Category Archives: Recipes

Mom’s Cheesy Meatloaf

Posted on September 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

I have to wing this because I cook for two and have never had a recipe for this. As the climate and light change towards our first fall and winter here, I’m adapting.

1.5 # ground beef, whatever cut you like

1 tsp. each garlic and onion powder

1 tsp. Worcester sauce, one egg, salt and pepper to taste, mixed together

Bread crumbs, fresh or plain, to pull it all together.

Mix with fork or hands and add 1 cup of diced cheddar cheese. Form in a loaf pan or freeform on a baking pan. Slather with ketchup or BBQ sauce at will, optional of course. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees.

It will be yummy as the cheese melts… I’m making it tonight because I had a failsafe in case our restaurant (recently featured on Food Network and crazy busy) was full.

So now I have 2# of ground beef and may make us a couple of burgers and a meat loaf for later. Cheers, Dee

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Grilled Salmon

Posted on August 7, 2012 | 1 comment

This is a really simple recipe. Get equally sized salmon fillets and make sure to use your kitchen needle nose pliers to get out those pin bones (no, not the pliers in the garage, the one from your secret kitchen stash).

Oil the skin side, yes, keep the skin on as your guests will be able to discern whether they wish to eat it or not. On the flesh side, season with salt and pepper and slather with a very good whole grain mustard.

Grill, closing the top so you don’t need to flip it, remove and with a simple squeeze of lemon juice you’re ready to serve.

It would be great with a homemade slaw, a jicama salad, quinoa salad or even cold sesame noodle salad. May I thank Mark Bittman for making minimalism chic. I’m certain we’ve both been minimalists for years, he’s just on TV and writes for my favorite newspaper. Happy cooking! Dee

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Olives a la Dee

Posted on June 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

This isn’t really a recipe, but is what I did last weekend for an international dinner/wine tasting. Out of a hat, we picked Greece.

With guests in town, we were unable to attend the feast but brought a few appetizers and Italian wine (couldn’t find Greek on short notice). I bought frozen spanakopita (sorry) and made my olives, and some sliced tomatoes with oil from the olives and fresh oregano.

I bought a large container of pitted Kalamata olives at the “olive bar, ” drained them of brine, and placed them in a quart measuring cup with several smashed cloves of garlic, hot pepper flakes, bruised rosemary and oregano sprigs and covered them with extra-virgin olive oil, for 24 hours at room temp (covered).

My m-i-l tasted an olive right out of the brine, then 24 hours later after the “Dee Treatment” and it mellowed them just the right amount. After draining them into a bowl, I used some of the oil to drizzle on the tomato appetizer, then saved the rest to use in and on homemade pizza dough the following evening.

Yes, my Boy Scout nephew was the pizza chef that night, and I was his sous-chef. It’s always a challenge to cook for guests, especially picky children like my nephew. He’s a garnish-phobe. Cereal, no fruit. hamburger, no cheese. I have to gain his trust before trying the old favorite Auntie L trick: you must taste it before you ask the ingredients.

It worked for me. For one thing, I found out I LOVE bleu cheese, and now that my palate has expanded I’m a serious fan of Gorgonzola dolce.

As for the olives, I use anything I have that’s appropriate. I might put in some lemon peel or whatever I have on hand. I particularly love garlic, oregano and rosemary. Whatever you do, when you strain it, keep the oil! It’s delicious to baste a roast chicken or whatever, and will keep in the frig for a bit. Cheers! Dee

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Grass Fed Beef

Posted on June 15, 2012 | 2 comments

I paid another $3 to try the grass-fed skirt steak last night. We were eager to get a new grill here but our tiny Coleman fold-up and tote grill is searing hot and has been wowing us for the last week or so.

Olive oil, Borsari seasoning mix (black label) and pop it on the grill. Jim loved it. I made rosti potatoes (shredded potato cake, stovetop) and boiled corn on the cob for dinner. Yum, it was good. Oh, I had some homemade chimichurri sauce leftover from the other day so used it on the steak.

This morning the dog and I were up and out at 6 a.m. Sun comes up early here as we’re on the eastern edge of the central/eastern divide. The sky changes colors beginning at 4:00 a.m. so I’ve taken to putting the shades down at night. I hate to do the blackout shades in the bedroom because I love seeing the moon over the lake.

While we always go to Nanny’s for Thanksgiving, I’m going to try to get a capon for Christmas. I know Whole Foods will never carry them (holier than thou ones who sell me bacon that goes rancid on the second day it’s open – Give Me Nitrites!) so I’ll check my other butcher. Or order online in advance. I’ve been trying to do this for too many years now to let you down.

Mom always made a simple stuffing for chicken or capon. For a chicken I’d take 4-5 slices whole wheat bread and toast it, take off the crusts and cut with a serrated knife into 1/2″ cubes. Saute some finely chopped celery and onion and add it to the bowl. Dig out the liver and saute it, chop it and add to the bowl. She always added some beef consomme to wet the mixture. Season the interior of the chicken with a mixture of salt, pepper and thyme – I mix it up beforehand to season the entire bird – tie and place in a 375 oven for 25 minutes per pound, basting every 25 minutes.

As I usually make a brown gravy to go with the chicken and stuffing, I like to brighten up the meal/plate with colorful veggies, such as roasted carrots or steamed broccoli. If I roast red potatoes with garlic and rosemary, I leave on the skins for color and nutrients and eye-pleasing color.

Folks always say you eat with your eyes first. If we didn’t, foodie magazines wouldn’t employ stylists and photographers. I don’t do mile-high chef plates, just quality ingredients cooked simply and usually served family style. When one has service for 18 and a dining table that seats four, in a small city apartment, that’s what I’ve chosen to do. TGIF! I get to work on Boxlandia (our move-in) this weekend! Oh, to put art on the walls. Can’t wait! Dee

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Falling into Place

Posted on April 9, 2012 | 2 comments

That’s what happens. Like yesterday. I didn’t even think of Easter dinner. But I got up, took out and fed the dog and she went back to bed with my husband. I took off to the grocery store, where as a newbie I’d checked the hours the evening before.

I bought what was freshest, what I determined on the fly: roast Lamb Robert (Jacques Pepin recipe online). I didn’t use the grill because it’s 13 floors down from our temporary apartment and didn’t want to leave Jim down there alone.

Scalloped potatoes – thinly sliced red ones with the skin on, a bit of half-and-half, salt and pepper in a 425 degree oven for an hour. And baby arugula sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

And after I put meat and potatoes in the oven my husband said, let’s drive to see these places to live. My response “It’s Easter Sunday!” Nothing’s open and I’m working on a great dinner!

Finally, he settled on taking dog Zoe for a walk, and we ate and he complimented me on a lovely meal. He didn’t eat the arugula, I cut up a raw carrot for him instead, no Val it won’t help his eyesight (top of the charts for contacts) but he likes them. Cheers! Dee

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Great Chicken

Posted on March 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

I took a whole wheat burger bun out for a couple of hours to get a bit stale, then buzzed it up in the food processor, adding some parm, salt and pepper.

We’re a bit short on plates and bowls, etc here as we’re not moved in yet so I just scrambled an egg with some milk, then dipped it in the crumbs and sauteed it. I also made rosti potatoes (on the blog). Also had a veggie tray with pre-made red pepper hummus dip.

Overall, it was a healthy meal and I’ll do more when I get rid of the “household package” of rented furniture et al for three months and put everything I don’t want above the frig, then make room for my stuff. Some of it. The rest I haven’t seen in three years.

On the way! Where, we don’t know. It’s not in this teeny place, though I’ve made the best of it. Cheers, Dee

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Magic Sauce

Posted on January 18, 2012 | 3 comments

A while ago I spent a month looking for dry marsala, which I had never cooked with before. Finally I found it and looked forward to making sauteed chicken with a marsala sauce.

I just floured the chicken, sauteed it, took it out, added about 1/4 cup marsala, about 1/2 cup chicken broth, then about 1/2 cup cream and reduced it. It was good.

Now that there’s no income, my first thought is to turn to the pantry and frig for what we already have. Our dog doesn’t drink enough water so I bolster her high quality dry food with chicken broth. We were out. Cream, no.

So after I took the chicken out I added 1/4 cup of marsala and looked at what I had in the frig. Milk? Nope, can’t boil milk. Fresh-squeezed OJ that we get delivered every week? Let’s try it.

I added about a cup of OJ, reduced it and added salt and pepper to taste and it was delish! Kind of reminds me of orange chicken my mother used to make in the 80’s, but better.

One of the butchers at our local grocery has taken up cooking and has asked for one of my recipes, which I typed up and delivered today while shopping.

Tonight it’s mom’s pot roast, I smell it cooking in the oven, over egg noodles probably with peas on the side. But first I have to feed the dog, not the fish as yesterday was his last day on this earth. RIP, Fish. Cheers from Dee on a snowy day! Imagine that! And four more days of it should make our economy even brighter (and the spring water supply not drought-worthy).

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Christmas Menus

Posted on December 26, 2011 | 1 comment

We didn’t expect to be here, but here we are. My husband is on call this week for work emergencies so we have to stay in town.

He got his birthday off, first time since we’ve been out here, nearly three years, so we have four days together. He doesn’t seem to get that I still have to do laundry and make the bed and make breakfast and dinner. On weekends he likes to go out for lunch.

Last night, Christmas Eve, I made a pork tenderloin that I’d marinated overnight. I rubbed it with grainy mustard, placed it in a plastic bag (in a bowl, always) and added a beer, Heineken was the best I could find at the time. It was drained, dried, and brushed with olive oil, seasoned with s&p and grilled to perfection.

I served it with mashed potatoes and braised carrots.

Christmas dinner, I still can’t find capon  and have received 37 hits on this blog for how to cook capon in the past two days. We didn ‘t know we’d be here otherwise would have ordered from http://www.roastgoose.com

So I made filet mignon (grilled perfectly by my husband), scalloped potatoes and brussels sprouts with bacon.

Some dishes worked, others didn’t work as well. The filet was rare and wonderful. Let me think about it and the rest, it’s late and I wish you a merry Christmas. Dee

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It’s Concord Grape Time Again

Posted on August 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Around August I get a lot of inquiries about how to eat a Concord Grape.  Several pieces have been written by me, plus recipes by Concord grape enthusiasts/veterans from grape country, on this blog, so look to your heart’s content.

I miss them and sometimes have to get a bottle of Welch’s white grape juice to have a faint memory of the taste of that pristine flesh.  Welch’s was native to Concord country ’til they left.  Western NY, Chautauqua County, is Concord grape country and they welcome visitors, especially after the summer season as you’ll get lower rates and get to see the trees change color, my second favorite season (spring is the first with farmers markets and fresh fruits and veg).

There are many wineries now, B and B’s, lovely antiques stores and a lot of Victorian and later architecture to admire.  You might also find my grade school music teacher’s recipe for Concord Grape Pie on this site….

Next it’ll be Capon.  I can’t find a capon to save my life.  But one farm in the USA has them.  That was a long-term project that I may be able to continue for you nearer the holidays.

Then your interests turn to mincemeat.  What is really in it and does it have to include meat?  No.  Where to buy it and when my brother looked for it all over NYC he checked it out online and the first hit he got was… yes, my blog.

I guess I’ll have to come up with something eggy or lamb-y for spring.  You can always suggest recipes here, or write about a family favorite.  Vegetarians welcome, even vegans though this may not be the best venue.

Storming again so I have to go upstairs and close windows.  Good eating, Dee

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Unemployment/Kardashian Wedding

Posted on August 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

Let’s see what is more important to the US economy.  Let’s take all the designers and staffs that created three wedding dresses, a wedding and feast for 400 guests and goodie bags.  How much did that cost and what did it contribute to the designer, couiffeur, catering and other communities?

Now, how many people are out of work in the US while the Kardashians, who have nothing to go on but their looks and a reality TV show, spend millions on a wedding?

Did I watch the wedding?  Heck, no.  Did I tune in to CNN for Libya info, yes. All while I was making the last dinner for my husband’s mother, Marjory.

We had grilled turkey burgers, heirloom tomatoes, and spiced sweet potato fries.

I got our butcher to grind 1# of white meat turkey and 1/2 # of dark meat turkey.  I mixed it with 1 beaten egg with 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper.  Then I added a bit of bread crumbs to bind.

Normally, I’d have grated garlic and onion in, using a micro plane, but Marjory hates onion so I did it this way.

Oh, I also did cucumber salad, which is already on this blog and a wonderful summer dish.  As for the sweet potato fries, they were frozen from Alexia, I just added some Aleppo pepper at the end.

My husband got one sliced tomato on his burger, a larger heirloom from the farmers’ market was cut into wedges for all to share.

This morning on the “news” on the Today show that I watch for local weather, the Kardashian wedding was billed as “simple.”  Three wedding dresses, two groom outfits, 400 guests, full TV coverage.

That doesn’t sound simple to me.  Now task the Kardashians with what I did.  A wedding and honeymoon in under $2,500, including two 18K wedding bands from Blue Nile.

I live for the day when being famous for being famous for being on a reality show does not equal money for life and “branding.”  Where my husband comes from, branding is done to cattle.

It’s been nearly a week that Jim’s mom has been here and we’ve done some terrific activities, amused ourselves at home, rested a bit, and had some good conversations.  She has another stop, at her dad’s, before going home to a hot and dry home in TX.  We’re all getting older, and family is important, especially if they’re not in town.

Real people don’t have Kardashian lives.  Let’s face it, even the Kardashians don’t have Kardashian lives.  I think they spend 1/2 of their time in hair and makeup, 1/4 being on camera, 1/8 being taken out of makeup and hair, and the final 1/8 with their publicist or maybe yelling at the husband and sleeping.

I’m glad to be here in the mountains in a quiet and calm landscape.  Enjoy yours.  Dee

 

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