What are you having for dinner? (wanna share your recipe?)

Friday said:
making popcorn in olive oil!
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Hands down best oil to make popcorn in IMO is ghee. It gives the yellow color, butter infused, and keeps it very crispy. Making kettle corn with ghee? Next level. But I refuse to buy ghee and can’t figure out how to make it in less than 45 minutes because I’m obsessed with keeping the heat low so it stays out of my reach unless I’m highly motivated.
 
I made pound cake for the first time. I didn’t realize it’s a whole deal make. After I prepared the wet and the dry I thought—how’s this going to rise, did they make a mistake, there’s no baking powder. It’s *all* about the creaming! And apparently old timey pound cake was meant to last a while so it was quite dry. I have a problem with over baking. I check it and it’s wet then I check it and it’s clean, but it’s supposed to be moist crumb. Oy vey. But I always use 50/50 AP and WW flour so my stuff is denser anyway.

Well I was eating it with strawberries and whip cream. In the past I always made strawberry shortcake with sweetened biscuits but the pound cake is divine. I’ve been experimenting with cutting back on sugar in American recipes. I did 2/3 the amount tonight and it’s lovely. But I did full sugar in the whip cream and regretted it 😩. Ah well, I’m too much of a perfectionist. I’ve learned to hold back complaining about my own cooking when sharing it with people; it’s gauche.

Pound cake
1/2 lb. (227 g) flour
I/2 t. salt
(Whisk those)
4 eggs, room temp.
1 yolk, room temp
1 T milk, room temp
2-3 t. vanilla
(Whisk in a big liquid measuring cup or something you can pour)
2 sticks butter, room temp.
1 c. sugar
1 t. lemon zest
Oven 350, line loaf pan with parchment
Cream butter in stand mixer or with hand mixer until fluffy. Add sugar 1/4 cup at a time, getting it fluffy each time. Scrape down as needed. Take your time and make it real fluffy, about 3 min total. Add zest and cream it another 30 sec. The sugar in the butter is where the air comes from in the cake. The crystals hold open spaces in the fat for air. Pour the egg mixture in about a tablespoon at a time , fully incorporating before adding more. This helps the emulsification to stay stable. Scrape down as needed. This part takes about five minutes. Fold in the flour, stop as soon as all the flour is wet. Put in loaf pan and bake about 50-60 minutes until cake tester shows moist crumb. Let cool completely.
 
I made panna cotta for the first time. It’s basically milk jello and it’s so easy! Here’s how I did it.

3/4 cup milk in a small saucepan. Put 1 1/2 teaspoons gelatin in, do not stir. Let bloom for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes it will look wrinkly. Warm on medium until gelatin melts, stirring occasionally. Do not even bring to a simmer, just warm enough to melt gelatin. Add 1/4 cup honey. Stir for like 30 seconds. Add 3/4 cup heavy cream, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, and pinch of salt. Divide into about 3 ramekins or glasses. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve with extra honey and sliced almonds if you like.

I think when I do it again I will play with reducing the honey and reducing the gelatin to make it a bit less sweet and a bit less firm but it was definitely worth making and too easy! Made it while finishing up dinner. Am thinking you could probably make it with just milk.
 
(Buttermilk) Biscuits and Sausage Gravy.

Biscuits
3 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 1/2" pieces and chilled
4 Tablespoons Vegetable Shortening cut into 1/2" pieces and chilled
1 1/4 Cup Buttermilk

Sausage Gravy
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon ground Fennel
1 Teaspoon Ground Sage
1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Pepper
1 1/2 pounds bulk ground pork sausage
3 Cups Whole Milk
Salt

1. Adjust oven Rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees F. Line Baking Sheet with parchment paper. Pulse dry biscuit ingredients in food processer until it resembles course meal, transfer to bowl and mix in buttermilk until combined.

2. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth (about 8- 10 times) then pat into a 9 inch circle about 3/4" thick. Using a 3" biscuit cutter (a 3" diameter can, cleaned and both ends removed will work too) dipped in flour cut out rounds (Push don't twist) gather dough into 3/4" thick circle and cut remaining biscuits - you should get 8 in total an put in pan.

3. Put pan in the oven and bake until they begin to rise - about 5 min. Reduce oven temp to 400 F and rotate pan front to back. Bake another 12-15 min until golden brown, transfer to wire rack to cool.

Sausage and gravy
4. Combine flour, fennel, sage and pepper in a small bowl. Cook sausage in a large non stick skillet over medium heat breaking up with wooden spoon until no longer pink - about 8 minutes. Sprinkle flour mixture over sausage and sitr constantly until flour has been absorbed, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk and simmer until thickened.

Serve Sausage over split biscuits (biscuits can be stored for a couple days in a zip lock bag...)
 
Not got much in so just a (veggie) hot dog with chips for today Food shopping comes on wed so will have fresh salad and veg then. Did make a (quorn) lasagne homemade on Saturday and have a portion left in freezer for tomorrows dinner. sometimes I manage to batch cook but tend to do more in winter when arthritis is worse …get some curries and chillis made up for freezer before a really cold spell cos joints swell in fingers when temps go below 10 and hands get quite painful to use. (Chopping fresh veg etc for healthy meals)
 
We had a full house this weekend, and were leftover with a lot of scrambled eggs… so…

Simplified
Cold scrambled eggs
A can of Herdez salsa
Shredded Cheese x2
Tortillas

Turn the heat back on to stir it all together & half melt the cheese (essentially just protecting the eggs from the microwave, so they’ll be juicy instead of rubbery), heat off, some more cheese to melt in the microwave later, scoop into tortillas, roll up. Freeze to zap at your leisure. (Wet paper towel over frozen burrito, for about a 60-90 seconds. (Unless you have tiny or ginormous breakfast burritos. In which case? Add/subtract time. Easy peasy).

Fancified
Cold scrambled eggs
A can of Herdez salsa
Chopped sautéed veg (peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc.)
Chopped/crumbled meats (sausage, bacon, ham, chicken, etc.)
Shredded Cheese x2
Cream cheese or quest fresco
Fresh cilantro/coriander
Rice & beans
Tortillas
Pico de Gallo & salsa & sour cream & lime wedges (LATER)

Same as the above, except?

- Add your sautéed veg & crumbled meats to the eggs/salsa/cheese half melt
- Add rice & beans to tortilla first, then scoop eggy filling on top, then cilantro & extra cheeses, before rolling up.
- Top with pico, salsa/sour cream, etc AFTER microwaving for a BB plate, rather than something to grab & go & eat in the car.


^^^
I just did up a batch of simplified ones, because as I said? Full house this weekend. I’m wrecked. Just also don’t want to throw food away!

***

ALSO DELCIOUS?

Spam & Pineapple, instead of Salsa&Meats&Cheese

For a bit of a kick? Chop of some jalapeños to add to the spam & pineapple eggs.
 
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Okay! Onto using up the rest of the leftovers?

Arroz Verde, Chicken x2, & Rice Stuffed Peppers (or burritos)

Arroz Verde
- Sautéed onions, garlic, cilantro stems (minced), spinach &/or chard.
- On e translucent, add rice, chicken stock (to rice ratio). And simmer until done.
- top with fresh cilantro

- Chicken = Both ground and chopped raw breast/thighs

- 1-2 cans of Herdez salsa verde

Once everything has cooled, or pulling leftovers out from the fridge 😉, stir it all together, and stuff into peppers, to bake @350 until internal temp = 180… or screw the cooling/stuffing… and sauté it all together until the chicken is done, add some more salsa or broth if it starts getting dry, let it cool & load into burritos, with some cheese to melt it altogether when reheated. A can of black beans, rinsed, stirred in? Also does not go amiss.

^^^ SIMILARLY ^^^
Orange juice, Galic (so much garlic), lime, (marinated pork), and black beans & green rice, (instead of chicken & salsa) makes AWESOME Cuban/Caribbean Stuffed Peppers. If I have a can of mandarins oranges? I’ll usually tip them in, too. Ditto, crushed pineapple, maybe some minced jalapeño/habenero. But the base is sour orange & garlic pork, plus rice, plus whatever else is on hand.
 
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Cauliflower soup, added some mung beans and rose harissa, which made the soup actually, woulda been bland without it

Serves 3 large bowls
Ingredients
1 large cauliflower (1kg), cut into florets
1/4 cup (206g) Mung dal
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp Harissa
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2l chicken stock
100ml single cream - leave out the cream so can freeze - add a little when serving
Lemon juice
½ small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

Method
STEP 1
Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Toss the cauliflower florets in a roasting tin with 1 tbsp olive oil, half the cumin and coriander and roast for 25 mins or until golden and tender.

STEP 2
Heat the remaining oil in a saucepan with the onion and celery and fry over a medium heat for 20 mins or until softened. Add the rest of the spices and harissa paste and cook for 2 mins. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min. Add the cauliflower, mung dal and the stock to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 25mins.

STEP 3
Blitz the soup until smooth using a hand blender or food processor. Freeze now if doing so.

To serve, add cream, lemon juice, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil
 
New Brunswick Stew

BBQ leftovers (chicken, ribs, sausage, carne asada, steak)
Fire roasted corn
Fire roasted tomatoes
Grilled Peppers
Beer
Onions
Bacon
Chicken Stock
Rice

- Sauté onions & bacon in a soup pot, until onions are translucent.
- Add meats, veg, beer, rice, & chicken stock
- Simmer for about half an hour, until rice is fully cooked (add more stock/broth if the rice has absorbed too much)
 
Neanderthal Patties

Based on oldest cooked food ever found—70K years ago—soaked, pounded, and cooked pulses, grass seeds, nuts, and mustard.

I soaked 1/2 cup each (mixed together) overnight:
Moong Dal (split mung beans)
Lentils
Yellow split peas
Wheat berries
Barley

Cooked for about 20 minutes. Added about 1/2 cup each of raw almonds and roasted salted pistachios. Ground the drained mixture in blender (food processor would have been better) with cooking water as needed to form paste. Did not have mustard seeds so added stone ground mustard, packets of Panda Express hot mustard, and cream horseradish. Added salt because I like salt. Because I used the blender the paste was just a tad too moist to form into Pattie’s so I cooked it in a dry pan in a way that reminded me of making choux paste, to dry it out. Formed the Pattie’s and baked at 350 for about 40 min, turning half way. Should have used a silpat as they kind of stuck but the spatula worked fine to separate them. Probably would have worked well in a pan with a bit of oil. If making again next time I would have frozen the Pattie’s before cooking and only cooked one or two at a time. Also, probably would have soaked the nuts with the grains and cooked them all together. But the crunch isn’t bad and the flavor is good. Ate the pattie between two leaves of lettuce with a thick slice of tomato, Mayo and sliced pickle.

I used to go to this great veggie burger place in Sacramento called Sunshine burger and they had grain and pulse burgers and I bet this pattie would be one they would sell. I really liked it.

(Side note, there is some evidence that a “paleo diet” of mostly meat contributed to the demise of the Neanderthals.
 

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