Day old french bread

This is a very simple recipe and can be made with a variety of things. It does not have to be made with day old french bread either, you can use sliced bread. I would recommend removing the crust off of sliced bread.

Breakfast Savory Bread Pudding

cubed bread, enough to fill bottom of casserole dish

grated cheese

6-8 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon Dijon

salt and pepper

now this is where it can be customized to your likings. I usually add diced ham and caramelized onions, but you can do anything, really. 

mix the egg, milk, mustard and s/p together and pour over bread and toppings. All of the liquid will be absorbed. Let sit overnight. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered. 

**IDEAS**

- sweet corn, roasted pepper

-bacon, tomato, onions, avocado

-sausage, potatoes, spinach

-zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes

Beef Stroganoff

This is a variation of the original recipe. I use beef tenderloin or ground beef and both turn out great. Just depends on how much money you would like to spend.

Stroganoff

beef

yellow onions

mushrooms

white wine

dijon mustard

sour cream

cream cheese

dill

salt and pepper

egg noodles

Homemade Bread

So if you know anything about me then you know I do not know how to bake very well. I found a recipe for a 5 minute bread. With no need to kneed or mix anything. It was really easy and it actually turned out good. It is not sourdough, but it was fresh hot bread. Next time I make it I am going to add roasted garlic, rosemary and some greek olives.

4-1 pound loaves of bread

3 cups lukewarm water

2 Tbls. yeast

3 Tbls. salt

6 1/2 cups AP flour

mix the water, yeast and salt together. add flour and mix till all ingredients are moist.

cover with a flour sack towel and let rest for 2 hours. 

after rising either bake or place in refrigerator.

separate dough into 4- 1 pound pieces. 

you may need flour to form baguette or round.

bake at 450 on a stone for 20 or so minutes.

Asian Chicken salad

dressing:

1/2 cup of each- olive oil, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, sugar

1/4 cup of sesame oil

grated fresh ginger

romaine 

red bell peppers

shitake mushrooms

snap peas or snow peas

carrots

grilled chicken

green onions

toasted almonds

Basil

I always grow basil in the summer and towards the end of the season, I am tired of it. So I make a large batch of pesto, put it in small containers and freeze it for the year.

Pesto

basil leaves

pine nuts

garlic

lemon juice

salt

parmesan

olive oil

What to do with the pesto?

add it to pasta, use as a pizza sauce, add some cream cheese and serve as a dip, mix with sun-dried tomatoes and stuff chicken breast, use as a salad dressing, eat with tomatoes, toss with roasted potatoes or vegetables, use as a sandwich spread, use as a marinade...

What to do With "Store Bought Roasted Chicken"

Sometimes it is just easier to buy the chicken cooked and ready to go. The best deal is a cooked Costco chicken. It is large, juicy and always fresh and hot. A few ideas for the chicken...

- Shred and make quesadillas. Heat the tortilla in a non stick pan, place grated cheese, chicken and salsa on half, then fold and heat till the cheese is melted. Can be served with sour cream and guacamole.

-Shred and add to a quick chicken noodle soup. Saute some onions, carrots and celery in a stock pot until tender. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add noodles and cook until tender. Then add chicken and fresh thyme, salt and pepper.

-Chop and make a chicken salad sandwich. There are many different ways to make chicken salad...here are a few, all made with mayo.

*Celery, red onions, grapes, sunflower seeds and chicken

*Red onion, apples, raisins and chicken

*Red onion, almonds, mandarin oranges and chicken

-Shred and make enchiladas. Heat in the microwave corn tortillas. Roll each one with some chicken and grated cheese. Place in roasted pan, seam side down and close to each other. Cover with enchilada sauce and bake at 400 for 25 minutes uncovered. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream and green onions.

-Cut up pieces and heat in the oven with a little white wine. 400 for 20 minutes covered.

Noni's Vegetable Soup

Of corse nobody can make soup like Noni's. I am not sure what her magic trick is for making it taste so great. Every time she gives me the recipe, it is different. I think she does this on purpose. 

Vegetable Soup

leeks

white onions

carrots

celery

split peas, just enough to thicken soup

green beans

zucchini

kidney beans

prosciutto bone

parmesan rinds

salt and pepper

Sometimes: cabbage, swiss chard, macaroni 

*Note: It is hard to find prosciutto bones, but if your butcher has them, they freeze well

Leftovers

I am not a big fan of leftovers, but Madison enjoyed a fried egg with taco ground beef, cheese and green onions for breakfast. 

White Trash Tacos

I call them "white trash tacos" because they are made with ground beef. Usually if we are having tacos, it is with marinated flank steak, roasted pork butt or grilled chicken.

Tacos

ground beef

onions

spices: cumin, chile, coriander

chopped fresh tomatoes

and then the fixings...

sour cream 

shredded cheddar cheese

green onions

shredded lettuce

roasted corn tortillas

Corn Chowder

When I woke up this morning there was fog. It turned out to by a nice day, but I still felt like soup.

Corn Chowder

caramelized onions

carrots

potatoes

white wine

stock

flour

fresh corn off the cob

roasted poblano pepper

cream

salt and pepper

Burma Super Star

Today for lunch we visited Burma Super Star. The restaurant has been featured on TV shows, in magazines and is very popular among folks who love great tasting food. Many people have been bugging me to eat at the restaurant, and I am very happy that we finally went!! Make reservations if you plan to go around lunch time or for dinner. We went at 2:30 and it was slowing down. It is small inside and loud, but in all good fun. We ordered a few dishes to share. The salad was fabulous. It arrived on a square plate with all the ingredients untossed. It was really great looking and fresh tasting. It was the first time I had eaten tea leaves. The soup had the perfect spice, not too hot but with a kick. The beef and tofu dish was so tender, flavorful and very pretty in color. I am going to go back, soon!

Tea Leaf Salad * Salad prepared with imported Burmese tea leaves, tomatoes, lettuce, fried garlic, sesame seeds, peanuts, and split yellow peas

Vegetarian Samusa Soup * Made with samusas broken up with falafels, lentils, cabbage, and onions

Fiery Beef with Tofu* Stir fried beef with tofu, string beans, red bell peppers, and basil in our five spice, sweet heat sauce

a good thing

Avon Breast Cancer Walk

It’s that time of year again: time to hear my plea for support in another Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. This will be my second year participating in this event. This year’s walk is July 12-13 in San Francisco and I’m hoping to raise enough money to break the $5,000 mark for my cumulative total for the two years. The money funds the education and screening of women who might not otherwise be diagnosed, as well as research. 

You may be wondering how you can help. Here’s one way, I am required to fundraise a minimum of $1800 to walk, but my goal is $2,500! I am willing to walk the walk, but I need your financial support to make that happen. 

To contribute online, you can go to my personal web page or if you’d prefer to write a check, I’ll be glad to send you a form. Thanks again for your support – both financial and moral. It means more to me than I can say in an email. With your money and my blistered feet, we can touch the lives of so many people who need our help.

Eat Outside the Box

Eat outside the box is my new favorite thing. Each Tuesday for the next few months I am receiving food from the Knoll Family farms.

How it works: Once a week we get a variety of organic products grown from the garden. We get to pack up and weight our portions when we pick them up. I have always wanted to work at a grocery store.

This week we received a large variety of rabe greens, Italian rapini greens, fava bean greens, tangelos, green garlic and baby carrots. Everything looks so nutritious. Can it look nutritious? I have never cooked with rapini and am very excited.

For dinner tonight I cooked the fava pea greens, which cook like swiss chard [my favorite], green garlic and sausages over creamy polenta. It was really good. I am planning on making a garlic pasta with the rapini.