I like to play with my food. I like to cut and dice and slice. I like to sear and brown and saute and roast. I like to season with a bevy of herbs and spices and let the food soak it in. Yes, there are good 15 minute and 30 minute and 5 ingredient meals. They do have their place. Like when I'm on vacation and the beach and a sunset walk is just beyond that stove... But a hurry up and get it done sort of cook I am not on the average day. I enjoy cooking. I like to eat it.
Yesterday when we headed home from synagogue it was raining, as it had been since the night before. It wasn't a heavy rain, at least not then. It was more a misty cold rain, steady and drear. Even though we stopped for a hot lunch on the way home, I wanted a home cooked hot meal, one of those that take time to prepare. So when we got home, I changed clothes quickly and rushed into the kitchen to pre-heat the oven, gathered the ingredients and made a proper rainy day meal. Yes, it took a while to cook. The heat of the oven was welcome. The temperature dropped a little more while the meal cooked and the rain came down heavy hard. As time passed, John kept telling me how good the food smelled. Our meal was delicious and warming. Just what we needed for a rainy Spring evening.
Roast Beef with Mustard Pepper Rub, Oven Baked Potatoes, Green Peas with Thyme, Biscuits with Pan gravy
I mixed a paste of Boar's Head Dijon Mustard (with a nice bite of horseradish in it) and Montreal Steak Seasoning and rubbed over my Rump Roast. I put it in a slow oven and baked 30 minutes per pound. This made a perfect medium well done roast. After resting for 15 minutes I sliced it very thin for our meal. Good!
Chicken Kiev, Rice Pilaf, Steamed Broccoli
I've been meaning to try these Barber Chicken Kiev breasts I bought with sale/coupons last month and haven't tried yet. Well today was the day. They taste pretty good, are certainly worth the sale price, but I like the homemade version better. I had leftover rice, so I cooked up some diced red onion, minced celery, a bit of garlic, a little red bell pepper and raisins and then added in the rice along with some cooking sherry. That made a very nice Pilaf to go with the chicken.
Fajitas, Corn on the Cob, Tossed Salad
I'll use leftover roast, cooked peppers and onions, and a little cumin and chili powder for seasoning. We are able to get fresh Florida corn at Aldi and boy is it sweet and good. John likes to add a bit of sugar to the pot when he's boiling corn. He adds enough water to the pot to cover the corn and salts it after it's cooked. I prefer to use just a 1/4 inch or so water in the pan, pop in the shucked corn, put a lid on it, turn the heat up to high and let it steam about 4 minutes. Both methods work just fine. I'll make homemade Ranch dressing to go on the salad of lettuce and tomatoes.
Tuna Pasta Salad, Saltines, Lemon Brownies
I opened a can of turkey Spam over the weekend and cooked a couple of slices for our breakfast. There's an old favorite recipe that calls for canned luncheon meat and cooked pasta. I'll make that meal for the freezer, and use the rest of the pasta to make our favorite Tuna Pasta salad. The lemon brownies are a recipe I pinned this past week. Rhonda made them this past week and said they were really good. I don't have a bit of worry making a recipe Rhonda has already tested. If she says it's good, then it's GOOD.
Taco Salad with Tortilla Strips, Strawberries with Whipped Cream
I'll use just 1/4 pound of meat in the salad. I'll make up the bulk of the salad with kidney beans, corn (leftover from our steamed corn and cut off the cob).
Baked Chicken Breast with Garlic and Rosemary, Zucchini au gratin, Green Salad with Strawberries and Almonds, Leftover Lemon Brownies
Way back when we ate low carb, I found this recipe for Zucchini sliced thin, layered in a pan with a dab of half and half and Parmesan cheese. It was so good. Creamy and delicious.
Sloppy Joes, Homemamde Buns, Sweet Potato Fries, Coleslaw
I'll use just a 1/2 pound of ground beef for the sloppy joes. I usually add diced zucchini, shredded carrot, onion, bell peppers, diced celery to the meat. We'll have enough meat filling to put some in the freezer. A convenient meal to have on hand.
2 comments:
I, too, enjoy the cooking process. Last week I had some dental work done and fully intended to throw together an easy vegetable soup. However, somehow I ended up making gumbo instead. David helped chop the veggies while I stirred the roux for a good long time. It was delicious and worth the effort.
Oh Terri, you make me smile.
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