Hello, Ms. Scotia. I suppose I could have left a comment instead of a post, but what fun would that be? Besides, I wanted to be sure you got my holiday greetings …
This is another Lidia recipe out of her “Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy” cookbook with a little change from me. I added some herbs and changed the cheese to something I had. I liked the addition of oregano and thyme in the topping and chives and garlic chives in the eggplant – you can’t have enough herbs with a little restraint. Out of one large eggplant you can get enough rounds to make eight servings. I made a spaghetti and tomato sauce ‘bed’ for the eggplant. This makes a good presentation for a dinner party. Perfect and tasty and keeps well for later (if you have any left over). Guess the only thing to keep an eye on is the seasonings – taste it and adjust to your taste.
I am sad today. I lost a friend a few days ago to melanoma and she was/is an artist, horsewoman, strong optimist, beautiful person. I will miss her in this world!
Be good to those you care about! AND even those you don’t! Read the rest of this entry »
I ran across this recipe from the Create show, Pati’s Mexican Table. It was a meat dish with chroizo and was cooked a different way. I really like the way it came out as a side. It is great warm, room temperature or even cold. It would be a tasty side dish to take to a gathering, especially a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. We had it with some brown rice and the last of our gypsy peppers, stuffed. A good mix of complimentary flavors. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Community, cooking, Food, Frugality, Learning, Recipe, Recipes, Teaching
Here is a recipe I found at Vegetarian Times that I have changed quite a bit. It takes a little over 1 hour from start chopping to finish cooking, so, it is fairly fast to make. I really like the additional seeds and the fig balsamic vinegar in the dish. If you don’t have that, just add some dried figs or raisins to the curry. I think I may add some dried figs, apricots or other dried fruits to the next batch, it would really be a nice melding of savory and sweet flavors. The really more complex flavors of the yellow fin potatoes, golden beets and seeds just add a nice, satisfying “tooth” to the dish. Naan, rice or quinoa, and a sweet tomato, mango or mint chutney would be a nice accompaniment. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Community, cooking, Food, Learning, Recipe, Recipes, Teaching
This is a simple and flavorful side dish good for all sorts of meals. It is fairly quick to make and tastes wonderful. I got the cabbage at my local farmers market when they came in season. There are so many wonderful cabbages to use. I want to try to grow some next year. If you get a big head of cabbage it will last in the crisper for a week or two with the end covered in plastic wrap. A head of savoy cabbage whole kept in the crisper for two weeks and was great in an Asian salad.
I have always liked a little red cabbage to brighten up my cole slaw. I’ve never made hot red cabbage before. I did a lot of research and found a hundred ways to make this dish. This is more an Austrian way to make it, rather than the typical German. What I like about it is it is simple and could be made while making other dishes without much care. You could make it with Stroganoff or German potato salad and a pork roast or ? It still would come out just as delicious. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Community, cooking, cooking wisdom, Food, Frugality, Learning, Recipe, Recipes, Teaching
Nothin’ like great fresh green beans made simple! And you can’t get much simpler than this! I had some fresh blanched green beans in my freezer that I got this year and decided on a new way to fix them. I didn’t want to heat the house with the oven but wanted a nice roasted flavor to them. They were so sweet and earthy and flavorful. So here you are. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: cooking, cooking wisdom, Food, Learning, Recipe, Recipes, Teaching
I found this recipe on the Apartment Therapy Kitchen site with a number of other recipes for school lunches. I’ve been thinking of not using tuna much anymore because tuna is overfished and now full of mercury. So this recipe fit the bill for what I had been thinking about for awhile. Cooking chickpeas is pretty easy to do. Soak overnight, rinse, put in a pot and fill with water. Boil then turn down to a semi-fast simmer for 40 minutes to 2 hours until tender, depending on how fresh your dried chickpeas are, drain and use or freeze for use later.
We went to the Washington coast this week and enjoyed a chickpea of the sea sandwich with some snickerdoodle cookies on the side while watching a flock of pelicans flying up and down the beach looking for dinner. 
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It is really amazing what a 32 square foot garden can produce. This year our garden went wild in greens. We planted several leafy lettuces, chard, collards, kale, two kinds of spinach, arugula, bib lettuce, romaine lettuce and radishes. The more traditional stuff is 3 kinds of yellow squash, zucchini, golden beets, carrots, lemon and burpless cucumbers, bush green beans, 3 bush tomatoes and sugar snap peas. I also plant several nasturtiums in a pot to attract the hummingbirds and have the spicy leaves and flowers in salad and stir fry. Then there is the 16 square feet planted in herbs and peppers….
Last evening, I walked out to the garden and picked the pea pods, spinach, basil, mint, parsley, radish, cucumbers and nasturtuims. Made the dressing and washed and fixed the salad. Easy peasy! Within 30 minutes I had a great dinner with a slice of sourdough buttered toast. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Community, cooking, cooking wisdom, Food, Frugality, Gardening, Learning, Recipe, Recipes
A good green bean salad can be taken to any summer event and enjoyed without a problem of spoiling if you don’t use mayo or eggs or other protien. The beans are harcort verts or skinny French green beans. This salad is good warm or room temp, cold, not so much. So, the perfect salad for a picnic.
I made a much larger version of this salad for our local congregational dinner for the homeless, therefore, no garlic or too spicy a dish. For a smaller group of 8-16, this recipe works well.
The recipe originally came from an old Jamie Oliver cookbook (I think). Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Community, cooking, cooking wisdom, Food, Frugality, Learning, Recipe, Recipes, Teaching
We planted some collards, kale, radish and salad spinach this year for the first time and, even though we planted each in a 1 foot square plot, we got a really good crop. We harvested the salad spinach last week, the radishes two weeks ago and since and the collards for the first time this last weekend. Fresh collards cooked are so amazing. Easy to grow and easy to cook. They are firm to the tooth and keep well in the fridge for several days. Lovely as a lunch or a side for a dinner later in the week.
I am a fusion chef, so, I made this dish from several cultures. Do use either a Walla Walla or a Vadila onion for the flavor these sweet onions impart. The Spanish pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika)# was a revelation! It is so flavorful and, at only $3.49 for a 2.6 oz container, a good bargain. I am becoming an addict because it is so aromatic. The brand is De La Vera by SANMEL. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Community, cooking, cooking wisdom, Food, Frugality, Learning, Recipe, Recipes, Teaching