Ruth's Fettuccine Alfredo from the BVI

 Last week this was my view.

I took that picture on Anegada in the British Virgin Islands on November 1st.  Notable, because November 1st was the first day of Lobster season.  We were all excited to eat lobster and it was good!  Bruce didn't like the lobster much so I got extra helpings of lobster.

I was on a sailing vacation Bruce's sister's family.  That's Bruce's sister Ruth and her husband Mike.  Mike was our fine boat captain, Ruth was the first mate.  What a fabulous vacation it was. I loved the gentile ocean breezes and the sailing and the fishing and the snorkeling and the food and...

This is one of our meals that Ruth cooked, Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and broccoli.  It was very easy and very good. Especially when eaten on the bow of a sailboat in the Virgin Islands.  I bet Blackbeard never ate this good.

Here's the recipe from Ruth:

Fettuccine Alfredo

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup parmesan cheese 

½ cup butter

1 cup half and half

Combine and stir over low heat till smooth.  Add cooked shrimp, chicken or steamed vegitables and serve over 8 ounces of cooked fettuccine.

Overnight Breakfast Casserole

My friend Lecia (we were roommates in college so many years ago) asked for this recipe.  She came to my house for my holiday breakfast and we had this.  Actually, this is what my brother brings to the breakfast.  Our Mom had breakfast on Christmas morning and when she passed away I invited everyone to my house.  I serve Finnan Haddie (a creamed fish served over toast) and my brother brings a casserole like this.  I try to have something there that everyone might enjoy (I know most people won't like the Finnan Haddie).  I also try to keep it as simple as this and this recipe fits the bill especially since you make this the night before then put it in the oven.  I don't know who Bonita is and I'm not sure if the notes are her's or my brother's.  Lecia and my former roommate Sandy fixed something similar for her son's mission farewell but it had potatoes in stead of bread.  Maybe I'll have to get Sandy's recipe.

Overnight Breakfast Casserole

Bonita Ensenberger, Albuquerque, NM

Makes 6 servings

1 lb. lean bulk sausage

6 slices white bread, cubed

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

5 eggs, beaten

2 cups half-and-half

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry mustard

1.  Brown sausage and drain excess fat.

2.  Toss bread cubes with melted butter and arrange in greased 9" x 13" baking pan.  Top evenly with sausage and cheese.

3.  Combine all remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour over casserole dish and chill overnight.

4.  Bake at 350 deg. for 40-50 minutes.  Serve.

I make a few adjustments.  If I'm using a 9" x 9" pan, I use 3 eggs and about 1/2 cup of milk and a little less bread.  I think this is really the basic part of the recipe (pretty much a bread pudding).  Then I use one link of Italian sausage (minced up), a handful of grated cheddar cheese and a small can of mushrooms.  I also make other adjustments, like adding onions and/or peppers, use bacon instead of sausage, etc., etc.

Pot stickers

The summer I turned 20 I visited my brother in Beijing.  It was a big deal for me to get there, I had to get an invitation from him.  Then I had to fly to Hong Kong and make the rest of my travel arrangements from there since I couldn't fly directly to Beijing from the US.  

One of the things that I remember the most about that trip was the jiaodz (boiled dumplings) that we ate at a place called ErTan.  They were wonderful!  The jiaodz were hand made including the wraps.  The name "jiaodz" indicates that you are steaming them not frying them.  When I lived in Taiwan we ate them at least once or twice a week and they were almost as good as the ones we ate in Beijing.  In Taiwan we called them "SweiJiao" but they were exactly the same thing cooked in exactly the same way.  Once or twice I had "GwoTie" or pot stickers.  I never thought the pot stickers were as good as the sweijiao.  They were the same thing just cooked differently, boiling vs. frying.  You'd think that frying would taste better than boiling but it never does, at least for me. Maybe its just the memories that boiling the dumplings brings up in my mind.

Most Americans know and love pot stickers but I long for those wonderful jiaodz that I ate for the first time in Beijing.

You can use pot sticker wraps(skins) that you buy in the store or you can make them yourself.  They'll be easier if you buy them but they'll taste better if you make them.  They'll also taste better if you take the time to carefully pleat them when you are sealing them.  I don't know why...they just will.  You can boil, steam or fry these once they are made.  They freeze well before they are cooked, just don't freeze them stuck together.  Place them separately on a tray in the freezer then put them in a bag once they are frozen solid.

Pot stickers

1              lb.           Ground pork (ground chicken or turkey may be substituted for all or part)

1              lb.           Chinese cabbage (Napa cabbage), finely chopped

1              cup         minced green onions

1              tsp          minced ginger

3              Tbsp      soy sauce

1              tsp          salt        

1              Tbsp      sesame oil

Pot sticker wraps

Mix all of the ingredients together except the wraps. 

To create a dumpling hold the pot sticker wrap in the palm of your hand.  Place about 1 teaspoon of the meat mixture in the center and fold the wrap in half.  Press the edges together and seal with water. You may want to pleat the edges as you seal them to make these look nicer.  Place on a floured tray until ready to serve.  These may be frozen and served later.  Be sure if you are freezing them that they are individually frozen and do not stick together while you are freezing them.

To serve you may place them in salted boiling water until they float or steam them.

To serve them as pot stickers: heat a nonstick skillet with a little oil in the bottom.  Place the fresh or frozen dumplings in the hot oil and cover the bottom of the pan with pot stickers until they are barely touching one another.  Cook for a minute and then pour water in the pan until the water come up about ¾ of the way up the pot sticker.  Place a cover on the pan and cook until all of the liquid is evaporated. 

Serve with a dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce

2              parts      Soy sauce

1              part        Vinegar

Sugar (just a little)

Sesame oil (dash)

Grated ginger (optional)

Hot sauce (whatever kind you like) (optional)

Is there anything better?

This is my lunch today.  Avocado, bacon, lettuce and homegrown tomato sandwich.  I used my homemade mayonnaise on this sandwich.

Last year I started cooking my bacon in the oven.  There isn't any splatter in the oven, so it's less messy, and even though it takes longer it is a lot easier.  Just turn on the oven, place the bacon on a rack in a pan and cook until it's done.  Sorry I don't remember how hot but I don't think it matters much...the hotter the quicker the bacon is done.  Just make sure you watch it closely and turn the bacon over once or twice. For two or three slices of bacon I use the microwave oven.  For a whole package of bacon I use the conventional oven then put the cooked slices in the fridge and warm them in the microwave when I'm ready to eat.

MMMMMustard Pickles

My brother wanted me to post my recipe for mushroom dip but since I made mustard pickles last night I figured I post Aunt Lu's recipe for Mustard Pickles.

Aunt Lu was my Dad's aunt and I understand that she used to make these in the basement of her house on Maple Street.  They have always been a family favorite at Thanksgiving.  If you grew up eating these you love them if you didn't grow up with them, well, you might like them.  Personally, I like them, I just don't LOVE them the way some people do.  My brothers really love them, especially Gil.  My uncle Mark loves them too.  In fact I usually ship him a couple of bottles when I make them and he couldn't be happier.  One year I sent him a package and he sent me a check for $50 back!  I really didn't send them to him because I expected anything in return, but he actually won the lottery (a really big lottery too) several years ago, so I didn't make a fuss about the check.

I make these pickles because they make the people I love so happy.  If I have extra sauce left over after filling all the jars with pickles I fill a jar with the just the mustard sauce and give it to my Aunt Peg...she loves it.  I think it would be good on bbq pork ribs.

Here is the recipe the way that it was given to me.  I think my Aunt Bonnie or my Aunt DeeDee gave me the copy that I have.  Last night, I followed it pretty close but instead of 1 head of cauliflower I put in 2 heads of cauliflower and added a few cups more of vinegar.  I used Asian cucumbers that I bought at Costco, I hope that those work out well because they were really easy to clean and cut.  I also use pearl onions that I find in the frozen section at my grocery store.  Using these onions helps reduce the amount of labor.  It can take several hours just to peel enough onions!

Mustard Pickles
4    quarts      Cucumbers (cut the ends off and discard.  Cut with a waffle cutter)
1     large        Cauliflower
2                     Green or red peppers (I use red because I think the color helps)
1    quart       Small white pearl onions
1     cup         Salt
                       Boiling water
1    quart        Vinegar
6    Tblsp       Dry mustard
2    tsp.           Turmeric (gives it the yellow color)
3    cups         Brown sugar
3    Tblsp       Prepared Mustard (you know...hot dog mustard)
1    cup           Flour

Cut and prepare cucumbers, cauliflower, peppers and onions.  Sprinkle veggies with salt, cover with boiling water and let stand 2 hours or more.  Drain and rinse.

In a large kettle combine vinegar, dry mustard, brown sugar and prepared mustard.  Bring to a boil, add vegetables to the syrup.  Simmer 15 minutes.

Make a paste of flour, a little vinegar and add to the boiling mixture until thickened.

Pack in sterilized jars and process 5 minutes using standard processing methods.

Note:  My mother told me that they were best if you let them sit in the jar for at least a month before you eat them.  The flavors a supposed to get better that way.  I don't know about that.  I just tasted a couple of the pickles that were left over and they were pretty good!

The Corn Parties are over!

Last week I helped Bruce's parents with their corn parties. They had 7 parties in 6 days.  There were between 50 to 100 people at each of these parties.  On the menu was corn from the garden, of course, barbecue beef, pot luck salads and deserts.  Mark (Bruce's dad) also makes homemade root beer in the old fashioned way, the way his mother made it with yeast giving it carbonation.  It's always funny to see a bunch of Mormons drink the stuff for the first time because the yeast gives it a slight alcoholic taste, at least to a bunch of tea totalers. Former beer drinkers love the stuff because it has the bitterness that they remember from their days of drinking regular beer.  I've never drunk regular beer on a regular basis so I don't know for sure.  Each day the root beer tastes slightly different and I always try it out to see how it tastes that day.  I usually like it on the sweet side with a touch of bitterness.  Regardless, I find the process of making it fascinating.  I vow to get Mark to teach me how to make it SOON!  He's 82 years old.

Here's a picture I took of Mark last year out in the corn patch.  You can see the trash can in which he cooks the corn.  Cooking corn is the only thing that he uses the can for so don't worry.

Along with corn, anything else that may be ripe is presented at the table.  Tomatoes, peaches and raspberries were all on the table this year.  Some of the best tomatoes are small, orange, cherry tomatoes.

This year my contribution to the Corn Parties was "Cucumber Salad", sometimes I call it "Fresh Cucumber Pickles", New York Jews might call it "New Pickle", made with cucumbers from the garden.  I think my mother started making Cucumber Salad back in the late '70's.    The recipe is in a book published in 1977 by the Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith.   I used to watch Jeff Smith all the time on PBS and I think that I started my love of cooking by watching his shows.  Unfortunately, he was involved in a scandal that ended his television career.

Mom made this all the time and now I make it when the cucumbers are plentiful in the market or in the garden.  It is usually quite popular and very easy to make.  In the recipe book that it comes from there is a comment that it will become a family favorite and beside that comment at some point I wrote "You're right". I made this 6 times last week and started out with a 5 gallon bucket of cucumbers on Monday.  There was less than a quart of "pickles" left over Saturday night.

I like to eat these with sour cream or Greek yogurt but you probably won't miss either if you don't have them on hand.  Here is the recipe:

Cucumber Salad (From Israel)

Peel and thinly slice 4 cucumbers
Mix with 1 thinly sliced yellow onion (I cut them "pole to pole")
Bring to boil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1    cup white vinegar (apple cider vinegar will do)
1/2 T.   dry dill
Pour over the cucumbers and onions and chill.  The hot vinegar cooks them slightly but they still are crisp.  They are best served the same day you make them but can be kept for several days in the fridge.

That's it!

Mayonnaise

I probably make this recipe more than any other.  I don't buy store bought mayonnaise unless I'm going to take mayonnaise camping or on a picnic.  It is very simple and cheep to make and can be made from ingredients that I have on hand most of the time. Oil, eggs, some kind of acid and some seasoning.  It can also be adapted for different flavors depending on how you will be using it.  

What you get is so much better tasting than what you can buy in the store.  Bruce thinks I should find a way to sell the stuff.  I love it on BLTs.  I always sneak a taste when I make it and it always is delicious.

My mother and I started making this recipe when she bought a stick blender off of an infomercial and they showed how to make mayonnaise.  She struggled getting it to work right sometimes.  I have only had problems once or twice.  If it doesn't work the first time there is a way to fix it.  The stick blender is the key kitchen utensil to use when making mayonnaise.  A regular blender can be used but the method is slightly different.  You need to drizzle the oil into the blender in a steady stream while making the mayonnaise.

Oil: I use a simple vegetable oil.  You may use olive oil if you like but I find that it's flavor is too strong and would advise you not to use ONLY olive oil.  Use part olive oil and part vegetable oil.  I use a similar method to make Hollandaise sauce using melted butter.

Eggs: Yes I use raw eggs!  I have never gotten sick in the 20 or so years of making mayonnaise this way.  I am careful about the eggs that I use.  They are always clean and never broken.  If I understand it correctly salmonella occurs when cracked eggs are exposed for extended periods of time.  Also, I think I've heard that the acid will kill the bad stuff.  If you are in doubt I think it is easy to coddle the eggs to cook them slightly.  I'm just not sure that it makes that big of a difference.   I have always had the best luck when I don't use cold eggs.  I usually allow the eggs to come to room temperature before I make the recipe by letting them sit on the kitchen counter for a few minutes or an hour or so.  Sometimes I simply hold the egg in my hand for a few minutes to warm it.

Acid: I use fresh lemon or lime juice and/or vinegar depending on what I have on hand and how I want it to taste.  I don't like Miracle Whip but to make something like Miracle Whip, use vinegar and increase the amount and add sugar.  If I'm making sauce for fish tacos I use lots lime juice.  There are also different kinds of flavored vinegars that can be used.

Seasonings: Usually I add salt, pepper (white pepper if you don't want to see the black spots) and mustard (dried or Dijon style).  Sometimes I use garlic or onion salt instead of regular salt or I use finely grated fresh garlic if I want a stronger garlic flavor (which I like A LOT) which I guess you could then call it "garlic aioli" and then you would be fancy schmancy.  The fish taco sauce has lots of garlic, fresh cilantro and jalapeño.  As mentioned, if I want something that tastes like Miracle Whip I increase vinegar and add sugar. 

Container:  I have containers that I use all the time to make this.  Used to use the glass jars that chip dip came in.  Now I use 2 cup screw top disposable plastic containers that Ziploc makes.  I always make it in the same container that I store it in.  The important thing is that you can fit the stick blender in the container all the way to the bottom.

Stick blender:  These are cheep.  The one that I use cost about $10.  I think Mom paid $100 for the infomercial blender years ago but it was worth every cent she paid for it.  The most difficult part of making mayonnaise is cleaning this darned thing.  

I only keep this in the refrigerator for about a week and then I throw it away...okay maybe I leave it in there longer but your eye will tell you if it should or shouldn't be used.  It is so easy to make and really isn't expensive to make that you can afford to be safe and throw it out if you are in doubt.

Okay... here is how you do it:

Ingredients:

1              Egg

1  C.         Oil

1  Tbls.     Acid (lemon juice, lime juice and/or vinegar)

Salt and pepper to taste

1  tsp.      Mustard (dry or Dijon style)

Method:

Place the egg in the bottom of the container.  Pour the lemon/lime juice and/or vinegar.  Add the seasonings.  Pour the oil into the container.

Place the stick blender into the container through the oil so that the blades rest on top of the egg.  Turn the blender on to a slow speed and leave the blender there until you start to see the mayonnaise form, about 20 seconds.  Turn the blender on to high speed and slowly begin to pull the blender up until it is all blended.  

That is it!  Easy!

Later I'll post the recipes for Hollandaise sauce and for the fish taco sauce.

Why am I doing this blog?

I enjoy cooking.  More importantly I enjoy eating.  I'm not necessarily the best cook in the world but I'm certainly not the worst either.  People ask me for recipes and I don't mind giving them out.  If there is something that you know I cook then ask me and I'll post it.

A couple of Christmas's ago I created a recipe book for family and friends so I'm going to post some of those recipes here and any new recipes that I might come across.  I would love your comments and would love to post recipes from others here.  This may be a place to organize my recipes or just to post my thoughts about food.

Happy eating!