unforgiving, as in expecting mozzarella and ending up with a dull tasting but tolerable spread. You'll have to jazz it up somehow before it's something you'd choose as a snack. On the other hand, some missteps can lead to pleasant surprises.

Accidental Ricotta usually gets its start with multitasking. I get too busy doing too many things when I am pasteurizing the milk from our goats. Sometimes the distraction involves the children, but other times (I confess!) it involves Facebook.

Pasteurizing is pretty simple. To kill the unwanted bugs in the milk, if any, you bring the milk up to 161 degrees Fahrenheit, then cool it down rapidly. It's an easy to follow procedure involving a double broiler, a thermometer, and ice water. What could go wrong? Well, too much heat (and too many friends online). It makes the milk flat, dull, and dead tasting. It's "good" for coffee and cooking with, but even that is questionable when there is a better option available in the next milking. How do we turn something that's tolerable into something that's good?

Transform it.

If it's not quite at 195 degrees yet, add some heat, then the vinegar, and voila! Accidental Ricotta. If it's boiled, let it cool down to the 195.

So how is life like this cheese? You may have thwarted expectations to begin with, but with some flexibility and extra effort, you can be pleasantly surprised.

Now really, Chris, was that last sentence necessary?

Try Something New--Make Some Cheese

Face it, everyone gets tremendous satisfaction from accomplishing new things. Science even tells you it's good for your brain. Try your hand at something incredibly easy, though meticulous, and enjoy the bragging rights: make cheese. Yes, cheese! Right in your own kitchen.

The following recipe makes a very tasty feta cheese that freezes well. Although I have to admit I have yet to try freezing and defrosting this cheese first hand. My family can hardly stay out of the fridge when there's feta to be had!

You can use the horrible tasting goat milk they sell in the stores for this cheese. The best option is, of course, fresh goat milk from a local source. Fresh milk will hold up to make a firmer cheese, but use what you can get.

The best part about making cheese is the cheese. Of course! You can eat the results. What better hobby can there be than one that produces something so good so cheaply? (Have you priced a good goat cheese lately?!) So try this out and whip up a salad for dinner, or even a vegetable soup, and toss in your masterpiece.






A word of caution: Whey is acidic, so use stainless steel (or ceramic) pots and utensils unless you don't mind an aluminum or plastic aftertaste.

1 gallon whole goat milk
1 package mesophillic starter*
1/2 tsp liquid rennet* dilluted in 1/4 cup unchlorinated water
2 to 4 tbs cheese salt or Kosher canning salt

Heat milk to 86 degrees F (place pan in hot water in sink--works great for low temps like this or in double boiler with flame on low), add starter, stir gently for 1 minute, cover, let set undisturbed for 1 hour.

Add diluted rennet, gently stir for 3 minutes. Cover and allow to set at 86 degrees for 1 hour.

Cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Gently stir the curds for 20 minutes (to prevent premature matting).

Pour the curds into a colander lined with cheesecloth. Tie the corners of the cloth and let hang and drip for 4 hours (over the sink or over a large bowl).

Untie the cheesecloth, remove cheese and cut into 1 inch slices, then 1 inch cubes. Salt to taste and mix gently. (It is a salty cheese so don't be shy!)

Place in a covered bowl and let age in the fridge for 4 to 6 days. It may be eaten fresh, but the flavor ripens as it ages.

If you get a mushy cheese, add 1/8 tsp. calcium chloride* diluted in 1/4 cup water (again, unchlorinated if possible) to milk just prior to making the cheese again.

*go to www.hoeggergoatsupply.com or to www.Lehmans.com or possibly a local health food store for supplies.