Onion and Herb Bread

From the Vegetarian Epicure, by Anna Thomas

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 TB sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 TB butter
• 1 package yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 cup white or whole wheat flour
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried dill weed (I used oregano, as I didn't have any dill)
• 1 tsp crushed, dried rosemary

Directions:

• Scald the milk and dissolve in it the sugar, salt, and butter; cool to lukewarm.
• In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
• Add the cooled milk, flour, minced onion, and herbs, and stir well with a large wooden spoon.
• When the batter is smooth, cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until triple in bulk, about 45 minutes.
• Stir down and beat vigorously for a few minutes, then turn into a greased bred pan.
• Let it stand in a warm place about 10 minutes before putting it into a preheated, 350 degree oven.
• Bake for one hour.

Noodling with Friends

For the first time since I started the blog, I got to cook for someone besides my husband! It was my first turn on our rotating foodie night . I knew that I wanted my chitarra that Richard bought me for my birthday to take center stage, so I had two egg pasta dishes, instead of the traditional pasta and then meat dish after the antipasto.


Onion and Herb Bread

The first Antipasto was Onion Herb Bread from The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas. This is so easy! A yeast bread with no kneading involved and the smell is heavenly! The recipe calls for rosemary and dill; I didn't have any dill on hand so I used oregano to make it super Italian.


Dressed Raw Okra, Okra and Salami, Richard Preparing Okra and Salami, Prosciutto with Balsamic Dressed Parmigiano Reggiano, and Dried Figs.

I put out the next two antipastos while I was making the dough for the homemade pasta. The first consisted of raw okra sliced in half and dressed in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper served with salami slices. The other antipasto was thinly sliced prosciutto, parmigiano reggiano dressed in balsamic vinegar and dried figs.


Me Dressing the Parmigiano Reggiano

While we were still eating that I started the next antipasto, fried green olives, a recipe from Venice. Unfortunately, I made a major mistake and didn't read the recipe all the way through! I was supposed to soak the olives for an hour to remove the saltiness. So these were salty fried olives. I will have to try it again sometime to see what they were really supposed to taste like!


Fried Green Olives

After letting the dough sit for an hour I rolled out the pasta and let my friends try the chitarra.


Me and Aga, Richard and Michelle.

The next dish was pasta with pecans and broiled red pepper, which is much easier to make when you have four helpers cracking nuts. I was cooking at my friend Michelle's house and was unfamiliar with her stove and the pasta for the first recipe wasn't quite as al dente as I like it, but everyone seemed to enjoy it anyway!


Jerzy, Aga, and Michelle, talking while helping to chop pecans.


Richard grinding green tea into a fine powder
for green tea pasta with dried tomatoes.


The next dish was what has been a summertime favorite of mine, green tea noodles with dried tomatoes.



Me preparing green tea pasta dough.


Michelle processing the frozen coffee granita.

For dessert we had two kinds of granita (lemon and coffee) and Tea Cookies with homemade Candied Orange Peel.


Tea Cookies with homemade candied orange peel and a
bowl of granita.

We ate, cooked, talked, and drank wine and beer slowly over about 5 hours. I f we hadn't of taken our time I don't know if I could have eaten so much. It was so much fun to cook for fellow foodies and I can't wait to do it again!

For Nikki--Snickerdoodles

I'm afraid I forgot to take pictures of these before I brought them to work, but I promised a friend the recipe. This one is from my 1973 Betty Crocker.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 TB sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, sugar and eggs.
• Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.
• Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.
• Mix 2 TB sugar and the cinnamon; roll balls in mixture.
• Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set,
• Immediately remove from bakin sheet.

The Garden--August 25

I was very lazy and shot these through the office window this morning!



The tallest okra plant is now a good foot taller than my 5 feet 8 inches. I have to stretch to pick the pods. I've started freezing okra now, because it's still producing. The tomato plants are looking scraggly and slowing down, but I still get 4 or 5 tomatoes every couple of days.



The purple hull peas are getting bigger by the day. I put out wire for them to climb, but they show no indication of being climbers, at this point anyway. This is a mad experiment so I have no idea. That's been half of the fun of jumping into this uneducated--everything has been a surprise.

Tomato and Basil Fritatta

This has been one of my favorite easy dinners this summer. Just run out to the garden and grab a few small plum tomatoes and a handful of basil, run back in and break a few eggs . . . you get the idea.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 5 or 6 eggs, whisked with a little milk
• 3 or 4 small plum tomatoes
• Basil to taste
• 2 slices of provolone cheese
• salt and pepper

Directions:

• Heat the oil on medium high.
• Pour in the egg mixture and toss on the vegetables and herbs.
• Heat the broiler.
• Run a spatula along the side and lift up the set eggs to allow the unset to run under.
• When the eggs are set tear the cheese slices to cover and put under the broiler until golden.

Popovers

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees
• Grease 3 medium muffin cups.
• Whisk eggs slightly; add milk, flour and salt and whisk until just smooth. Do not over whisk.
• Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full.
• Bake 25 minutes.
• Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until a deep golden brown.
• Immediately remove from pan; serve hot.

These reminded us of hollow mini-pfannkuchens. Serve with honey.

Eureka!

My husband came looking for me while we thrift store shopping with an excited look on his face. When he took me to the books, I understood why. Someone had unloaded what looked like an almost complete Time Life set of The Good Cook/Techniques and Recipes, an out of print collection of cook books that teaches how to cook and provides recipes. My holy grail, which I have been trying to complete for probably a decade now. I didn't have my list with me of what titles I already had, so I had to go through them from memory. I ended doubling up only one title, Shellfish, which I'll probably use for another give away sometime down the road. With the addition of the six books we found at Goodwill, I now have 26 of the 27 titles, missing only Wine.

Kofte with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cubed stale, firm white bread, crustless
• 1 1/4 pounds lean ground lamb or beef
• 1 small onion grated
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 2 tsp olive oil.

For the sauce:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 tsp chopped mediume hot green chili
• pinches of salt
• and sugar
• 1/4 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar

Directions:

Kofte:

• In a bowl, pour warm water over the bread cubes and le them stand for a few iutes.
• Press out and discard the liquid, leaving the bread in the bowl.
• Add the meat, onion, cumin, salt, and black pepper and knead until well blended.
• Add egg to the mixture and knead with a fork until light and well combined.
• Shape into four patties and fry on both sides to desired doneness.

Tomato sauce:

• In a second skillet, warm the olive oil.
• Add the tomatoes and chili and cook over high heat, stirring until thick.
• Add the salt, sugar, garlic, and vinegar and bring to a boil, stirring,.
• Set aside makes about 1 cup.

We served ours with couscous, the meat patties on top and then the tomato sauce over that.

Okra--Eastern Mediterranean Style

So much okra from the garden, I've been having to try all sorts of recipes. This one was very good, from The Cooking of the Easter Mediterranean by Paula Wolfert..

Ingredients:

• 1 Lb. firm crisp okra, each vegetable about 3 inches long
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 TB coarse salt
• 5 1/3 Tb olive oil
• 2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced.
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced.
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Juice of 1/2 lemon.

Directions:

• Rinse the okra and carefully pare the tops, taking care not to cut into the pod. Toss with the vinegar and coarse salt and let stand one hour. Rinse again and dry on kitchen toweling.
• In a non stick skillet, heat 2 TB of the oil, add half the okra, and quickly brown on all sides. Tilt the skillet to keep the oil while removing the okra to a side dish. Repeat with the remaining okra.
• Add another tablespoon of the oil to the skillet, add the onions and sliced garlic, cover and cook over medium heat until the onions are wilted and golden, about 2 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, sugar, water, and salt and pepper, and simmer, covered 10 minutes.
• Add the lemon juice.
• Arrange the okra tightly in a spoke patter with the tips pointing toward the center. Spoon the tomato and onion mixture over the okra.

The Garden--August 11

Crazy okra!



The tallest one is taller than I am now.



It looks so bare with the cucumbers and the pole beans and cucumbers pulled up.



The tomatoes are almost done. They are looking very scraggly.



But, I just put in my first fall crop, so things are still popping up.



Sprouting purple hull peas.



The mysterious periwinkle (as in I did not plant it and don't know where it came from) is still getting blooms.

"Na drowie"--Polish for "Good Health"

Aga

We were invited to dinner by this wonderful lady to celebrate her husband's and our friend Michelle's upcoming birthdays. This bizarre looking picture was taken after sampling a little bit of all of the following, I believe. Na drowie!


Left to right, top to bottom: Sangria, Polish beer, more polish beer, Miod pitny (drinkable honey), and the small glass behind it cherry liqueur.


Michelle playing Vanna with a bottle of Vodka.


Pizza fresh from the grill and Sangria.

Wow! And did she cook! The appetizers alone would have made a whole meal. I couldn't stop eating them even though I knew the pizza was coming up next.


Left to right, top to bottom: shrimp with olive oil, garlic, Northwood seasoning and Italian mix of herbs, A bruschetta-like appetizer from Krete, Proscuitto and melon, breadsticks, pizza on the grill, and Caprese salad, the red, green and white replicating the colors of the Italian flag.


Michelle and Aga


Michelle and Aga


Jerzy with Ric in the background


Michelle


Jerzy

I think we all pitched in and made the pizzas, very rustic and cooked on the grill, including the potato pizza that was inspired by Larry's Pizza here in the Little Rock area. But, wait, there was still more--the birthday cake from the top picture. It is called Karpatka, from the Karpaty mountains and is supposed to look like mountains and valleys. It is sort of a cake version of eclaires.


Karpatka


Michelle and Jerzy blowing out candles, Ric in the center. Remember these weird double exposure film-looking photos were taken after several forms of alcohol were imbibed!


One last picture of our lovely hostess. Thank you again, Aga, for all your hard work and the beautiful and yummy results!

Bold, Yet Simple

Pasta served with challah and simple refrigerator pickles.


Oven-dried tomatoes, freshly ground black pepper, spaghetti, basil, crushed garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I think the captions speak for themselves. Do I really need to put a recipe?

Experimenting with Pizza

One of the managers at work won a contest and used some of the money she won to order pizza from Larry's Pizza. It was the most wonderful pizza I have ever had.

When my husband and I were trying to figure out where to eat out the other afternoon for a treat, I suddenly remembered Larry's Pizza. Richard loved it as much as I did.

I did my best this afternoon to replicate my favorite, the baked potato pizza, and came up with something pretty good, but not as good as Larry's. I've made a vow to stick to my grocery budget--no extra trips to the grocery store between paydays, so there was no bacon, chives, or sour cream. But it was pretty tasty all the same, and next payday bacon, chives, and sour cream will be on the grocery list along with potatoes!

I also made a pizza with salami, oven dried tomatoes from the garden, basil from the garden, and provolone cheese. Both pizzas had a béchamel rather than tomato sauce.

Baked Potato Pizza Ingredients:

• Pizza crust (I took the short cut today and did the bread machine pizza crust)
• About a cup of béchamel sauce
• About 6 new potatoes, but next time I'll probably double it, baked and sliced into rounds
• About a cup and a half of grated cheddar cheese.

• And I would recommend about 4 or 5 slices of bacon cooked and chopped up and several tablespoons of chopped chives and sour cream drizzled over the top!

Directions:

• Make the pizza crusts and bake the potatoes.
• Prepare béchamel sauce.

• Spread on the béchamel sauce.

• Cover the pizza with a layer of potatoes.

• Then the bacon and chives.
• Then the cheese.

• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 425 degrees.

Salami Pizza Ingredients:

• Pizza crust
• About 6 to 8 rounds of salami
• A couple handfuls oven-dried tomatoes
• A handful of shredded basil
• About 6 rounds of provolone cheese, torn in big pieces to cover the pizza.

Directions:

• Make the pizza crusts and bake the potatoes.
• Spread on the béchamel sauce.
• Cover the crust with a layer of salami.
• Sprinkle over oven-dried tomatoes.
• Sprinkle over basil.
• Cover with provolone cheese.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 425 degrees.

The Garden--August 4th

Well, I pulled up the cucumbers today. They weren't producing much anymore. I have way too many cucumbers, though, from last week that I need to hurry up and decide what to do with. I'm soaking some purple hull peas right now to plant later this evening or in the morning to start my fall garden. The pole beans are finally starting to produce enough that we had some for supper the other night.