SOURDOUGH!

Chris loves sourdough bread, and I've been trying my hand at baking bread these days. So I went looking for how to make a sourdough starter. In my research I came up with a 100 year old starter that is offered for only a SASE. I ordered it, reactivated it, it came dry, and we've been playing with it. From what I understand, it will take about a month to come into it's own. In the meantime we've enjoyed sourdough bread and sourdough pancakes and waffles.

Here's my breakfast of pancakes topped with a rhubarb and strawberry compote. Nummm!



If you'd like to write for your own starter, send a SASE to:
Carl's sourdough starter
Oregon Trail Sourdough
P. O. Box 321
Jefferson, MD 21755 USA

Enjoy!


This post will be linked to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Having trouble with adding a link but search inpassionatepursuit on blogspot for her blog...

Tasty Tuesday

For the conference I chose to cook as many of our meals as possible. Several things worked out really well but I wanted to share a yummy salad that I created, OK, I stole the idea from Trader Joes but it was yummy and great on a hot day!

Before we left, I had purchased a rotisserie chicken from Costco and cut it up. We ate the drums on the road and had the breast with rice and gravy one night. I took all the yummy little bits and reserved them for this salad.

On a bed of butter baby leaves I put:
The chicken
Mozzarella cheese
Garbanzo beans
Grape tomatoes
Bacon bits
Oil and vinegar dressing
I added some crackers on the side for a bit of crunch.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture for this post. Trust me, it was quick, easy and refreshing in the 100'+ heat we had.


And I’m linking this to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlum.
Want some recipe ideas? Head over to this blog carnival. I know you’ll find inspiration!

Pork Tenderloin

Found a recipe the other day that I've been dying to try out. A Marine friend of ours is home on leave and thought it would make a great dinner for his visit. Very simple and tasty. Here's my take on it:

I sliced open a pork tenderloin making it as flat as possible then placed a layer of cooked wild rice, Romano cheese and then topped it with a thick layer of fresh spinach. Wrapped the whole thing in bacon. Then baked it.

The second one didn't have the Romano cheese but I added Goat cheese crumbles on top when I served it. I preferred it that way. I used leftover rice this time, next time I think I would steam the spinach with the rice, it'll make stuffing easier. And I'll definitely use the goat cheese on the inside so that it melts into everything.

Let me know how yours turns out!

I'm also linking this to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlum. Want some recipe ideas? Head over to this blog carnival, I know you'll find inspiration!

Tasty Tuesday

A few days ago I made this Cheesy Chicken Lasagna recipe. Once again I forgot to note where I got it from... and to take pictures. I had planned to add a layer of spinach or broccoli slaw but forgot as we were running late. What caught my eye was using Uncle Dan's dip mix.

When I was in High School I attended Leadership week and Dan was one of our speakers. He arrived in a "10 gallon" hat that had a crown that stood 3' off his head, and he is only about 5' tall. He gave a speech about being able to do the impossible, and then took a huge Russet potato and a paper straw and showed us that with persistence, and several straws, you could pierce the potato. Great visual for his lecture.

Anyway, because of that I purchase his mixes when I need something along those lines. So the combo of evaporated milk and Uncle Dan's mix made this recipe interesting. I also used ground turkey rather than cubed chicken. After eating it, Chris's input was for a tomato base sauce. The result, not bad, a bit salty in my book so the next time these are the changes I'll try:

• Changing out the liquid base a bit - maybe 1 cup each of cream and evaporated milk.
• Add tomatoes, which means I'll have to reduce the sauce a bit.
• Sauté the meet with the Uncle Dan's to get the flavor really in the meat, specially turkey...
• Add a layer of spinach or broccoli slaw.
• Make extra and freeze it.

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

2 cans (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 (1 oz) pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
3 C. cubed, cooked, chicken
1/8 tsp pepper
1 (16oz) lasagna noodles, cooked
1 1/2 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/2 C mozzarella cheese, grated

I usually cook the chicken and noodles first at the same time. Once noodles are done--rinse in cold water and set aside (it keeps them from sticking together).
Combine evaporated milk (don't use fat-free version) and Ranch dressing in a 3 quart heavy saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently until dry ingredients are dissolved.
Stir in chicken and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes (don't do any less), stirring frequently.
Layer half of lasagna noodles, poultry sauce, and cheese in well-buttered 9x13 pan. Repeat layers again.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Let rest 10 minutes before serving. VERY IMPORTANT as this needs to set up before cutting.

Let me know how your results turn out.

I'm also posting this blog over at Balancing beauty and bedlam's Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods.

Busy couple of days...

In spite of the heat I decided to bake yesterday morning. I made carrot raisin muffins using Mimi's Cafe Carrot Raisin Bread, which I doubled, but forgot to double the sugar so I “had” to make a cream cheese frosting to balance out the flour taste. Even without the frosting they were pretty darned good. I will make them again, and remember the sugar! For Chris I made Grama's apple muffins , shown above. Finely I made Betsy's granola (thought I'd gotten this from My five men blog but couldn't find it when I went to link to it... but you should check out her blog anyway, she's got other great recipes I'll be trying). Wish I'd taken a picture of the granola after I added all the fruit, it was very festive, tastes great too! For lunch I threw together some steamed asparagus and sautéed shrimp with an Asian salad dressing. Surprisingly good...

Spent the rest of the day working on changes to the blog and my Etsy shop. Very productive day. Unfortunately the geo-thermal system decided to have issues so that house wasn't nearly as cool as it had been on Tuesday, that made dinner interesting. Chris wasn't interested in the left over Chicken fingers so we tried Betsy's trick of BBQ'ing a pizza, though ours was frozen and her's was homemade. We used a double insulated pizza pan on the grill. She's right, it gets a bit of that oven baked burn-ness but it was pretty darned good. Only next time I won't add Romano cheese, it doesn't melt.


Today I've got a meeting that will last well into the afternoon....

So I didn't get the above posted before I left for my meeting.... after my meeting my friend Carolyn invited me to her home to meet her roommate Alice. Alice and I worked for the same company several years ago but had never met. Listening to Wm Paul Young, the author of The shack, a few weeks back, he said the best compliment a friend gives another friend is by giving them their friends. That happened today. I spent a lovely afternoon getting to know, and be known, by new friends. Very happy day! BTW, if you are interested in Paul's conversations, that's what they are rather than a teaching or a sermon, here are the links. The afternoon session he spoke more about how and why he wrote The shack, the evening session he spoke openly and candidly about his life, which was the testing grounds for the lessons taught in the book. You will need to create a user account with Bethel, and I believe you will need to pay for both of those videos, but very worth the time and money.

Now that I've played all day, it's time to make dinner. On the menu: pork parmesan, but I'm using mozzarella and a pasta with some sort of a red sauce.

Another winner:

Left the oven off last night and decided to make Paula Dean's The Lady and son's chicken fingers. Fairly simple, sprinkle with her House seasoning mix, dredge in flour, dip in buttermilk then dredge in flour again. I used the deep fryer to cook them but I suppose you could also bake them. I served them on a bed of greens with Ranch dressing drizzled on top. Chris really liked them. After tasting the first batch, I adjusted the seasoning mixture as it was way to salty. Below is my version of Paul Dean's House seasoning:
3/4 cup Sea salt
1/2 cup Ground pepper
1/2 cup Garlic powder

Today I've been working on my Etsy store. I'll be uploading my photo journal note cards and I've finally made the difficult decision to let go of my rubber stamp collection and will be posting those in my store as well. I've taken the day easy as I woke up with a monster headache that has refused to go away... luckily I'm more insistent than it is!

With today's heat, 80', we're BBQing - found some Buffalo steaks on sale at the store, corn on the cob and fresh grilled asparagus. Also picked up all the fixings for carrot raisin muffins and Betsey's granola, but I'll wait till the weather cools before turning on the oven.

Winner!

Anytime Chris says something is good, you know it's good. Anytime he says so, without being asked, you know it's really good. And anytime he actually likes the "hidden" vegetables, you know you have a winner! That was the Lemon cream pasta dish that used the left over Garlic lemon chicken from the other night. Here are both recipes for you, note that I added spinach at the same time I added the cream to the pasta. Next time I'll add more... I found both recipes on the My Kitchen Cafe blog -
Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken
from Erin W. (from the sisters cafe)
Juice of 1 lemon, approximately 3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic, about 2 medium cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound chicken breasts (I usually cut really thick chicken breasts down to thin them out and make the pieces a little smaller so they absorb the marinade better)
DIRECTIONS
Combine all marinade ingredients. Place chicken in a ziploc bag and pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag and place in fridge overnight. Grill outdoors or with an indoor grill pan.
You can double the marinade and chicken and grill it all up and freeze the extras to use later.

Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken
adapted from allrecipes.com via My Kitchen Cafe
3 cups shredded or cubed Lemon Garlic Chicken
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 (16 ounce) package tube pasta (I used rigatoni)
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, season the chicken broth with the garlic powder and pepper. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.
Stir chicken into cooked pasta, along with the cream, parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir thoroughly before serving.

On the agenda for the rest of the day: breakfast and a visit with a friend, both enjoyed on the deck in the beautiful sun! Then dealing with the closing of one of Chris' house sales - YEAH GOD!, and then visiting with friends this afternoon and evening... life is good!

The week in pictures...

Been a busy week and I didn't take the time to post something everyday this week, so here's a visual log of the week:
Monday I was running into town, as I came down the hill I saw this quaint scene, turned home for my camera and pulled off to take the picture... and backed into a ditch. I couldn't get out by myself so I called Chris and then shot more floral pictures as I waited for my knight in shining armor. Forgot to get the car in the ditch though... Driving into town I enjoyed the American flags that the local Grange decorated the town with and the flowers in bloom in the medians. Took pictures of the flowers but not the flags. Came home and enjoyed the sun on the deck, and a bowl of cherries. For dinner I cooked Buttermilk brined pork chops. Chris said he preferred my regular pork chops. The recipe said to toss the rest of the brine but it looked like a gravy to me so I made gravy with it. Very good but waaaay too much salt. Not sure that I'll make them again, but I'll remember I can use buttermilk to make a gravy...

Tuesday I got together with my Friend Valerie. As I was leaving she toured me through her garden. Got lots of beautiful pictures and was inspired to plant a vegetable garden this year... not sure yet if I'll take the plunge... This is flower caught my eye while we visited.
Dinner Wednesday was another new recipe; Lemon and garlic chicken. Not only did it sound good, but there was also a recipe for any extra chicken, Lemon and cream pasta. The Lemon and garlic recipe lived up to expectations, I will make this one again! Tonight I'll try the pasta recipe.
Wednesday I mixed up a batch of overnight bread dough, today I made biscuits and scrambled eggs for Chris and an egg cup for me. To make the egg cup I cut a piece of dough, pressed it into a muffin pan, added spinach, bacon bits, cheese and cracked an egg into it. It came out pretty good. Need to find a deeper or wider cup... Chris preferred the biscuit with strawberry jam. I formed the rest of the dough into balls and froze them to be used as needed. Not a bad dough, kinda yeasty and sweet. The jam definitely made them.
So that's the week, so far, in pictures. Now I'm off to the deck, the sun and reading I've been putting off to long...

Beer battered salmon

Here's a picture of last nights dinner... still working on cooking the tater tots perfectly. The fish came out great, very filling with the batter, I made 1 frozen steak for each of us, cut into 3 pieces each, more than enough. Here's the recipe, I added the Old bay seasoning because the original recipe was a bit bland in my opinion and Chris doesn't go for "spice". I'm also trying an experiment with the leftover batter, I've frozen it and I'll defrost it to see if it works the second time around. My fillets weren't skinned and it was too much trouble to skin them, but it didn't affect the taste or texture. Side dishes were left over grilled asparagus and a salad made with parsley, red onion and cucumber dressed with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.

BEER BATTER FRIED FISH
1 egg
1 c. warm stale beer – note you will need more if the batter is too thick
1 1/8 tsp. baking powder
1 c. flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. Old bay seasoning
2 tsp. granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
Fish fillets

Mix all ingredients.
Wash and dry fish (pat with towel).
Cut fillets to desired size.
Heat 2 inches of cooking oil in pan.
Dip fish pieces in batter; fry briefly in hot oil turning as necessary.
Adjust the batter ingredients as needed so it doesn't get too thick or too thin.

Good morning!

I love days like today. When Chris and I were finishing the house, I told him I wanted an East facing bedroom, because of the way the house was laid out, we bought the house as a framed and plywood sided shell so we couldn't change the floor plan all that much, that wasn't possible so he placed two 3' square windows on the bathroom wall which is to the East, you can do that with 11' ceilings. So this time of year, about 4:30, I am woken by morning light flooding in from the East windows and bouncing off the sky and flooding in the West facing window. The birds are singing, and as a special treat this morning, the Canadian Snow Geese were honking their good mornings as well. All that is why I was up early this morning. By 8:30 I was well on my way through my morning chores, and decided to make breakfast. I've been exploring cooking blogs lately. Ran across one yesterday where she had made a new lasagna type meal for herself from leftovers in the fridge. Somehow all that flooded into my brain and I decided to make a French toast dish, of a sort. I cut up the last few inches of a cinnamon apple bread we'd picked up a the Farmers market, cut leftover sausage links into small pieces and mixed a cinnamon and egg mixture pouring it over everything. Baked it for a bit then served myself a generous portion with Trader Joes Honey vanilla Greek style yogurt. Nummy good.