Summer Sides of Potatoes and Evil Vegetables.

Now that the warmer weather has finally made itself known here, time to get the barbecue grills and smokers primed and ready to work.  In the freezer I have already stocked up on Johnsonville brats (original and beer); slabs of ribs and mounds of brisket as big as babies.  Pork and chicken are still on my list, and that'll be taken care of on the next big shopping trip to Cortez, Colorado.  Now all that protein is a wonderfully beautiful sight to behold; but I still need some side dishes to help enhance the eating experience.

Oh yeah, got those cobs of corn waiting to be slathered with herb butter, wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked up on the grill alongside that meat.  Huge bell peppers to be cut in half, cleaned, oiled and roasted up with the corn as well, but it doesn't seem to be enough.  Potatoes!  Got to have a potato dish; and for those people yelling at me about a bigger assortment of healthy vegetables...the dreaded evil vegetables.

The first recipe is for my Nanny's Potatoes, Nanny as in my maternal grandmother.  She made a simple German style potato salad with only olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper; no bacon.  However, there are so many more options you can add to this simple recipe besides bacon; diced sweet pickles (not relish, but real pickles) or diced green onion are two.  Julienne up some tart green apple or sweet pear to give added flavors and crunch.  Well let me just give you the simple recipe, and let your own imagination take it from there.

Nanny's Potatoes
 

Nanny's Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 lbs red skinned potatoes, cut into wedges or chunks, washed and leave skin on
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp fine sea salt

Preparation:

Place potatoes in a large stockpot, cover with water and set on high heat.  Boil potatoes until fork tender, drain and place in large serving bowl.  Mix potatoes with other ingredients; add additional salt and/or black pepper is necessary.  Serve hot to keep oil from cooling and coagulating.

Makes 8 servings.

Now for the second recipe, grilled evil vegetables; either use an aluminum foil grilling bag, or wrap up the vegetables in heavy duty aluminum foil, not the typical kitchen foil.  You're probably wondering why I'm calling them "evil vegetables"; I'm referring to cauliflower and brussel sprouts which I think are the two most foul tasting and smelling vegetables around.  My husband and his mom love them though, so I make this for them; they're my family, I love them and want them to have good meals that they enjoy.  Yes, you can spice these veggies up a bit by adding chile powder or diced chiles; or give a more Italian flare with crushed, dried herbs.

Grilled Evil Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, broken up
2 lbs brussel sprouts, remove stem ends and cut in half; quarter if very large
1 small onion, diced
1 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp fine sea salt

Preparation:

Set barbecue grill to 350F; spray inside of large grilling bag with nonstick spray.  If using heavy duty foil, create a large bag by folding foil (32 inch sheet folded to 16 inches), seal short sides by folding ends three times; spray inside.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients; spread out evenly inside foil bag being careful not to puncture the foil.  Seal the long end of the bag by folding it three times.  Place on top rack of the barbecue grill and let it grill for 20 minutes.  Carefully open the bag by cutting a slit through the top of the foil, spoon out into a serving bowl and serve hot.

Makes 8 servings.

This recipe can also be made in the oven by spreading out the mixture into a rimmed baking sheet (jelly roll pan) or baking dish; sprayed with nonstick spray.  Set oven on 450F and roast for 20 minutes.

There you have it, two sides to serve up with your barbecued meats or poultry.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour

Homemade and Simple Meal for Valentine's Day

Tomorrow will be Valentine's Day; a day where couples in love will celebrate that love with gifts, cards and special meals.  This year will be a bit different for my hubby and myself; due to his current job situation, he will be away from home.  Will we be alone though?  Perhaps in a physical sense; he will be with coworkers on a job while I'm home with the pets, nursing a severe head cold and hoping it won't go into my chest and turn into bronchitis.  But alone; not really, because no matter how close or far, Roy and I love each other above anyone or anything else.  We don't need one particular day to celebrate this love; we, in fact, celebrate it daily.  Personally, I believe that is why most relationships fail; the couples forget to celebrate the relationship, each other, and be thankful for it all.  They wait for the calendar and card companies to remind them that they are in love; very sad if you seriously think about it.

Before Roy went off to his work site, I prepared him a special meal of salmon and his favorite, what I call "evil", vegetables.  I enjoy cooking for him; I don't mind preparing meals that I, myself, would not eat because it's not all about me...it's all about him.   This meal is easy for even the novice cook to prepare; the fish is steamed over the vegetables allowing it to cook perfectly without burning or sticking to the skillet.  The flavors of the seasoning, vegetables and salmon intermingle in a delicate, not overpowering fashion.  It is simple, yet elegant; the type of meal no cook would be embarrassed to serve for a special occasion, or just because.

Don't be afraid of the serving size of ten I have listed.  I made enough that I could package some up and he could take with him to his work location to eat later on. 


Salmon Steamed Over Vegetables
Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 lb. fresh green beans, tips removed
1 small head cauliflower, broken apart
4 large green onions, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
10 - 4 oz pieces of salmon, skin and bones removed
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp crushed dried thyme
1/4 cup fresh, chopped cilantro

Preparation:

In a large skillet, place oil, wine, green beans, cauliflower, onions and worcestershire sauce in and turn heat to medium.  This will become your steaming rack for the salmon.

Sprinkle the salt, black pepper and thyme over both sides of the salmon; place the salmon on top of the vegetables. Cover with a lid and leave it alone for 20 minutes. This is important, LEAVE IT ALONE; no peeking, prodding or poking; otherwise you'll lose that steam and that is what is doing all the work for you.

Before serving, sprinkle the cilantro over the salmon; the fresh, green herb will brighten up, and add an appealing final note, to the entire dish.

As I stated before, this will make 10 servings all together; but the recipe can easily be adjusted for less; or even more if you intend on serving it at a dinner party.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour

Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op.

Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op

Website: http://bountifulbaskets.org/

I was told about this great program, where every two weeks you can fill up a basket with wonderful fruits and vegetables. Not only that, but breads, oils and bulk fruits or vegetables are also available. So with website in hand, I decided to check it out for myself.

Bountiful Baskets is a cooperative run by volunteers, so no salaries to boost up the prices on the goods you buy. Items are bought at discounted prices, but they're high quality, not seconds or cast offs. I go to the Monticello, Utah distribution point every two weeks; some places have it every week, so you need to check your state and area when participating.



Still wondering if this is right for you and your family? Lets take a look at the above photo of what I just picked up on Saturday, May 12th. Bag of grapefruit, container of black raspberries, avocados, large apricots, spinach, 4 bags of carrots, mangoes, honeydew melon, apples, tomatoes, bananas (green and ungassed, so they turn yellow naturally and don't brown quickly). That was just the usual basket of 50% fruit, 50% vegetable. Then I purchased the additional Italian Veggie Pack which contained onions, garlic, fresh herbs, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, lemons and eggplant. Let me tell you, I kicked myself all day for not ordering two of that Italian Veggie Pack - yes, you can order more than one of everything, depending on your need.

Right now I have a 6 quart crock pot simmering with a wonderfully scented Vegetarian Pasta Sauce and I added shredded carrots for more sweetness. The great thing about the abundance of food you receive is the ability to not only make great meals for yourself and your family, but to store the excess for later meals. Don't forget though, you can share the wealth too with other members of your family or maybe a neighbor who is in need.

So go to the Bountiful Baskets website, register and begin your journey to a more bountiful, healthy way of eating.

Mary Cokenour

Remake of a Classic Favorite - Yankee Pot Roast

I was going to write about this yesterday, but changed my mind, as it being the 10th anniversary of September 11th, I thought it would be insulting to think about food more than the heroes, and all those who died from the tragedy.

Today is another day and what better recipe to write about than an American classic, the Yankee Pot Roast. Now originally the pot roast was brought over by the British; a meal of corned beef and vegetables which were boiled or stewed. This became known as the colonial era "New England Boiled Dinner. However, with the availability of fresh game in the "New World" or what is now called the United States of America; and some cooking tips from our neighbors, the Native Americans, roasting the meat and vegetables together opened up a new culinary world for us. The name Yankee refers to the recipe coming from New England, or the Yanks as the British referred to us.

History lesson over, let's get to cooking up this simple and tasty dish. Now originally I used a recipe handed down from my mom and she made it on the stove top. Being busy, I didn't have time to babysit a Dutch oven on the stove, so did some changing of the recipe for cooking in the crock pot. I also made the recipe a little more health friendly by cutting out browning the meat in oil and sauteing the vegetables in butter.

Another tip, at least 3-4 cups of extra liquid is produced during the cooking process. Spoon it out, strain it and put it in the freezer for an hour; any excess fat can then be scooped out before it is stored back in the freezer. This liquid can now be used as a starter for the next time Yankee Pot Roast is made, so the step concerning mixing the beef broth, soy and chili sauces together can be skipped. As you continue doing this, your starter liquid will become more rich and flavorful, making your pot roast sensational.

Yankee Pot Roast

Ingredients:
1 lb small red potatoes, quartered
1 (16 oz) package frozen crinkle cut carrots, thawed
1 (28 oz) plus 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 cup each chopped onion and celery
2 Tbsp sliced garlic
1 tsp each ground black pepper and fine sea salt
¼ cup flour
4 lb chuck roast trimmed of exterior fat
1 cup beef broth
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup chili sauce

Preparation:

Spray a 6 qt crock pot with nonstick cooking spray; put the setting on low. Layer the ingredients following the list of Ingredients (sprinkle the salt, pepper and flour over the vegetables) until the roast is placed in last.

In a small bowl, mix together the beef broth, soy and chili sauces; pour over the roast. Lift roast slightly to allow liquid to get underneath. Cook for 10 hours.

Makes 8 servings.

Oh, to go with this classic, I made a peach crumble dessert using my previously posted recipe for Apricot Crumble. Num Yummy!

Mary Cokenour

Simply Fried Fish and the bountiful veggies mutiny.

While shopping, I was lucky to come upon Whiting ( a mild white fish) in the frozen fish section; remember now, I live at the end of the world, so fresh fish isn't available often, if at all.  Now when I lived back East, we would always buy whole fresh Whiting and bake it; the meat of this fish is so sweet and succulent.  The side dish served with it was my grandmother's potatoes which were similiar to hot German potato salad.

However, since the frozen fish were filets, I decided that frying them would be a better justice for them.

In the above photo you'll see the fish dredging station I set up.  The blue rimmed bowl contains Panko (Japanese bread crumbs), the plate is the 2 lbs of Whiting seasoned with salt and crushed dill, and the white bowl contains a mixture of 2 eggs mixed with a cup of whole milk.  There were 9 pieces of fish altogether, so I planned on frying 3 at a time.  On the stove, I had 2 cups of peanut oil heating up on medium-high heat.

The simple process was to soak 3 fish filets in the egg/milk mixture until the oil was hot enough to fry in (a flick of cold water into the skillet made the oil begin to sizzle).  I then placed each filet into the Panko, making sure to press it into each side of the filets and then slide them into the hot oil.  I let them fry for 3 minutes on each side before removing to a paper towel covered plate to drain the excess oil.  Also, while the first 3 were frying, I had the next 3 filets soaking in the egg/milk mixture, and I just repeated the whole process for the remaining 6 filets.  Simple done fried fish with a crispy crust, but moist, flaky flesh.

So where does the bounty of veggies come into play?  It all started before I began frying up the fish of course.  One of Roy's coworkers had an excess bounty of veggies from her garden and Roy brought some home...green bell peppers, banana peppers, eggplant, green beans; and I just happened to have a head of cauliflower in the fridge....Evil Vegetable Gratin!!!. Cutting all the veggies up into bite sized pieces, mixing with the cheeses and other listed ingredients from the recipe; it was placed in the oven and timed to be ready at the same time as the fried fish.

My grandmother's potatoes is another simply made dish:  boiled potatoes cut into chunks or slices (your choice - leave the skin on!), mix in a bowl with olive oil, red wine vinegar, ground black pepper and salt.  I'm not putting any measurements here because it is all according to taste.  I like the tang of the vinegar and snap of sea salt, so add more than someone else might.

Comfort cooking can be simple or it can be complex; it's all up to the cook in the kitchen.

Mary Cokenour

A good recipe for evil vegetables.

Personally, I cannot stand cauliflower or brussel sprouts; I don't like their look, texture, flavor; I like nothing about them. However, my hubby and his mom like the little devils, so I like to come up with different ways to serve them.

Cauliflower is in the same plant species as broccoli, but we can recognize it by its whitish coloring and “brainy” appearance. The white variety is more common, is high in dietary fiber, vitamin C and folate; and studies have related it to reducing the risk of prostate cancer. Producers of cauliflower have created hybrids: Orange (high in vitamin A), Green (combination of cauliflower with broccoli) and Purple (higher in antioxidants).

While cauliflower can be roasted, fried, steamed, microwaved or boiled; steaming and microwaving retain the nutrients better than the other methods of cooking, especially boiling. Cauliflower can be substituted for potatoes as it gives the same texture and mouth feel, minus the starch. However, this vegetable can be very bland and/or bitter, so it is usually served with a sauce of some type; butter or cheese being the most popular.

Brussel Sprouts are part of the cabbage family; growing on long thick stems and requiring cool weather. They are best harvested when the heads are small and compact. Nutritionally they are high in fiber, protein, vitamin A and C, folate and potassium; they are linked to reducing the risk of cancer. Most cooks boil brussel spouts and tend to overcook them, so they lose their bright green color and the nutrients. However, they can be roasted, or used in a stir fry if quartered. As with cauliflower, brussel sprouts can be bitter and are also served, usually, in a butter sauce.

Since I was barbequing yesterday, I did want to serve a vegetable dish with the meat and chicken, but wanted something different than the usual pototoes or corn on the cob. Instead of using potatoes to make a gratin, I used cauliflower and brussel sprouts. Considering I caught Roy eating the leftovers in the middle of the night, I would say that it came out well. He said that the tanginess from the goat cheese really set this apart from other cheese based dishes.

Evil Veggie Gratin

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup half n’ half
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
¼ cup crumbled goat cheese
1 tsp each salt and ground black pepper
2 Tbsp diced fresh chives
1 lb cut up cauliflower
1lb small brussel sprouts; if large, cut in half
3 Tbsp finely grated dried bread crumbs

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 2 qt baking dish with nonstick spray.
In a medium saucepan, medium-high heat, melt butter and stir in flour till smooth; let cook for 5 minutes, but do not let burn. Gradually whisk in half n’ half; add Swiss and goat cheese and stir until melted; add in seasoning and chives.

Put cauliflower and brussel sprouts into casserole dish; pour cheese mixture over all. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil; sprinkle bread crumbs over top and bake additional 15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour