Category: Recipes in SC

With this Mexican Sage plant:

I took the above pic and the little video below from inside the house. I love the way this plant moves in the wind. It was “quiet” all summer, and then, overnight, it burst into bloom, and it has been blooming for weeks now.

AND I’m in love with the new air fryer.

Look at the gorgeous brown, crisp skin on the chicken thighs below. And on the roasted zucchini squash and roasted sweet peppers. The chicken meat is so juicy and tender too.

And look at the 15-minute, or less, French fries with their skins left on. Plus, more roasted peppers. That’s leftover grilled steak and asparagus cooked in the microwave. I only use a very tiny bit of soft duck fat to coat the fries.

AND, I’m in love with bowl suppers.

These bowls are very inexpensive on Amazon and are just the right size. The gentle slope of the bowl sides keeps thing INSIDE the bowl. As I often eat a meal on the porch or in the little tv room (at night), the sloped bowl is a good choice.

This meal was cooked in the new oven: roasted whole chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli rabe, carrots in butter (stove top), warmed leftover asparagus and red peppers, and for dessert, raw apple and an espresso. It’s a feast–with great leftovers so I have time to do other things.

When I roast sweet potatoes, I cook several, smash them with butter, and freeze portions for future meals. I do the same for my sprouted brown rice: I cook the whole bag at one time.

I filter my water and use a glass and a glass straw. I have a glass for the car as well. I clean these glasses and straws daily. After researching when I moved here, I use “Clearly Filtered” to filter my water.

I have many things I am “in love” with, for sure. I’m feeling lucky this morning, and I’m grateful.

The new oven came this week. Whew!

But meanwhile, I am still enjoying the Air Fryer.

So I thought I’d share some recent air fryer endeavors.

I cooked the asparagus in the picture below in the microwave for about two minutes–in a glass shallow pan covered with a cloth. The chicken tenders I put into a bowl with a little melted duck fat and then coated each one with the gluten-free panko I bought and ground finer–so there is just a light coating here.

They were good–but maybe cooked just a bit too long, which made them be a bit dense. I used the roasting feature–but I think I’ll try a shorter time next (maybe 6-8 minutes, turn them over halfway) and then finish with the air broil to brown the coating. I had enough left over to top a supper salad–which I make while cooking my noon dinner.

For the next meal, I cooked the broccoli in hot water until tender–in a pot on the stove top. The cod fillet I thawed, coated with some melted ghee using a brush, then patted the top with the panko mix. I cooked on air fryer for about 10 minutes as this fillet was thick. I think I checked it at about 8 minutes.

It was flaky and DELICIOUS. This one was a win-win. Hmmm, a dollop of tartar sauce, or, for me, some homemade mayo, would be a nice addition.

I had a meeting Thursday morning, and when I got home I was so hungry. I had bought this little loin steak, so thought I’d try it in the air fryer as I was feeling lazy about the outside grill or pan-frying it. (I reheated my leftover broccoli in the microwave.) I cut up one small russet potato and did not soak it in ice water for 30 minutes, which does make the browning more even I think. I tossed the slices in a tablespoon of melted duck fat in a bowl. The potatoes cooked in under 15 minutes (I shake them every few minutes and almost burned them this time–at under 15 minutes.) And the steak cooked on roast in about 10 minutes.

The potatoes were delicious. The steak was fine, but felt a bit tough. I had enough steak to top my supper salad–which is always nice. So, steak in the air fryer works fine, but isn’t as nice as the grill.

I like asparagus roasted in the air fryer. But I don’t really like broccoli cooked that way–it is tough. Maybe if one par-boiled it until almost tender and then air broiled it? But that seems like way too much trouble.

So, the air fryer is a learning curve, but one I’m enjoying. And I’m feeling more confident with using it to its best potential. And it is so easy to clean up. There is no grease all over the stove top from pan-frying something. Yes, I could easily have fried the potatoes in a pan with some duck fat–but the air fryer does use much less fat–and the texture of the air fryer potatoes, unfortunately for my body, is awesome!

And they result is that the eggs are so tender and velvety–so much better than the old poaching pans with which I grew up.

You need a regular, pot of water that you bring to a SIMMER ONLY. More than simmer makes the egg white come away from the egg. There should be no bubbles on the surface of the water. Some use a wide flat pan, especially with more than two eggs. The water has to be deep enough, so a wide flat pan might need a cover, with the heat turned off. (See the video below.)

And you need a utensil with holes to pick up the egg when it’s ready to your satisfaction. A flat spatula works well too.

Break your egg into a glass or a ramekin. Ramekins are shallower than this glass, but I just grabbed what was near. Use only one egg per glass/ramekin and don’t cook more than 4 at a time. You can reuse the same simmering water if you want more eggs.

Many add a teaspoon of WHITE vinegar to the water as it helps the whites stay put. I often don’t, but after looking at the video below, I’ll try the vinegar addition again.

Slide the egg gently, gently into the water. The video below uses a cover and a timer to cook the egg to soft boil–and turns off the heat. I just watch the egg so I can tell when it is done to the consistency I like. I can also spoon water over the top GENTLY if the top needs more heat. This pot is smaller; I would use a bigger pot for more eggs.

When done (either decided by eye or a covered pan with the heat turned off and a timer as in the video below), remove each egg gently. I like soft eggs with golden yolks that will run out on my salad. But harder boiled are lovely too.

I needed some protein for this supper salad, so the poached eggs were perfect. And, delicious.

A bit of practice makes perfect.

And this video is excellent to get you started.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+poach+an+egg+in+a+saucepan+of+water&client=safari&rls=en&sxsrf=AB5stBhMRWYAYmkeh5QYDyxAmUuUL6k-Jw%3A1690200612860&ei=JGq-ZJmTNLvNkPIPoMiMiAc&oq=how+to+poach+an+egg+in+water&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiHGhvdyB0byBwb2FjaCBhbiBlZ2cgaW4gd2F0ZXIqAggGMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIEEAAYHjIGEAAYCBgeMgYQABgIGB4yBhAAGAgYHjIGEAAYCBgeMgYQABgIGB5IyJcBUO8GWMtScAF4AZABAZgB3QKgAcUvqgEIMC4yMC45LjG4AQHIAQD4AQHCAgoQABhHGNYEGLADwgIHECMYsAIYJ8ICCBAAGAgYBxgewgIIEAAYigUYhgPCAgYQABgHGB7CAgcQABiKBRhDwgIIEAAYigUYkQLiAwQYACBBiAYBkAYI&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:fa990d7e,vid:mrbyeS98x0A

And, this bit of easy cooking provided the bulk of two days of meals–given that I eat two meals a day: dinner at noon and something fairly light for supper at night.

Yesterday I wanted fish–which I have not had for some time now. I keep frozen wild-caught fillets in the freezer. And this time I had cod, which I defrosted early in the morning. You can flash defrost meat by putting it on an iron of some type–I have a griddle I use, but a skillet would work too. Just make sure you regrease whatever you use before storing it again. Today I thought I’d use a deeper, heavier pan to make my dish.

I layered the bottom with two small unpeeled potatoes (a little bigger than eggs maybe) into the bottom of the pan–thinly sliced. I added some diced sweet onion, carrot, red pepper, and some frozen corn. Salt and basil from the garden went in on top of the raw whole milk.

I heated the pan on the stove until the mixture was bubbly and put it in the hot oven COVERED for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, I washed and chopped two baby bok choy. I love that vegetable and often flash stir fry it in a good fat with seasonings. I do not like it overcooked–the bigger stem pieces should be al dente.

I layered the bok choy on the top and put the fish fillets on top of the mixture. I added more salt and some butter on the fish. I covered the dish again and put it in the oven for 10 minutes and then uncovered it for 10 more minutes. My oven does not brown well, so I broiled the dish for about 5 minutes–keeping a close eye on it so I didn’t burn it. I wanted a little color, that’s all. The fish were done.

This method proved to be a great way to add fresh greens to a dish–and now I’m wondering about adding frozen broccoli crowns at this step.

I topped my dish with chopped parsley from the garden. And, yum!

While the fish was cooking, I put together a salad for supper. I could either top it with the other piece of fish or add some other protein. If I used the fish, I’d still have a nice chowder to eat–and I could always defrost another cod fillet and bake it for the salad or the chowder.

I wasn’t terribly hungry after the large and rich dinner at noon, so I just soft boiled some eggs in a pan of water–yes, I’ll do a future post on how I do this quick and easy task. These poached eggs are velvety soft, and you can make them as hard or soft as you like.

For dinner today, I’ll have the rest of my fish dish. But there is a lot of the “soup” to eat, so I’ll save some and add it to a soup I took from the freezer to have for supper. I’m always happy to have “assets” in my refrigerator or freezer. I’ll cut up an apple at supper to have something sweet.

And tomorrow I’ll need to visit the grocery store for more fresh veggies and fruits. But NOT today. Today is mine to enjoy without tasks I need to do.

I am always looking for ways to use my beef gelatin.

Why not add just a tiny bit to the meatloaf I was making?

I’ve blogged about my basic meat loaf recipe many times now, probably, LOL, more than many want to read about again. But for the moment, I can’t find the last time I wrote about making meatloaf. Basically, I use ground hamburger or bison, to which I add an egg, some oatmeal, some good fat if the meat is too lean, some cream sometimes, some grated veggie (carrot, zucchini), some chopped onion, some cheese (mozzarella for me), some herbs, and salt.

I just sprinkled about a teaspoon or less of the gelatin over the egg and cream before I added all the other ingredients–so the gelatin would soften.

You all know that I cook with what I have on hand for the most part. This time I had half of a red pepper and some fresh basil from the garden.

I added some Annie’s Ketchup to the top as it is the only ketchup I can find that has a few ingredients. Ketchup is the closest I can get to tomatoes these days. I use it only on meatloaf and don’t add it too often.

Yummy!

The gelatin added a nice texture–but no flavor as it is flavorless. When cold, the loaf is very firm.

This one is a win-win.

*I don’t use ground chicken as these days it has added spices I can’t eat. Probably ground turkey does too, but I’m not sure about ground turkey anyway. Experimentation is often not a good idea for me, so…why mess with what is working and working well.

Flank steak may be most favorite beef cut. It just has awesome flavor and is tender to eat. And, I don’t know, but there seem to be more of them in stores in the summer than the winter.

Yes, I like rare meat. More of the nutrients are preserved in rare meat than well done, and it is way more tender. You want to cut flank steak on an angle and in thin slices.

Store extra slices with the juice added to keep them from drying out. You can reheat them if you like by putting them into a heated oven and turning off the heat–let them sit, with juice, for about 5 minutes. You could cover them lightly.

Or, you can eat the meat cold.

Red meat is the only place one gets vitamin B12 IN A FORM THE BODY CAN USE. Red meat has been terribly demonized in the past few decades. Yes, CAFO meat has problems–but grass fed beef is more and more available in local grocery stores. Or from small farmers. I just do the best I can and sometimes just buy…a flank steak.

And, remember that lamb is a red meat. And, bison.

PS: that wooden cutting board was a wedding gift in 1966. I just wash it with soap and hand dry it after use.

Hello Blog Readers!

I’ve not posted recently, but I’ve been busy and happy over the July 4th period of time.

Recently, I made this roasted summer squash soup. I had bought a package of organic yellow summer squash and green zucchini at the local grocery store. And I hadn’t done anything with it, and it needed to be used. So, I roasted all of it in the oven–cut in rounds, sprinkled with herbs, salt, and good olive oil. I had some for one meal with a grilled steak.

But…

What to do next? There was a lot of it to eat in a few days.

I put all of it in a pot, covered it with water, brought it all to a hot stage, and “boat-motored” it.

Here’s my “boat-motor,” which I truly love. I like that it plugs in so there are no battery issues.

I sautéed the usual suspects (carrots, onion, garlic, celery, half of a red pepper I had on hand), and added the chicken. Of course I used duck fat as my sauté fat.

Isn’t this half of a red pepper pretty? When I cook, as you know from reading my blog, I like to use what I have on hand. I think of these things as “assets.”

I also had some fresh corn I had taken off the cob. When they have multiple fresh corn for sale, like 6 for X dollars, I buy the 6, cook them all, and remove the kernels from the extra cobs.

I also had some collards that needed to be used. I had wanted to blanch them, stem them, and have them as wraps for a chicken salad I had made, but that didn’t happen.

I washed and stemmed the leaves and rolled the leaves together and cut them.

Then I cut those rolls in the other direction and put them into the pot on the stove.

I like this brand of chicken. I was able to get it in Maine too. I was only able to get these boned and skinned breasts on July 4th weekend, so I made do with it. I had wanted thighs which have more flavor. To me, today’s chicken breasts taste like sawdust. They are tasteless.

Here’s everything together now–and I had some frozen/defrosted broth from cooking the chicken for the chicken salad I recently made. So I added that to the pot. I had cooked that broth down a bit for storage so it was strong.

Americans no longer eat nose to tail any more. Instead we buy muscle meats. And we are missing all the glycine we would get from animal ligaments that are not present in lean muscle meat. When I make a soup, I add one scoop of gelatin powder to it. First you put the soup in a short glass (or something like that), add some liquid (I used milk this time). In a bit the gelatin reconstitutes, so I add some of the hot broth to it–BEFORE ADDING IT TO THE SOUP.

The last thing I added was the squash puree.

And here you have it–a gorgeous soup that is FILLED with awesome tastes. There were so many flavors to enjoy–to which the fresh herbs added on top added. I buy dill, but I have basil, Italian parsley, thyme, mint, and oregano planted here. (I didn’t add the garden sage, lavender, rosemary, or chives for this soup.) Go slow with fresh oregano as it is a very strong herb.

And about that practice of having fresh corn on hand. Here’s a salad I made using some of the leftover grilled steak and corn prior to making the soup.

All of this food was so yummy. I don’t mind spending some time cooking as I have food for future meals, which gives me more time to do other things AND the enjoyment of beautiful, tasty food.