Home Cooking - Peach Cobbler, Chocolate Pie

A rainy Sunday prompted one experiment in cooking. Homemade chocolate meringue pie as made by Jonah's grandma on his Dad's side. Gran. I used her recipe as given to my daughter for chocolate pudding made from Hershey's cocoa and made some "egg icing" (meringue) to go on top. My homemade pie crust was a little tough but all in all, the results were delicious. Homemade pudding tastes NOTHING like the kind from a box.

The second experiment was to make a simple peach cobbler. I just used a large can of peaches in heavy syrup. I doubled the recipe since I couldn't find my square pan and used the rectangular pan instead.

Subway

Jonah is back home today from visiting his Dad in Tennessee. We just went around the corner and got Subway for supper. Meatball sub for the Jonah and Mia and split a foot long Sweet Onion Chicken Teriaki for me and Roger. Plus 3 homemade style cookies. Very satisfying and convenient.

Pot Roast = Love

I took my two granddaughters to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese today. They had a blast but I was worn out when I got home. Thank goodness I had put on a pot roast before I left. If you could put love on a plate, for me, it would be pot roast or beef stew. It was always my favorite. My mother made both - mostly beef stew - in a pressure cooker. When my daughter was born prematurely and had to stay in the hospital for a while, my mother came up to visit and take care of me. The first thing my mother did was to buy a pressure cooker and a rocking chair for me and then she made beef stew.

I was in a hurry this morning so I put a large piece of chuck roast in my dutch oven. It was only partially thawed and it covered the whole bottom of the pan. I poured in a can of beef broth, a bag of baby carrots, a large onion cut in wedges and as many yukon gold potatoes as I felt like peeling. I added some water and salt and pepper, and put the covered pot in a 300 degree oven. Five hours later, I got home a little worried, but the roast was perfect - rich, brown and tender.

Pork Chops and Home Fries

Boneless pork chops baked in the oven with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and home fries. It took me a long time to learn how to make great home fries. Now I start with baked potatos (5 minutes in the microwave). I slice the potatos peel and all, add sliced onion and cook them in olive oil and a little bacon grease until the onion is tender and the potatoes are brown and crisp. So good.

Leftovers - Pork Fried Rice

Pork fried rice for dinner. Onion and green pepper, chunks of leftover boneless pork chops, cooked rice, two scrambled eggs, soy sauce and a little pork gravy from a dry seasoning packet. Egg rolls on the side and cole slaw with Ken's light Asian Sesame dressing. Roger says he would definately eat it again.

Chicken Marsala

Karin and Alan came over for dinner last night. They just had a new grandchild and Karin's birthday is next week. Also, they were willing to help me with this new blog attempt. The menu was Chicken Marsala, Brushetta with roasted garlic and tomato, salad, white sangria and homemade cannoli for desert.

It all started off well enough. I got the right ingredients. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs and chicken breast, French bread, a bottle of Pinot Grigio for white Sangria and a bottle of Marsala for the chicken. Oh, I also got ricotta cheese, mini chocolate chips and cannoli shells and lemons and limes for the sangria.

I returned from the store at 3:00 and immediately put the chicken into roast with olive oil and seasoning. I thought it would be faster that way and I was worried about not having a large enough skillet. I also put in a head of garlic to roast and a Roma tomato. I was hoping that wrapping in foil would keep the garlic odor shielded from my garlic-hating husband.

By the time my guests arrived at 5:00, everything was ready and I ran to freshen up and serve the sangria. I had Alan add his own garlic and tomato to the brushetta. He and Karin declared that successful. We had a great time and while he was here, Alan fixed my printer driver problem on my computer. (Thanks, Alan!)

Lessons learned:
1. Roasting chicken is good for the chicken but not so much for the sauce and chicken Marsala is all about the sauce. The sauce tasted good but was too thin. I think browning the chicken and cooking it in the same pan would have made for much better sauce.

2. I wish I wouldn't have broken up the chicken into pieces. By the time I stirred it and added more (too much) Marsala to give it flavor, the chicken was a shredded (but tasty) mess.

3. The new sangria pitcher works great but makes one big bottle of wine look like a few drops in the bottom. Seriously, it looked kind of funny. Need at least two big bottles next time.

4. Leftover fruit soaked with wine makes great lemonade the next day.

Fajitas

Fajitas for dinner. Leftover steak and chicken, a little taco seasoning, warm tortillas, sauteed onions and peppers. Salsa, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, guacamole. Easy to make. Good to eat. Good for parties since everything can be made ahead and just heated at the last moment.

Wonder how they get the sizzle in the restaurants? With cheap and plentiful ingredients presentation is everything. Cast iron skillets preheated in the oven and a little lime juice squeezed on at the last minute. Would that get the sizzle? I think about those little individual cast iron skillets you see sometimes. Decorated serving platters with little bowls for condiments. I can see where a few serving pieces could make a fajita party special. Here is one item I impulsively purchased at the grocery store. A beautiful clear pitcher (plastic) with a lid and even a cooling tube. Perfect for Sangria. And how about watermelon for desert?

The Cuban Connection

After 30 some years of living in Tampa, Cuban food is part of me now. Chicken and yellow rice has become a staple in our diet, my grandson's favorite. It starts slowly when you come here. First you have a Cuban sandwich or Cuban toast and Cafe con Leche (strong coffee with hot milk). My son went to visit his relatives in Missouri when he was young and asked for black beans and yellow rice. At first they thought he was kidding, but his stepmother found the ingredients and made the black beans. The family wasn't impressed. No flavor. They didn't know the small touches, garlic, peppers, onions, vinegar, olive oil, bay leaf, pork jowl to season the beans just right. (Though no one can beat them at making great northern or pinto bean soup!)

It is different today. Black beans are much more popular than they were back then. It is hard for me to judge since I use them almost weekly. Anyway you gradually become more adventurous until you are a bit of a gourmet. I don't eat Cuban food as often as I would like since my husband is not a fan of garlic but I did go to a favorite little Cuban eatery last night and I thought you might like to hear about the offerings. Cuban food is famous for huge servings and cheap prices. I went to Pipo's which has been a favorite for years. The flavor was not what I remember though from the little hole in the wall I used to visit. This restaurant was much prettier but I think the food has been Americanized. The prices were a little higher, too.

I had the speciality, roast pork and yellow rice. It was good but not as brown and rich and garlicy as I remember. It is traditionally marinated with a mojo sauce of sour orange, onion and garlic and cooked until it falls apart. Here are some other offerings from the menu:

Boliche - eye of round stuffed with chirizo sausage

Palomilla Steak - breaded steak with garlic, onions and lime

Milanesa Steak - breaded steak with marinara, chopped eggs, peas, parsley, pimentos and cheese

Ropa Vieja - shredded flank steak in a rich stew with onions and peppers

Picadillo - ground beef with onions, peppers, capers and olives

Russian Trout - breaded fish filet with white wine and butter sauce with onions, chopped eggs, peas, pimentos and parsley

Caldo Gallego - rich spicy soup of navy beans, potato and turnip greans. (I think my old version used to have chirizo. I add a lot of hot sauce especially when I have a cold.)

Fried Plantains - Crispy, salty, slightly sweet banana-like chunks.

Ymmmm! All served with huge mounds of delicious yellow rice, black beans and chewy Cuban bread.

I have decided. When my neighbor, Sylvia, gets home from her travels I will buy the ingredients and have her make us a feast. She often brings down homemade black beans but I want to taste her Palomillo Steak and her Boliche. She also brings flan which is actually not a favorite even of mine. I usually like custard deserts, but flan is not one of my favorites. I don't know how to tell her though since it is made with love, expensive ingredients and a great deal of trouble. Have I made you hungry? I am eating yellow rice for breakfast! Would have cuban toast, too, but we don't have any.

Feast - Cleaning out the fridge for the end of the month

Well, here is our first Sunday supper. I had invited Karin and Alan for chicken Marsala but the reality of fixed income came into play. I changed the invite to next weekend and cooked what was in the freezer which happened to be the last two bacon-wrapped filets from Omaha Steak. I bought a bottle of wine (Inglenook Merlot) and a loaf of french bread, two fresh corn, a tomato and a watermelon which was too mushy to eat once we cut it open. The steaks were cooked under the broiler for 7 minutes on one side and 5 on the other. I baked two potatoes and made lettuce salad with half of the tomato. Fantastic dinner. Steak was medium rare, red and warm in the middle. I didn't find a recipe for the 1 cup of leftover ricotta still in the refrigerator. Promise to do better next week for originality though I doubt I could improve on the taste. My grandson, Jonah, flew to Tennessee today to visit his dad. Roger's sister, Mary, came to visit for a while with her little malty poo. Hope everyone had a happy Sunday. Don't worry. Nibbles got some, too.