Marjorie Approved Turkey Meatballs

Soooooo, never leaving anything alone, I have a new Turkey Meatball recipe

There are three things to remember
1)  Fresh ground turkey, no frozen chubs.  I prefer turkey from The Turkey Store (Go Barron WI), but you can use other.
2)  You MUST cook by temperature - once the meatballs hit 150, off the heat they go.  At 170 they turn into dry disgusting balls of sawdust.  Under 150 you risk food poisoning.  So get a Thermapen.
3)  Seasoning is your friend - low fat means you need lots of seasoning.  Under season and they are boringly bland

Ingredients
1 lb fresh ground turkey (I use 93/7 - you can use 99/1, but that is pretty dry stuff
8 ounces fresh mushrooms
1/2 onion
1 stalk celery
Garlic (you can use fresh, or use Penzeys Roasted Garlic)
Seasoning as appropriate (depending on if you want Italian, Asian, Swedish, or other style meatballs). For Italian I like Penzeys Tuscan Sunset and for Asian the Sate seasoning.
Salt
Pepper

Sauce of choice, depending on style of meatballs

Recipe
Finely dice onion, celery and mushrooms
Saute onion, celery and 1/2 the mushrooms.  Season with salt and pepper, and whatever seasoning your using.  Cook till soft, then cool.
Spread cooked veg on plate, spread turkey of the top
Spread rest of mushrooms on top of turkey, salt, pepper, season with seasoning
Mix together, but not too much.  Compress the turkey, you get blech

At this point I like to make a quarter size piece of the meatballs (squished flat) and cook, to check the seasoning.  Then adjust seasonings if necessary and cook the rest

Heat pan  medium (I use teflon, just spray oil)
Make meatballs and begin to brown
Once meatballs are brown on two sides (but not cooked yet), I add sauce and turn temp down to low. The idea is that the sauce will bring the temp of the meatballs up slowly to 160, making it hard to overcook.  Remember - at 150 they come off the stove.  Residual heat will bring them to 155

Serve - I like using Rosarios Spaghetti Sauce over Zucchini noodles.

Marjorie Approved

WOW - Creamy (non dairy) Jalapeno Green Sauce (Vegan even) - Low Calorie! HMR Compliant!

A.K.A. the Green Stuff.

This is awesome.  I mean really good.  And it takes a fairly typical salsa/sauce at Taco Trucks (the green stuff) and makes it far more nutritious with far fewer calories.

The bottled green sauce you get at taco trucks and Taqueria's is pretty basic - boiled jalapenos and onion, pureed in a blender with vegetable oil and salt.  Sometimes with garlic, sometimes with cilantro.  Some may add avocado, but most don't, even though everyone thinks it's in there.  It is really good.  To cut the heat, you take out the seeds and the membranes before boiling (which is where most of the heat in a pepper is).  Boil them with the seeds and membranes the heat goes up - your choice.

I have made it without the oil, but it is missing something.  Missing more than the 500 calories a 1/4 cup of oil brings.  The oil adds fat, smoothness and tames the heat some.

Today, VICTORY.

The solution for not using oil?  Soft Silken Tofu.  Yes, Tofu.

Tofu gets you that smoothness, the texture that oil brings to the sauce.  It has just enough fat to taste great, not enough to bust your diet.  It has 180 calories for 12 ounces, not 500 calories for 1/4 cup.  Plus 16 grams of protein, some calcium, iron and other nutrients and minerals.

And it tastes great.  On to the show.

Ingredients

One lb fresh jalapenos, seeded and de-ribbed (wear vinyl/nitrile gloves when cutting and don't touch your eyes!
One onion, chopped (nothing special, it is getting boiled and pureed later).  I use white onions as that is more typical in mexican cooking, but whatever.  You could even use green onions, tops and all.
1 Box (12 oz) Soft Silken Tofu
Salt to taste
Garlic if you like
Cilantro if you like

Recipe
Boil jalapenos and onions for 20 minutes in sufficient water to keep covered
If you like, in the last 5 minutes, add peeled garlic to the boiling water.  As much garlic as you like.

Drain and blend all three ingredients for a minute.  Be careful - it will be hot.  I use a blender, you could use a food processor.  I think the blender gets it smoother.

While blending, scoop in the tofu.  Blend for another 30 seconds.

Add salt to taste (as in, add a tsp, taste, add more as you like, or don't)
Add fresh cilantro as desired, or not.

Serve warm, or put in the fridge to cool.  This will keep for at least a week

If you de-ribbed and de-seeded the jalapenos, the sauce will be quite mild, especially if you put it on food such as HRM Turkey Chili, eggs, as a veggie dip, etc.

Calorie count for the entire recipe 355 - 180 for the Tofu, 130 for the Jalapenos, 45 for the onion. So 355 calories for the entire sauce, which will be about 2 cups.  That is about 11 calories a tablespoon, 22 calories for two tbs.  So this is actually OK on the No Decisions HMR diet as a condiment!

Woo Hoo!

Leek and Potato Soup - 100 calories a cup!

I like this soup in the fall when leeks are cheap.  As in 69 cents each.  When they are $2.69 each, I don't like them as much.  Plus, they are cheap when potatoes are cheap also - 50 cents a lb - so a big win on the budget front.

To determine calories, you must of course base it on what you use.  Your calorie count will vary...

Ingredients

Leeks (3 @54 calories each, 162 calories total)
Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled (18 ounces @ 26 calories per ounce, 468 calories total)
Swanson or Progresso Chicken Broth, low sodium (8 cups, 15 cal per cup, 120 calories total).  Or go with vegetable broth.
1 cup water (free)
salt and pepper to taste (free)
Thyme to taste (free)

Yields 8 cups, so 94 calories per cup with what I used.

Cut the dark green portions of the leeks off, slice in half the long way, then slice fine.  Put in a big pot of water and swish around to get the dirt out of them.  Drain.

Add to big pot and sweat (that is, cook at low to medium heat till they soften).  You don't need oil, butter or anything else.  They will release moisture as they cook down.  Salt with about a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper.

Peel and slice potatoes into 1/4 thick slices.  I do it this way because they then cook evenly no matter how big the potato is - every slice cooks at the same speed.

When leeks have gotten soft (10 to 15 minutes), add potatoes, thyme, broth and water.  Cook at medium until potatoes are soft

Put half at a time into a blender, blend till smooth - be careful and put a towel over the blender and don't fill it more than 1/2 way - to much is a good way of blowing the top off, burning yourself and painting the walls with the soup.

When pureed, serve.  Good hot, good cold.

Turkey Apple Onion Spinach Meatballs in fresh Tomato sauce over Pasta

It is fall, so we have a lot of apples, onions and tomatoes.  In fact, it becomes difficult to find enough uses for them.  So, this is one way.

Festival usually sells one pound packages of ground breast (both chicken and turkey) meat that, while not labeled with nutrition info, certainly looks and cooks like no skin, defatted breast meat.  So, it is.  Ipse Dixit.  Don’t use frozen chubs.  They are almost always fatty, and have lots of bone and nasty stuff in them.  Turkey Store ground turkey works ok also.

Ingredients for meatballs (will make 15 meatballs (or so)

1 lb ground turkey or chicken.

½ onion rough chopped

1 tart apple (I like Wolf’s), peeled, cored, rough chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

1 cup fresh spinach, loosely packed

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp italian seasoning

Toss all ingredients (EXCEPT CHICKEN) into food processor.  Pulse until relatively finely chopped.  

Spread ground turkey out on plate

Spread rest of ingredients over

Mix thoroughly with hands

Form into whatever size meatballs you like.  I go for just a shade under golf ball size, they cook well

Brown in non stick pan with cooking spray.  I cook them at medium on my dial (5-6 out of 10).  These are fragile meatballs - don’t be tossing them around the pan and stirring a lot.  You will break them up.  Brown on one side, turn gently, brown on other, then add sauce (see below) to finish cooking process

While browning, make the sauce

Ingredients for Sauce

5 medium garden tomatoes, diced.  You could peel and seed them, but unless I am cooking for company, I don’t bother.  If you do, you will have to add ½ cup chicken stock to replace the liquid

½ onion, diced

½ green pepper, diced (or more if you like)

A zucchini from the garden would be nice also, as would an eggplant if you had it

8 oz of mushroom would be fine also

1 tsp italian seasoning

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

After meatballs have begun browning, toss onion and pepper in with them.  Once meatballs have browned on at least two sides, toss in rest of ingredients, cook for 10 minutes, covered.  Sauce will be chunky, not smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.  You may need to sweeten the tomato sauce with a bit of splenda if the tomatoes are too tart.  If you felt like it, you could toss another cup of fresh spinach in the sauce

After you add the sauce to the meatballs, cook the pasta.  I cook one (1) dry ounce per person, of high fiber pasta

If I did not add a zucchini or eggplant or mushrooms to the sauce, I would cook some frozen veg and serve the sauce over them, along with the pasta. Basicly, figure out how much veg you need to make your meal big enough.  Don’t use more  pasta to up size the meal.

So, what is the damage….

1lb turkey breast  - 500

½ med onion - 20

1 med apple - 80

1 cup fresh spinach 7

607 calories, give or take

5 fresh tomatoes 125

½ med onion - 20

½ green pepper - 15

8 oz mushroom -40

8 oz zucchini 45

245 calories, plus or minus

3 oz high fiber pasta 225

If you needed to cut calories I would use cooked potatoes in place of the pasta.  I would peel, dice, then nuke for 10 minutes, then add them to the sauce for the 10 minute cook time.  You can figure out the calorie replacement.  Personally, I find one ounce of pasta per person sufficient to satisfy.

So, that is a total of 1,007 calories.

If you split this meal for 3, that is 359 calories.  If you split it in fours, 225 calories.

Like I said, I don’t know the fat levels of the Festival Fresh ground turkey, but it sure looks close to 99% fat free, and there is no fat in the pan while cooking.  If you don’t believe me, buy some turkey store 99% fat free.

If you needed to cut calories more, delete the pasta, cook more veg.  Personally, I find some pasta makes the meal more satisfying, less diet restrictive.  Basically, I am just happier after I have a little.

Calories calculated on www.caloriecount.about.com

Credit where credit is due - created out of thin air by me, David Carlson

Best Way to Cook Bacon Ever?

Makes sense to me (great way to cook brats/sausage for sure).  If only my wife could eat bacon or my daughter would eat bacon.....

So sad for me

Places to eat in Madison - Paisan's

Daughter #2 moved to Madison, and asked me, where should I be sure to go out to eat?  So this is the start of a series - Places to eat in Madison

First up - Paisan's.  

Funniest, and most accurate review of Paisan's I have read said "Ownership of a UW alum license plate and likeliness of an appreciation for Paisan's are in direct correlation.".  That is a true statement - or at least certainly the correlation is there for anyone who has gone to UW Madison.

There is a definite split in views on Paisan's - either people think it is the best thing ever, or they think, meh, kind of average.  Put me in the column of best thing ever.  First up - best Pizza ever.  Thin, crispy crust, great toppings (love me some of that italian sausage).   The Porta salad also gets high marks.  Sandwiches - good. Pasta - only meh.  Stick with the Pizza.  

If your interested in an adult beverage, you have to have the Sangria - available in white or red versions, it is the original wine cooler, only it tastes good.

Only downfall is the prices have gone up - $13 for a small pitcher of sangria?  That used to buy you two large!  

Best Tortilla Chips Ever - El Milagro

El Milagro products are made in Chicago.  And, as with many great Mexican places, they combine both their factory with a taqueria.  Now that is a restaurant I want to eat at.

Anyway - the point is this - these are the best tortilla chips you will ever eat.  Thick, crunchy, tasting of corn, not to much salt ... incredibly addictive.  I buy mine at Mercado Sandoval in Eau Claire for $2.89 a bag - a great deal.

Carrot Cake Muffins

Well, carrots are healthy right?  So Carrot Cake Muffins are healthy right?

Rrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiggggggghhhhhhtttttttt

Well, perhaps not so much.

Picture is not the best - they really are more like the center one in color.  Of course after Marjorie got done putting the cream cheese frosting on, they were all white on top.

Creme cheese is dairy, right?  And dairy is healthy, right?

Rrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiggggggghhhhhhtttttttt

Well, at least it was reduced fat creme cheese.  And of course sugar comes from corn.  And corn is healthy, right?

Rrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiggggggghhhhhhtttttttt

Well, here they are with the creme cheese frosting - a little melty.

Anyway - Food made of Love from daughter #3, Marjorie

Pretty tasty - and she even went out to get me cofffee to go with them.

Recipe is from Smitten Kitchen.  No changes - but Mags made them.  Click on the link if you would like to make them also.

Fish Taco's - Why Don't You Make Them?

I mean really - how easy can you get?  You really just want to have some ground up mystery meat stuffed in a piece of bread?  No I say - especially with Tilapia available year round, and usually inexpensive.

So tonight's dinner - Tilapia Tacos with grilled onions and peppers, corn with black beans  and a salad of lettuce, tomato, sour cream and guacamole.

The other advantage is that this is about the only way I actually like fish, and everyone else in the family is usually wining at me for more fish.  So.....Fish Tacos

Served on whole grain tortilla, this is a very healthy and very delicious meal - one you don't have to feel like you deprived yourself in order to have a good meal.  No, this is not real Mexican food.  But is good.
Ingredients

Corn and Beans
1 lb frozen corn - a great use of your own corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime

Salad
Lettuce
Avocado or 1/2 cup Guacamole
1 tomato
1/2 cup sour cream

Fish Tacos
1 lb Tilapia fillets (cut fillets in half the long way so each filet gives you two pieces)
2 tbs Chicken Taco Seasoning from Penzeys
1/2 lime
1 Pepper - yellow, red, green or orange, sliced thin
1 Onion - sliced thin
1/4 cup Cilantro
4 large whole wheat tortillas or 8 small ones
shredded cheese if you like

Recipe

This is a three pan dance.  Start the corn and beans in first pan, then lower temp and hold.  Make and place salad on plates.  Cook Onions and Peppers in one pan, Tilapia in the other, then assemble plates and serve (see above picture)

Corn and Beans
Heat Corn and Beans
Before serving stir in juice of 1/2 lime and cilantro
Serve.  If you like more spice, 1/2 tsp of cumin would be fine.

Salad
Pile it up - lettuce, tomato, avocado, guacamole, sour cream.  Sprinkle some cheese and cilantro.  Green onions over the top would be nice

Fish Tacos
Thaw and dry Tilapia.
Rub some oil (1tbs or so) on the fish, sprinkle with taco seasoning.  Let sit for 15 minutes
Heat two frying pans to medium/medium high (this is the only tricky part
In one pan put 1 tbs oil, add onions and pepper slices.  Toss till almost cooked to the way you like it, then turn off heat and hold.
In the other pan, at the same time, put 1 tbs oil, then add the Tilapia.  Cook almost all the way through, then flip.  Turn off stove - the residual heat will cook the fish through.
Arrange Taco by placing one to two filets on warmed tortilla, add onions/peppers, squirt some lime juice on top and toss with cilantro

Grand Finale
Set out four plates.
Arrange Salad, Corns and Beans, assemble one (or two) tacos per plate

Spicy Peanut Noodles (not really plagiarized recipes)

Does anyone really buy cookbooks anymore?  Does anyone even use them?  I mean other than as eye candy for the living room table or to fill space on a bookshelf?  I certainly don't (at least very often).

Instead, it is the Internet.  Yes, thanks to Al Gore, we have the internet were all things live in a kind of matrix, waiting for us to explore.  Kind of crazy really.

Which brings us to today's recipe - Spicy Peanut Noodles.  Now the recipe below is not plagiarized  exactly.  Well sort of....borrow from one source it's plagiarism, borrow from two it is research, after all.....

Ok then.  I found this first at Pink-Parsley, via a link on Pulse and Food Republic.  Which of course gave the HT to Pinch of Yum, which collected it from FN Just Recipes, which got it off of Serious Eats  by an author who has her own blog at Once Upon a Chef, but cites no one.  Perhaps she is Al Gore...

So, this is really research, right?

Well, what it is is great.  Great made a number of ways, vegetarian or not.  It is easy to make vegetarian and them simply toss in cooked chicken or shrimp for those of us who miss it.  You can make it spicy, or not.  Also dirt simple to take to a pot luck - make it the night before in it's constituent pieces, bag them, refrigerate, then mix all together at the pot luck.  If you have different veggies  use them.  Pieces of spicy fried tofu would be a nice addition


Dressing Ingredients 
5 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs natural peanut butter (I like chunky)
2 Tbs sesame oil
1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs minced fresh ginger
1/2 Tbs honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Siracha or Sambal - use more if you like heat, less if you don't
1 tbs Sate Seasoning from Penzey's if you do not have the ginger and garlic on hand
1/3 cup peanuts - I use unsalted dry roasted

Salad Ingredients 
1 cup julienne red and yellow pepper.  Heck, why not just one red and one yellow (or orange or green or whatever you have)
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed in a paper towel to remove excess moisture
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken breast or 1 lb cooked shrimp (cook in the same sauce above if you like)
8 oz. cooked soba noodles or linguine or rice noodles
2-3 Tbs minced fresh basil - thai basil prefered
2-3 Tbs minced fresh cilantro
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Recipe
For the dressing, combine all the ingredients (except peanuts) in a food processor and puree until smooth.  Add the peanuts, and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped.  Season with salt or crushed red pepper flakes to taste.  If you just want to whisk it together, that works also.  It does not bother me if the peanuts are whole

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the salad.  Pour the dressing over the top, and toss to combine.

Before serving, top with cilantro and basil, and sprinkle with additional red pepper flakes to taste.

Red Lentils with Garlic and Onion

This is from Whole Foods (mostly) - what I like about this recipe is that instead of adding the onion to the lentils while cooking, your cook the lentils and garlic separately, then add at then end - it keeps the flavors distinct and stronger contrast to the mildness of the lentils.

Red Lentils cook faster than other lentils, and get soft and pulpy fast.  There is definitely no need to pre-soak them before using.


Ingredients

2 cups uncooked red lentils, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (or garam masala, or curry seasoning)
1 tomato, diced (peeled if you like)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced (or chopped fine)
12 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (or minced)
6 cups cooked brown rice

Recipe

Put lentils, turmeric, tomato and 4 cups water into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are very soft and pulpy, about 25 minutes. Add salt to lentils after cooking.  I leave them as is, but whole foods suggest you then purée in blender and set aside (or I suppose it could be boat motor time again).
While cooking lentils, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add onions and garlic and cook until golden brown, taking care not to burn them. You can also add some of the season to this mixture to cook into the onions and garlic - cumin would be fine here also.  Don't use more than 1 tps of seasoning.
Add onion mixture to lentils and stir well. Or serve lentils in bowls, then serve onion mix on top of lentils, allowing the individual to mix.

Serve hot, with brown rice on the side. Great as a meal itself, or great with grilled chicken also.


This is a fine dish with yellow lentils also

Lao Lang Zang - Restaurant Review

2098 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI

Nice place with good food.  I had lunch with my daughter - she the squash curry, myself the catfish curry.  Don't pass on the squash curry - very good.  The catfish curry tasted slightly metallic - no sure if that was from the coconut milk or what, but it was just a little off.  Still good - but ....

Also, they definitely under seasoned when it comes to heat - I ordered the hot (but not native hot) and it was mild.  Barely would of qualified as medium.  It was good, but I wanted more heat.

Good service, nice decor, good location.  They have a good selection of drinks, I definitely would try this out for dinner or a group of friends after work.  Good for lunch also - lunch is $8 ish, comes with salad, spring or egg roll - good value and you can get in and out quickly.  Nice enough to take a business colleague.  Nice enough for a date.

Also has free wi-fi.

For just food, 3 stars.  Add great prices, good service, free wi-fi, nice atmosphere - 4 stars.



Link to Yelp Review

Rice and Beans - Southwest Style (a.k.a. Spanish or Mexican rice) - Vegetarian also!

Rice and Beans are a classic combination across the world.  Cuban, Puerto Rican, Cajun, and many others.

But as far as I can tell, you can't get "spanish" rice in Spain, nor do you get (typically) rice and refried beans in Mexico (unless you are a restaurant catering to gringos)

Yet I love Rice and Refried Beans.  The only problem is most places the beans are boring (and seemingly straight out of a can) and the rice is a frighting dish too often prepared with tomato soup.  Blech.

However, I am also cognizant of time - how can I get dinner made while fitting it in with everything else that has to get done.  And finally you have the whole rice issue - it's basically like eating sugar pills - simple carbs that add nothing of value (although yes, I understand they make a complete protein when served with beans)

So here is my Rice and Beans recipe - Mexican style - fast, nutritious and delicious.  Just don't pretend this is how it is done in Mexico.  Or Spain.

Ingredients

Cooked Brown Rice (You do make extra when you make other dishes, right?  Otherwise this dish takes way to long to make), 8 ounces cooked.  Basically 2 ounces per serving - no more.
1/2 onion, white, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs Chicken Taco Seasoning (from Penzeys), in 1/4 cup water
Peas - 16 ounces.  Frozen works great.
1 fresh tomato, diced (or 2 Roma)
1 Can, Vegetarian Refried Beans
1 tbs Rojo Taco Seasoning (Penzeys again).  Or cumin and cilantro if you don't like heat
Water
Cooking Spray or oil

Obviously you will have to adjust based on how many you are serving - the above is for 4 people.  You want at least 2 ounces of peas to 1 ounce of rice.

Recipe

Rice -

If using frozen peas, microwave about 1/2 the time on the package (your thawing them, not cooking at this time)
Heat non stick frying pan, spray with cooking spray or 1 tbs oil
Add onions - cook till just starting to brown
Add garlic, cook 2 minutes
Add rice and peas
Add Chicken Taco Seasoning that has been rehydrated as above
Cook 5 minutes.
Mix in diced tomato (your heating, not cooking the tomato)
If you turn off the heat but leave it in the pan it will hold for at least 5 minutes till your ready to serve.  Just cover with a clean dish towel

Beans -

Place beans in pan on stove, add 1/4 cup water and seasoning (either the Rojo or the cumin/cilantro).  Mix well
Heat for 5 minutes at medium heat.  Add 1/4 water (or broth) as needed to thin - the beans should be thin (think thick pancake batter), not watery or soupy

Serve next to each other, not mixed.  These are often served as a side dish, but there is no reason you could not serve this with a fresh salad dressed with guacamole and sour cream and it would be a great meal.  Or feel free to serve with carnitas or tinga or grilled chicken

Wedding Cakes Made of Love

Mom is a good cook, she just doesn't love to cook.  She was perfectly happy to let meme or I do it, which worked well for us, because we loved to cook.

Don't let that fool you into thinking she does not understand that food is made of love.  In addition to canning, Mom has always loved baking.  She taught herself how to make cakes in high school, turned it into a business, and has always loved making cakes.  Even when, perhaps, it might of been better to not make the cakes.....but that is another story, for another time.  Perhaps.

For Emilie and Chris's wedding, Dominique made 17 separate wedding cakes - all eight or nine inch rounds. In 14 different flavors.  Raspberry, almond, coffee, vanilla, chocolate, and a whole bunch I don't remember.  It was a crazy way to spend 3 days before the wedding, as the mother of the bride has a few things going on....I guess I did go into that other story, at least a little bit.  But the end result was wonderful, delicious, and added food made of love to our daughters wedding.

At least I was not crazy enough to try to cook for 200 guests.....

Scrambled Eggs - the Basics

Everyone knows how to scramble eggs, right?  Sure.  But it doesn't mean that you can't do it better.

America's Test Kitchen Blog has a decent start at instructions.

But they kind of cheat the info, trying to push you to their online cooking classes.  Which is fine.  However, here are my additions to their teaching

1)  Thou shalt use salt and pepper.  Or at least salt.  If you don't add a pinch of salt, they are not going to taste good.
2)  Thou shalt not use high heat.  Eggs will turn green after they hit 350 degrees - so never cook eggs on the stove or in the oven at that temp or higher.
3)  Thou shalt cook extra baked potatoes.   Left over baked potatoes are your friend.  You can fry them up with cooking spray in a teflon pan (no need for butter or oil), then you can cook them with the eggs in a frittata, on the side, or folded in at the end.
4)  Thou shalt eat eggs on your diet.  Eggs are great low fat protein, and their cholesterol risk is highly over rated.
5) Thou shalt not overcook eggs - you want them set, not hard.  Hard eggs are bad

This is how I would eat in Mexico City

The Grey Lady ain't what she used to be, but still is better than most newspapers.  From last Sunday's NYT, a great article on Tamales, Tortas and Tacos in Mexico City.

Most of what you get in America is not what Mexicans eat.  There are very few places where you can get that kind of food.  In Eau Claire, WI, that is pretty much limited to Taqueria Sandoval and Tacos Juanita  (which happen to be the top 2 rated Mexican restaurants in EC on Yelp, proving at least enough people have good taste).

Fun article.  Makes me want to both go to Mexico City and to eat real Mexican food - It might be time for a run to Taqueria Sandoval for some Tamales that they serve out of a 40 gallon pot by the front cash register.

Ingredients -Things to keep in the Kitchen - Always

You keep these things in the kitchen you can probably make just about 90% of anything you want to eat.  You may have to pick up a protein, but in general you will always have enough in the house to make a meal of love .

Fresh Things - Ginger, garlic, celery, carrots, onions, parmesan (NEVER pre-grated Kraft – whole only - it lasts a long time), green onions, curry paste (if you like curry), half n half, butter, ketchup, Dijon mustard

Frozen Things – bag of boneless chicken thighs, frozen shrimp, frozen peas, green beans

Chicken and or Vegie Stock

Knorr’s chicken base (for when you’re out of chicken stock)

Salt (table and Sea Salt)

Whole Black Pepper for your grinder

Flour (AP)

Sugar (white and brown)

Baking Soda

Cream of Tartar

Potatoes (Russets)

Rice (uncle bens, jasmine)

Beans (dry – pinto, red, black, navy)

Pasta (several types, straight and otherwise)

Taco Seasoning

Soy, Hoisen and Oyster Sauce

Vinegar – Rice, Red, Apple Cider, White.  Yes, you need all four.  And Balsamic can’t hurt either.  The stuff doesn’t go bad, so buy it all.  And don’t buy the cheapest stuff either, especially Balsamic.

Oil – Canola, Extra Virgin Olive.

Double strength tomato paste in a tube (refrigerate after opening, lasts forever)

Dry Sherry, Dry White Vermouth, Port.  Good for many recipes, doesn’t go bad, ever.

Spices – Cumin, Chili Powder, thyme, basil, oregano, bay leaves, parsley, sage, cinnamon, cocoa, vanilla, celery seed.  After that, go for turmeric, cayenne, dill weed, sweet paprika, fennel, whatever you like.

Hot Sauce - you need Tabasco and Siracha.  Even if you don't like hot food, you will be surprised at how much just a little will improve the flavor of many dishes.

Canned Goods – diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney, black, pinto and northern beans, corn, coconut milk, evaporated milk, tuna

Coffee (preferably Hippie Coffee)

Chocolate (well, you don’t need this, but for some reason it always ends up in the house, so you might as well put it on the list)

Peanut Stew (a.k.a. African Peanut Stew)

One of those dishes that you think it is crazy to even think about making, but once you have partaken, it becomes a regular in your rotation.  And everyone loves it.  Although I suppose someone with a peanut allergy might take offense.

Basic idea is that this is a vegetable stew, with peanuts and/or peanut butter. If you keep that in mind, you are free to add or drop ingredients as you have them or are available – don’t worry about having the “right” ingredients.  This is also easy to make vegan if you like.

Ingredients for the Stew

• 1 medium onion, diced 
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 2-6 garlic cloves, minced (adjust based on level of vampirism in neighborhood)
• 1 lb chicken thighs, diced
• 2  medium sweet potato, peeled diced
• 2  medium potatoes, diced
• 14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes with or without green chilies (or use fresh)
• 1 lb total of butternut squash or acorn squash or carrots or other root vegetable, diced
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup creamy (or chunky) peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon curry powder/sate powder/cumin – whatever your taste is or you have on hand – or more if you like
•   Salt and pepper
•  red pepper flakes – use some, but adjust based on your taste buds
•   2 cans (small, not the big honking ones) vegetable broth (or chicken).  

For the garnish – prepare and serve on the side for people to spice as they like

·         cilantro, chopped
·         green onions, chopped
·         jalapenos, fresh, chopped
·         lime quarters
·         unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Serve with Brown Rice

Recipe

Brown onion and celery (and chicken, is using).  Use 1 tbs olive oil

Add ginger, garlic, cook for two minutes

Add vegetables and garbanzo beans (what ever you are using) (but not peanut butter), broth, spices

Cook for about 30 minutes, or until root vegetables are soft

Add Peanut Butter – can use up to ½ cup

Cook for five minutes

Adjust seasonings

Serve over Rice

How to Chop Broccoli - with a video!

Well, it's not my video, but it is still pretty good.

One addition - the stems are good eats also - just peel (or slice) the tough, fibrous outside off - the inside is tender and sweet - good to eat raw, good to use in stir fry.

Roasted Tomatoes

End of summer, early fall is a great time for roasted tomatoes.   They make an easy, healthy and delicious way to make a pasta sauce.  They can also be made year round, although the flavor tends to be less spectacular.   If you are doing it outside of garden grown time, I recommend using only Roma tomatoes – they will have the best flavor available at your grocer.  Second after that are grape tomatoes – the little tiny ones.

Ingredients

Tomatoes – cut into pieces.  Half if grape tomatoes, quarters if Roma, eighths if larger tomatoes.  For a dryer, more roasted flavor, you need to seed and juice the tomatoes.  If you want a juicier sauce, don’t, but you will likely never get good carmalization.

Olive Oil

Seasoning (basil, Italian, oregano).  Dried works well.  If I have fresh, I usually add that to the final dish, not the roasting

Salt and Pepper

Sugar

Recipe

Turn oven to 450

Line baking sheet (jelly roll pan) with foil.  Use several pans if you need to – you want each tomato to not touch the others.  If there are too many to a pan, they will steam, not roast or caramelize.

All ingredients in pan(s).  I use 1tbs of oil and seasoning per 1lb of tomato, ½  tsp of salt, pepper and sugar for each 1lb of tomato.

Roast for 20-30 minutes, or desired doneness.  The more juice and seeds you remove from the tomatoes, the faster and better they will caramelize.  If you do not do this, it will take a long time for the liquid to evaporate and you may never get good carmalization.

These make a great pasta sauce – just toss into cooked pasta.  Or, eat them as a side dish, or as a dressing for fish or chicken.