Oh Maggie

• Just because a recipe calls for it doesn't mean you have to use it (I hate cilantro but love parsley)
• Do not ever believe the number of servings because it makes a big difference on who you are feeding
• Good cooking does not have to be or should it be difficult
• Not everything has to be made from scratch
• Great ideas come from food magazines but be daring and change them up
• Cooking for family and friends is good for the soul

  

 

I have a cat named Magpie.  To all her friends she's known as Maggie.  I have had four cats in my life and I know that Maggie in a previous life was a dog.  I know this because she comes when you call her, she's incredibly needy, she understands hand signals and she "talks."  I have had both dogs and cats and Maggie isn't your typical cat. but she may be your typical dog

Now this story isn't entirely about my cat ,although, I think she deserves her own book, it's about what is O.K. to eat.  I am not of the persuasion that people food is OK for pets.  Actually, I frown on it.  My Mother and my Husband always felt it was just fine to feed the critters from the table.  Guess who was the only one that didn't get begged from.  

But when I'm at the counter and my cat who thinks she is a dog starts crawling up my leg while I'm chopping an onion and screams at me, I might give in---just a little.  Do I give her the onion? No, that would be just another mess I'd have to clean up from the floor.  But I will admit to this, I have given her minuscule pieces of shrimp, lamb and beef.  Did she eat them?   Oh no, you would have thought I gave her rat poison.  What did she eat today?  A piece of newspaper.  I'm sure I'll hear the retching later.

Now everyone in their right mind is thinking who would pass up shrimp for part of the editorial column as a snack.  Well I think that this relates to what we are programmed to accept as edible.  Maggie's mom or peers never told her that newspaper didn't fall into the food pyramid, now the food circle.  

We all have differing opinions on what is acceptable to ingest and much of it is based on the "ich" factor.   The "ich" factor isn't the same for all people.  I have eaten Haggis and I liked it.  Many declined to even taste it based on their "ich" factor---that it contained various sheep parts, suet, oatmeal, stock and was cooked in the sheep's stomach.  My Mom was one who declined the offer.  This was the same woman that made me eat calves liver.

I have also thoroughly enjoyed kidney stew and blood sausage.  They aren't the grossest things out there but to some people I am not entitled to write about food because they feel some of the things I eat don't qualify as edible.  But I'm telling you don't knock it until you've tried it unless of course it's the New York Times.

I am not giving you a recipe with an "ich" factor.  You just wouldn't make it.  It is possible to "ich" this up by ruining it with a slather of orange, cherry or apricot sauce, just don't do it.

Roasted Duck

1 Pound Golden potatoes halved or quartered dependent on size

1 5 lb. duck

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons parika

1 teaspoon black pepper

Pre heat oven to 375

Put potatoes in bottom of roasting pan.  Mix seasonings together and rub all over duck.  Set duck on top of potatoes.  After one hour baste with accumulated fat..After 45 minutes, baste again and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.

This is great with sweet sour cabbage.

Dueling Spoons

• Just because a recipe calls for it doesn't mean you have to use it (I hate cilantro but love parsley)
• Do not ever believe the number of servings because it makes a big difference on who you are feeding
• Good cooking does not have to be or should it be difficult
• Not everything has to be made from scratch
• Great ideas come from food magazines but be daring and change them up
• Cooking for family and friends is good for the soul

  

When my husband and I got married we rented an apartment that was very close to my Mom's house so we often had dinners together.  This is not to say we cooked together.  About the only thing that we allowed to be done for one another was the setting of the table.  My Mom and I were great friends until it was time to cook.  I didn't stir the pot correctly.  She didn't chop the vegetables the way I did.  "Don't use that knife."  "You're putting in too much salt."  "That isn't brown enough."  And finally, either of us at some point, speaking in a very loud voice, "just let me do it!"

We enjoyed each others company, food and drink but not sharing the kitchen.  I think that actually quite a few cooks get territorial when it comes to their kitchens.  A friend of mine won't allow anyone behind her counter.  I'll step back there just to make her insane.  But I'd never, ever offer to help her cook.  I know better.

Happily, when my Mom and my husband and I combined our living arrangements it was in the spirit of togetherness and yet maintaining our privacy.  We bought a two flat.  She had her kitchen and I had mine.  She could "tsk" all she wanted while I cooked and I had the same luxury when she was the chef.  But I didn't stir her pots and she didn't stir mine, if you know what I mean.

One of the things we enjoyed was our soup and bread night.  We did this once a week and either she or I would make the soup and the other would make the bread.  As a rule, I generally did better in the bread department and she did better with the soups.  

But there was one glorious, mark it on the calendar day when I heard "this soup is best one yet."  I made sure the next day that I actually heard it correctly, that I wasn't dreaming.  My husband confirmed it.  I had made the best soup .  I was ready to call off all future soup making.  I wanted to embroider that and hang it up in my kitchen and point to it the next time I was tsked in the kitchen.

 

Do I think this is the all time best soup recipe?  It doesn't matter, my Mom did.

Peanut Soup

 

 

2 ribs celery, chopped  

1 small onion, chopped

1 stick (4 ounces) butter

3 tablespoons flour

2 quarts chicken broth, heated

2 cups peanut butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 teaspoon celery salt

1 cup ground peanuts

Sauté the celery and onion in the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven for 5 minutes. Add the flour, stirring until blended. Stir in the hot chicken broth. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Strain, discarding the solids. Return the liquid to the saucepan. Stir in the peanut butter, lemon juice, salt, and celery salt. Cook just until heated through, stirring frequently. Ladle into soup bowls. Sprinkle with ground peanuts. Makes about 2 1/2 quarts.

 

 

 

  

Bits of info

• Just because a recipe calls for it doesn't mean you have to use it (I hate cilantro but love parsley)
• Do not ever believe the number of servings because it makes a big difference on who you are feeding
• Good cooking does not have to be or should it be difficult
• Not everything has to be made from scratch
• Great ideas come from food magazines but be daring and change them up
• Cooking for family and friends is good for the soul

  

 

I have been cooking for over 40 years.  I can't begin to imagine how many meals that amounts to or how many groceries have passed through my various kitchens.  When you do the same thing repeatedly you're bound to pick up a thing or two, or as Heloise likes to call them, Helpful Hints.  I hope at least a couple of these are new and helpful.  They sure were to me when I finally figured them out.

 

Fresh mozzarella can be very difficult to slice.  Put it into the freezer for 15 minutes and then use your egg slicer to slice it up.

 

Save your Parmesan rinds in the freezer.  Throw one into your next stew or soup recipe.

 

Never, ever, ever use bottled lemon or lime juice.  When citrus is on sale buy a few and zest and juice.  The zest can be stored in a freezer bag.  I have a plastic ice cube tray that I marked with a permanent marker for a one tablespoon measure.  After the cubes are frozen, remove and store in a freezer bag.  I also do this with oranges.  If  I happen to want to eat the orange, I zest it first.

If you're storing a tomato based product in a plastic (think Tupperware) bowl, try lightly wiping with olive or vegetable oil to avoid the annoying red stain that never comes out.

When measuring honey or peanut butter, lightly coat the measuring tool with a little vegetable oil to make dispensing easier.  Also do the same with a spatula when stirring a sticky dough.

I do not own a rolling pin.  Instead I use a 2 liter bottle filled with ice water.  It rolls just fine and keeps the dough from getting too warm.

There are lots of tips for returning rock hard brown sugar to it's original consistency (15 seconds in the microwave).  Better still, prevent this in the first place by keeping your brown sugar in the freezer.  It doesn't take long to thaw and keeps it lump free forever.

When you add raw onions to a dish it can sometimes be too overpowering and sometimes create indigestion.  Put the onions in a col lander and pour a little boiling water over the onions.  Drain and pat dry.  It tames the onions.

 

Don't have a fat separator?  Allow the liquid to come to room temperature.  Fill a zip lock freezer bag.  After fat floats to top, snip a small hole in the bottom of the bag and controlling the flow with your hand, stop when the fat gets to the bottom.

 

Hate curling pork chops?  Cut slits, 2 inches apart through the fat and connecting tissue.

 

The best way to cook bacon is in the oven.  Preheat to 375, place bacon on a cooling rack set inside a rimmed cookie sheet.  Bake for 15-18 minutes.  Bacon comes out perfect every time and there isn't grease spattered all over your kitchen.

 

If you insist on frying your bacon and you don't want it to curl, dip the slices in cold water before frying.

 

Are your eggs still fresh?  I have noticed that eggs keep well beyond the date stamped on the carton, so how to tell?  Put the raw egg into a bowl of water, if it floats, throw it out.  If one end is upright, it is getting old and should be used soon.  If the egg doesn't float, it is fresh.

 

A damp paper towel brushed downward on an ear of corn removes all the silk.

 

I am not good at separating eggs so I use a funnel.  The white runs through and the yolk stays in the funnel.

 

When you have a million dishes to make (think Thanksgiving) there is one thing you can safely do ahead.  Make your favorite mashed potatoes.  Once finished, put the pan inside a larger bowl that has one inch of water that has been brought to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and your potatoes will keep for hours.  Keep an eye on the water, adding more if necessary.

 

Charcoal works better than baking soda in removing refrigerator odors.  

 

This tip is for the leftover pork butt, slice it up, warm it up, put it one a Kaiser roll with some horseradish.  Um, Um good!

 

Roast Pork Butt

 

 salt and pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

6 pounds pork butt roast

2 onion, sliced

20 new potatoes, raw

16 carrots, peeled

2 cups mushrooms, halved

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Sprinkle pork on all sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder; rub into meat. Sear the meat on all sides until lightly brown. Transfer to a roasting pan. Place onion slices over meat and in the roasting pan. Fill the pan 2/3 full of water. Cover and place in preheated oven for 3 hours. Add the potatoes and carrots; cover and cook 45 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook another 15 minutes. Remove and let stand at least 10 minutes before serving.