Lentil Soup and Kale for New Year's Eve Dinner

New Years Eve I started our new year's resolution to have more vegetables. We went to the Turnip Truck, our local organic food store, to buy something green things and dried fruit. We got cabbage for new years day and some Kale for the eve to have with our Lentil soup. I have never cooked Kale or lentils before the eve. Not sure as much as we love turnip greens, collards, and such that we have never had Kale. It only took about 30 minutes to cook with just a little water in the bottom of the pot, salt and pepper to taste, and some pieces of ham from Christmas dinner. Wash them and tear into bite size pieces. I think they would be good with a few tablespoons of finely chopped onion.

Oh how wonderful. So rich, tinder, delicious, and bright green. Made a pan of cornbread with stone ground flour that our friend Doug bought for us at Stone Mountain Georgia.

Lentil Soup

Dec. 31, 2009

Ingredients

• 2 links Italian sausage made into small bite size pieces and about a cup of left over Honey baked ham pieces
• Salt and black pepper
• 3 large celery stalks, chopped
• 2 to 3 large carrots, scraped lightly and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian and garlic seasoning, Mrs. Dash, a few dashes, ho ho
• 2 cardboard containers chicken broth 32 oz. each, total of 64 oz.
  
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice, my favorite is Delmonte
• 1 and ½ cups lentils, rinsed
• Cook Kale separately and add some pieces to the bowl of soup. Makes it beautiful and even more delicious!
  

Directions

• Heat the oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.
• Sauté the sausage and ham, add onions, carrots, celery and garlic.
  
• Sauté until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes.
  
• Add the broth and tomatoes with their juice.
  
• Season the soup, to taste, with salt and pepper, Ms. Dash, Italian spices, or other of your favorite spices.
  
• Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until all blended stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.
  
• Add the lentils.
  
• Cover and continue simmering until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

I put a generous helping of Kale in my soup. Oh my. That made it even more delecious.

Yeast Based Belgium waffles with Raspberry Sauce

Another cooking lesson with Kate visiting for breakfast. Do you get the theme that Lewis and Judy think breakfast is the only true meal of the day! Kate does not like cooked eggs so we have to be creative with no omelets and the like. So this morning's treat was waffles. Lew got a Belgium waffle iron for Christmas about 5 years ago and we have only used it once. He has also never used a recipe that is yeast based. So it was experimental all the way around.

We had some peaches in the freezer labeled Summer 2006. We heated these up with a little sugar as a topping. We also had some Raspberry Sauce that way homemade by Cleatus Moorehead who brought it along with Cheese Cake during the week. We had a wonderful visit. The Raspberry Sauce was wonderful on the waffles and the recipe is below.

WAFFLES, REFRIGERATOR STYLE (Adapted from Cooks.com)

Super light waffles - whip up the batter the night before
1 pkg. active dry yeast
5 c. all-purpose white flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 qt. buttermilk
3/4 c. butter, melted
4 eggs

In a large bowl, combine yeast, flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Stir in buttermilk and butter. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well so that batter is well blended. Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator overnight.

When ready to make, bake waffles in waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions. Place baked waffles in a single layer directly on oven racks in a 300 degree oven for at least 5 minutes or until ready to serve.

To store, cool waffles completely on wire racks, wrap and freeze for up to one month. Reheat waffles in toaster without thawing.

Lew made our waffles with just 1/3 of the recipe.

From http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,174,149172-253199,00.html

Raspberry Sauce for Cheese Cake or Waffles

Cook in small saucepan:

1 cup frozen raspberries

One cup of water

1/4 cup of sugar.

For thickening combine well in separate small bowl

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

¼ cup cold water

Bring raspberries, water and sugar to boil until the sugar dissolved.Add the cornstarch mixture. I will be cloudy at first but quickly clear and get thick.

Recipe shared from Cleatus Moorehead, former Williamson County Teacher

EGG Frittita for breakfast with Old Fashioned Potato Pancakes

Lew woke up in the mood for a black skillet Frittita, one of our favorites. He brought in the last banana pepper from the garden then with a pinch of this, a shred of that, a little chop of another ingredient and Viola'...scrumptious breakfast.

EGG Frittita
Eggs
Chopped Ham
Small banana pepper (the last one from our garden)
Cottage cheese
Parmesan cheese
Shredded mild American cheese

Potato Pancakes
2 Shredded potatoes--ring out all the water in a towel making as dry as possible
3 eggs
Salt and pepper
Fry hot oil in skillet

One Bowl Fresh Apple Cake

I used to make a fresh apple cak for Kelly when she was little girl. I lost that recipe and have been trying all kinds of recipes during the last few years. Kelly say this one on her friends blog. http://mayamade.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-grandmas-one-bowl-apple-cake.html

THIS IS IT! This one tastes just like the cake I remember. We made it yesterday. Oh yum, yum.

So dark, rich, and tender. Really great warmed up with vanilla ice cream. ENJOY.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups finely diced, peeled and cored apples
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup flour

Make:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Into large bowl add diced apples and sugar. Let stand for about 15 minutes.
• Pour in oil and egg. Stir.
• Add dry ingredients. Stir.
• Add vanilla and walnuts. Stir. It will be quite stiff, don't worry.
• Pour into a well greased and floured 8 inch square pan. Bake for 45 minutes @ 350 degrees.
• Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a cake rack.
• Dust top with confectioners sugar before serving.

Dr. Jam Brings the Butlers Wonderful Jams and Jellies

A basket of grapes to examine in early summer.

Our friend, Leigh Arino de la Rubia just graduated with her doctoral degree early this August. She has been in school for several year. She took some time off before starting back to work full time. During this period she became a "Master Jam and Jelly Maker." She of course calls her culinary delights "Dr. Jam."

Beautiful colors of grape jelly and peach jam.

Breakfast last week with wonderful grape jelly.

We had a good crop of grapes on our arbor draping over our swing. We gave a bucket of these grapes to Leigh and viola a week later Dr. Jam brought us the finished jelly. Now that is what I call a great way to get your sweet treats. Here are some photos of our grapes as they progressed over the summer.

Green Grapes looking forward to a great summer.

Grapes mid-summer getting ripe

The are growing big and juicy.


Finally in Mid-August the Grapes are Ready!
Then off to Leigh to make into Dr. Jam.

Kate Learns to Make Pancakes

Pancake Breakfast with Kate

Our friend Kate came one Saturday morning to help Lewis cook pancakes and learn to be a expert flipper. It was much fun and she learned the joys of buttermilk, griddles, and pan fried potatoes with Cajun seasoning.

Lewis and Kate actually following the recipe!

This is not necessarily always the case with Lew in the kitchen.

We had an apron for Kate but she brought her own.

Banana and Pecan Pancakes with Maple Butter

Recipe form the Food Network with Tyler Florence

* 2 cups buttermilk

* 3 eggs

* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

* 2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1 pinch salt

* 4 tablespoons sugar

* 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

In a large mixing bowl whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla together so they are well combined. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and sugar. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and stir with a spoon to get rid of the lumps. Fold in most of the melted butter and whisk until batter is smooth. Keep a little butter for the griddle.If you want pecans Fold in the pecans.

* 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and finely ground (not chopped)

Or place bananas on the pancakes:

*bananas, peeled and sliced in 1/4-inch circles

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium low heat and swirl around a little melted butter to keep the pancakes from sticking.

Cook the pancakes on 1 side until they are set and then lightly press the bananas into the batter. When small bubbles appear on the uncooked surface, flip the pancakes and cook until golden on both sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer pancakes to a warming plate in the oven while you make the rest. Put pancakes in oven to keep warm: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Watch the pancake and when it gets lots of bubbles, then it is ready to flip.

Kate flipped perfectly.

To serve, slice the maple-honey butter, layer it between the stack of pancakes and place in the oven to melt for 1 1/2 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and candied pecans.

*Cook's note: The trick to perfect round pancakes is pouring all the batter in the same spot and letting it roll out to a complete circle.

Now those are some beautiful pancakes and yum, yum, yum!

Maple Butter:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons honey

1 piece parchment or greaseproof paper

In a mixing bowl, using a spatula mash the butter with the maple syrup and honey until well blended. Roll it up in the paper, like a tube and twist the ends. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Lew boiled some potatoes in Grab Boil the night before then refrigerated. He sliced with peelings on and pan fried till golden brown for breakfast.

We went to the Amish Market Today

Flipping Eggs for Traditional Breakfast

I have never gotten the hang of flipping stuff in the skillet. Lew does it with ease.
For our recipes for the traditional Tennessee breakfast he did his flipping trick to my laughter. Much fun.

A Real Tennessee Traditional Breakfast: Porkloin, cheeze garlic grits, eggs and biscuts

Painting by Judy in 2002 of Barn in Williamson County Tennessee
Imagine the farming that must have gone on around this barn over the years.
Typical of so many barns in Tennessee

Menu:
Fried Pork Tenderloin
Sausage Gravy
Cheese and Garlic Grits
Fried Eggs
Biscuits
Strawberry Syrup for Biscuits

We love our Sunday Morning Breakfast. This morning Lew made one of our favorites: a traditional Tennessee menu that included fried pork loin. Yes, I know the Swine Flu is around us. But as the media and physicians have been saying, "you cannot get the flu from eating pork." We are doing our part to support the pork industry. Ho, ho!

As we have gotten older, Lew takes a few short cuts. For example we buy the frozen biscuits. They are not his homemade specialties but good nonetheless. This morning they were made even better using a pint of fresh strawberries cooked with 3 big heaping tablespoons of very plain inexpensive generic strawberry jelly boiled together into syrup. Lew makes the best fried anything and gravy. We will share his secretes.

Put the frozen biscuits in a hot oven then Start with the grits!

Cheese and Garlic Grits
Go to your specialty grocer and get yellow corn grits. One of our favorite organic groceries is The Turnip Truck in East Nashville. This store is a wonderful Sunday drive and outing.

Ingredients:
One & ½ cup water (filtered or bottled, please)
Four heaping tablespoons of grits
Two pats real butter
¼ tsp salt
½ cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
½ can Carnation evaporated milk (5 oz. can)
Three good shakes of garlic powder
Special hint: Add a heaping table spoon of Parmesan cheese for extra kick.

Process for Putting Grits Together:
Bring the water to heat & add the butter and salt.
While boiling, stir in the grits. (Stir them in or you will get big lumps.)
Cover and turn the heat down to low while you get the biscuits in the oven and the tenderloin seasoned with salt and FG pepper, dredged, and into the skillet.

Stir the grits every 3 or 4 minutes while everything else is cooking away. After about 20 minutes add the cheese and garlic powder. Let the cheeses melt and begin adding the milk to keep them from getting too dry.

Fried Pork Tenderloin Directions:
Salt and pepper liberally then dredge the tenderloin in flour. Put in hot grease and sauté on medium heat until lightly brown on both sides. Not hard to do but very tasty.

Sausage Gravy:
Crumble up the sausage in the grease left from frying the tenderloin. Add an equal amount of flour in the skillet and stir till it is all absorbed and turns a color you like. Turn the fire off or move off the heat. Add equal parts of water and Carnations Condensed Milk or regular milk. Put back on the fire and stir like crazy till it gets creamy. Keep adding milk or water until it is the consistency you like. We like it thick.

Fried Eggs:
See the video of Lew frying the eggs and flipping them in the skillet. Much fun!

Strawberry Syrup for Biscuits:
Clean a pint of strawberries and add a quarter cup of sugar. Let sit for at least an hour and add 3 heaping tablespoons of strawberry jelly. Bring to low boil for about 20 minutes. This makes great syrup for biscuits, pound cake, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Serving Biscuits Hot:
The biscuits take about 30 so put them in the over before you start anything else. We have an aluminum pan that was given to us by Lewis’s mother. In the bottom Lew puts a heavy terry cloth potholder and a terracotta tile we keep in the oven. Just before he takes out the biscuits he puts the hot tile in the serving pan. Then cover the hot tile with a wet paper towel and watch the hot steam come out. Put a clean kitchen towel over the steaming paper towel. This will keep them warm through breakfast!

Start to finish all this cooking takes only about 35 minutes.
It is time to sit and enjoy!

Pot Roast and Some Short cuts

The Tennessee State Fair is a place where farmers bring their prize animals
and sell for breeding purposes.
Tennessee is a big cattle ranching state.

Pencil drawing of beautify bull by Judy at the State Fair 2001.

Surely pot roast is the iconic American food. Wish I was a vegetarian but I do like my occasional beef. Pot roast is simple to make and soooo good. Lately I look for shortcuts for making cooking easier and does not require so much standing up. This is a great one-pot wonder dish.

Rinse the roast off. Pat dry with paper towels. Salt and Pepper liberally. Then I like to put on a prepared seasoning. My favorite is Chef Paul Prudhomme’s seasoning.
Sauté in olive oil or vegetable oil. Cook hot on all sides to seal in the flavors and brown all the surfaces.

Turn down the flame and add onions and fresh parsley. Sauté till clear in the oil after the meat is browned. Add two cups of chicken broth. Then the really great short cut is to add frozen potatoes and carrots.

The kind I by have big chunks of celery and pearl onions. Salt and Pepper the vegetables to taste. I like a lot of pepper and just a little salt. Bring the liquid and vegetables up to a simmer then cover the pot and put in the over at 350 degrees for 2 hours or until tinder. Serve with a big chunk of french bread or cornbread.

Salmon Patty Creole Style

Shrimp Boat Photo Taken in 2004 In South Louisiana

Growing up in New Orleans in the 50’s and 60’s we cooked frugally. Canned salmon was one very economic dish. I never actually ate fresh salmon steaks until I was an adult and moved away from Louisiana. Fresh salmon was not a fish you bought at the corner market. There were seafood stores in every small community and you bought what the local fisherman caught locally such as red snapper, catfish, crab, and crawfish along with other local catches. Below is a version of what my Mom would have served on Friday night.

INGREDIENTS

In Food processor chop finely:
1/3 cup onion (1 small onion)
1/3 cup celery
3-4 tlb. parsley

Beat In medium bowl:
1 egg

Mix in well:
¼ tsp. salt or to your taste
¼ tsp. fresh ground black pepper or to your taste
½ cup Progresso flavored dry bread crumbs

Fold in very gently:
1 can pink salmon, drained and drained

Coating in Three Different Bowls:
1 egg
½ cup flour
1-cup bread crumbs

Fry in large pan in about:
¼ inch veg. oil
========================================================

DIRECTIONS

In the blender chop the onions, celery, and parsley till fine. In a medium bowl, beat eggs enough to blend yolks and whites. Fold in the breadcrumbs, onion, celery, and parsley mixture then season with salt and pepper. Stir all together until well mixed.

Dump the can of drained salmon on top of the onion mixture. With spatula carefully flake the salmon. Fold the chunks with the onion mixture. The secret is to mix as little as possible while incorporating the savory ingredients.

Shape into 5 patties, just about 1 cup each. For a really great crust put in three separate glass pie pans:
first pan, about 1/2 cup flour,
second pan, 1 beaten egg, and
third pan, about 1 cup breadcrumbs.

Form a patty and gently place in flour, flip to other side. Gently place in shallow plate with beaten egg. Then gently place in breadcrumbs. Make an even coating of each ingredient.

Place the coated patties in a large plate lined with wax paper placed well apart. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Use a large skillet to fry slowly over medium heat for at least 6 to 8 minutes on each side. Try to flip only once: use two turners. Cook till golden brown, and be sure they are heated through and through. Drain on paper towels. Serve very hot.

We like these patties served with asparagus spears covered & baked in a little olive oil. Serve along with some buttered rice.