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Boy am I glad I tried the kohlrabi noodles... they actually agreed with me. Gonna do that again to be sure (no allergic reaction to dinner last night). Dunno how often I'll be able to find/get them but it was nice to eat a meal with no reactivity. I ended up using a mild red Indian curry tweeked with the Japanese spice.
Tonight though is ham & pimento pasta salad with tomato, English peas, cucumber and herbs (easy on the ham) and a vegetable pie (gonna combine the cabbage and kohlrabi with kale and shaved Brussel sprouts) No crust on the pie, gonna do the sliced sweet potato again too.
I LOVE kohlrabi, never tried it in all of my many years until I visited a friend out in western Canada a few years back, she grew it in her garden, she is of German heritage. Apparently a very popular veg in Germany. Never knew they made noodles from it, I prefer it raw. Gave it to the grandkids when I babysat, one proclaimed it so so, the other loved it, but both ate it, a win when the parents are away.
I basically made this... with what I had on hand. Meaning half a bottle of red wine, a shot of bourbon, probably twice as much bacon (ends and pieces) as called for, and a few stalks of celery chopped instead of parsnips. <cough> And a pinch of lavender with the bouquet de Garni, because I’m American, and it’s almost required if we’re making anything with Provençal in its name to add lavender. :p Served on top of herby mashed potatoes.
I’m thinking of it as French-Ish Upside Down Cottage Pie
The wine/bourbon/beef/bacon/herbs all went rreeeeeally well together. Almost light in the mouth but seriously rib sticking full+want more
Chicken & yellow rice with fried okra and roasted cauliflower
Roast Cauliflower:
Head of cauliflower (separated into flowerets & I like to slice the jumbo ones into more sensible sizes)
Smokey paprika, salt & olive oil
Some drizzle... others coat... I like to coat the flowerets with oil and drain briefly then toss them in a gallon sized zip loc bag (too lazy to dirty another bowl) with the paprika, salt & pepper if desired)… sometimes I'll cut the oil and add lemon juice.
Roast til fork tender in oven on a baking sheet (400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes), flipping over about half way to roast evenly.
PSSSsssssssssttttt, tomorrow is National Burrito Day. So I'll be doing pork carnitas with Spanish rice (I use red peppers, corn & black beans), sliced avocados and tortillas.
Tonight we are having Mexican Shepherds Pie. What makes it Mexican ? A wee bit of chilli in the minced lamb! It is a very easy basic meal, that I have already prepared and will pop in the oven later.
500g Minced lamb
1 tablespoon flour
Handful of fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Half a teaspoon of extra hot chilli jam
1 each-carrot, onion, celery stick - diced
200 mls stock ( I used veg, but lamb would be better if I had any)
Cook all together in a pan and simmer for an hour
Top with mashed potato, then sprinkle with grated cheddar.
Put in the oven until nicely golden brown on top ( I love the crusty bits!)
I’m craving oysters right now.. and it’s too late to go wading for them :banghead: Around here they’re only $6 a dozen, so it’s not like it’s a huge investment or anything (Big Macs are $10), but they’re freaking free for 15 minutes and cold legs. And I’m a cheapskate. So here are my 2nd & 3rd fav ways to eat them (1st is raw on the half)
Baked Oysters With Sorrel Sauce
- Oven 425F 220C
- Baking Dish
(be like me! Go for the super classy disposable tin foil! Or, you know, not. Really, I always intend to use cast iron, or Le cruset, or something pretty, and then I just don’t care. Or am camping. Or am averse to washing up. I’ve made this a zillion times, and I think I’ve just about always used foil boxes. Even at parties, knowing I’m serving these guys in their baking dish. I care too much about the oysters to care about what keeps the salt in one place, and is facing the table, anyway. Besides, salt is pretty .)
- Coarse Sea Salt (at least 1-2 cm thick in your baking dish, aka the bed that keeps your oysters from rocking about spilling all over the place.)
12 oysters, shucked & in half shell*
1.5 cups wood sorrel leaves gently packed, plus a few saved out and shredded thinly for garnish
2TB (quarter stick) butter or vegan alternative
2TB finely diced shallots
2TB heavy cream or coconut cream
Pinch kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Crumbled crisp bacon
The most important thing to know about this dish? Sorrel disintegrates into goo when cooked. Which. Is. Awesome. No blender required for super silken awesome sauce! But even knowing this, there’s always this moment of “Its so PRETTY! Noooooooo... It’s GROSS looking nooooooow :arghh; but it actually tastes amazing and the texture is like joy. So just expect the crestfallen reaction as it goes from vibrant and lovely green to drab and hideous, ignore it, and carry on. This is what garnish is for. Or bad lighting.
* If you can’t find your oyster knife? Or don’t own one? Or just plain hate shucking oysters? Don’t be like me and end up stabbing yourself with a butter knife or screwdriver, it’s hard enough with the right tool, nevermind the wrong one. Simply steam them open in a few tablespoons of white wine, or even plain salted water. Just snatch them out the moment they crack open / ideally before they’ve cooked too long, and only bake them about half the time.
Oven 425F 220C
Spread the coarse sea salt 1-2cm deep (or more) in your baking dish
Coarsely chop sorrel
Melt butter in small pan and sauté shallots for about 30 seconds until translucent.
Stir in chopped sorrel which will quickly wilt, then melt into purée
Stir in cream - when sauce comes to strong simmer remove from heat
Salt lightly & grind pepper generously (to taste)
Top each oyster with a heaping teaspoon of the sauce
Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until their liquor begins to bubble
Top each oyster with a small pinch of crispy bacon & shredded fresh sorrel (pretty, again! Yay! We can turn the lights on!)
Serve in their baking dish
Angels On Horseback
The biggest trick with these is to cook your bacon 2/3s done ahead of time, so it’s still all floppy and easy to wrap around your oysters, but actually cooks crisp before you’re all like “Why am I eating rubber bungs wrapped in bacon? Am I in trouble?”
2 dozen bitesize fresh oysters out of their shells
12 strips of (streaky) bacon, cut in half (or 8 in 1/3s)
Tooth picks soaked in water for half an hour
(Optional) Sorrel Sauce, Horseradish Sauce, or fresh lemon/lime wedges
Cook bacon 2/3s done, remove, drain, cut, allow to cool
Wrap each oyster in bacon, overlapping by about an inch, and stab with toothpick
Grill on BBQ, or Broil under oven grill until bacon crisps. About 4 minutes the first side, 2 min the other side.
Serve plain or with dollops of sauce or wedges of citrus.
(Leave on their sticks, food always tastes better on a stick. Brazilians even serve food on swords. Which, let’s face it, is just f*cking cool. Also dangerous to dislike. Win/win.)
Only oysters available her in KY are from Washington state... eh nope. Apalachicola oysters or none for us this season. The last hurricane sort of messed that up (Michael).
Tonight: Pork carnitas, refried beans and diablo shrimp & greens salad with tortillas.
Ate the burritos for breakfast, chicken& rice with scrambled eggs and red/green peppers and tomatillo sauce.
7 Layer Salad - Layer the below into a bowl and keep chilled til near to serving:
Lettuce (any type)
1 1/2 cups or so fresh steamed or frozen green peas thawed, cooked through to taste and cooled.
1 sweet onion (diced)
Slather a layer of ranch or green goddess dressing
1 cup or so green/yellow or red pepper (diced) OR diced celery (option)
2 cups cheddar or Colby jack cheese (shredded)
1 pound bacon (cooked, drained & crumbled)
You can switch up dressings or even ditch it entirely and you can switch the bacon for hard boiled egg if you want to or switch the cheese to blue cheese crumbles or an herbed feta. Super forgiving recipe... lots of ways to do a variation with whatever may be on hand.
Tonight for dinner we had pork chops, marinaded with garlic, sage, thyme and olive oil, topped with chorizo, onion and apple salsa. Drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction. Served with tinned tomatoes and home made air fried chips. I thought it was delicious. Rory thought it was all a bit too much. 'pork chop and chips' was all he wanted!!!
