Friday Noon

I had originally wanted to go to the market today and buy some orzo. I've never made it but wanted to try - sounds pretty simple. BUT it's snowing (again!) so I opted to go to the fridge and poke around. Found a 'tube' of Italian sausage that I had once bought with the intention of browning it and using some on top of a homemade pizza (but never got around to it).

So I browned that up, put most of it into a 'suck bag' and into the freezer and am making a sausage/tomato sauce w/onions and mushrooms for pasta tonight.

I've been a bit absorbed by the Olympics recently so the other night I made a simple tomato soup and a BLT...... STILL wanna try a couple of orzo recipes, tho...... have to make a dinner (probably sea bass) for friends in a few weeks and orzo would be a great accompaniment! I'll keep you informed.

I've been selling some stuff on ebay and got a bit of extra cash so I bought a couple of new pots - a 2 qt and a 4 qt stainless tri-clad (aluminum sandwiched between stainless steel) and they're awesome! I have a 13" skillet of the same brand so they perform just as expected!

I also bought a 6 qt porcelain-coated cast iron cocotte (w/lid) for stuff like lamb shanks, BIG stews, short ribs etc - hell, I could even roast a chicken in there! (can't WAIT to try that!).

That's it for now - maybe tomorrow I'll work on the orzo.

Wednesday Afternoon

I made a BIG batch of Chicken Cacciatore (or, my version of it, made with boneless chicken) and added the rice like before. I'm anxious to see if a large batch has the same taste as the smaller portion that I made last week. It's in the fridge now, 'marrying'..... it's for dinner tomorrow night.

Today I received the rotisserie for my gas grill that I ordered - I just HAD to buy a small chicken and try it out tonight. It's currently turning at about 425 degrees for about another 30 minutes and then I'm going to turn it down to about 250 for a couple of hours.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Sunday

Open House today..... pray for this Victorian relic to sell, please.

Today sounds like a good day for a couple of grilled brats and some homemade mac and cheese.... with some great sweet/hot mustard and the Olympics!

Wednesday Eve

Well I'm not sure that I can truly call it 'cacciatore'.... I'll just call it DELICIOUS!!

Wednesday Morning

OK, I know this is a little unconventional but I have this problem. Remember the other day I bought one of those rotisserie chickens you always see in the market? That's the one that make that great stock - yep.... that's the one. Well I saved all of the chicken meat in the fridge. THEN yesterday I was in the market picking up a fresh loaf of ciabatta bread and found whole chickens on a 'Managers Special' for $.49/lb !!!!!!! Well, I just couldn't resist....... THEN, I had to find a different way of cooking it so I made a beer can chicken (if you haven't heard of it or MADE it, make a comment and I'll explain - but it's GREAT!).

SO...... I cooked THAT chicken last night....... NOW I HAVE A BUNCH OF CHICKEN IN THE FRIDGE AND HAVE TO FIND SOME WAY TO USE IT UP!!!

So here's the unconventional part - I know chicken cacciatore is traditionally made starting with uncooked chicken, but I'm gonna make some with my leftover cooked chicken and some of my homemade stock. The only things I need are a red pepper and some mushrooms.

I'll blog about the results later but I think it's gonna be great!

Monday Afternoon

I know it's been a few days since my last blog - but that doesn't mean that I've been shirkin'......... I roasted a chicken and cleaned the oven...... made a chicken stew and have enjoyed that for a couple of days.

Scored a 2 for 1 pot roast and made one and froze one.... made the gravy today and that will wait for later this week.

I bought one of those rotisserie chickens at the market (mainly cause I didn't wanna dirty up my oven) and boned that and roasted the bones etc and reduced that today..... it's gonna make a GREAT stock!!!!!

Tonight is chicken stew on ciabatta bread..... gonna be AWESOME!!!!!

Thursday Afternoon - Misc (2)

Just sliced the steak........ I sliced it thin..... but then I noticed that that one section of the rib eye (you know, that outer section of either a rib eye steak or a prime rib) that always gets well done but is (OH SO) tender. I sliced THAT part separately and saved it for sandwiches, the rest of the 'eye' I cut up for the 'stoup' (combination soup & stew).

The soup was a little 'tomato - y' for my taste so I DID drain it a little and added some beef stock and then the steak. I may even thicken the broth for a more stew-like consistency.

BUT IT'S GONNA BE A W E S O M E!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday Afternoon - Misc

Besides the recent posts pertaining to what I've been making for dinner, I've also been busy doing a bunch of miscellaneous chores involved with my love of cooking.

I had more left-over ciabatta bread and made more bread crumbs and froze them.

I browned the chicken carcass and simmered it for stock. Cooled it, skimmed it, reduced it, skimmed and strained again and finally poured it into a couple of muffin tins and froze it. Next I'll take the 'stock muffins' and empty the tins and put the (still frozen) 'muffins' into a plastic bag in the freezer for use in soups, gravies etc.

Later this afternoon I'm going to cut up the leftover steak from last night and add it to a vegetable soup (canned - it was on a big sale)..... I'll have to taste a bit because I may replace some of the vegetable broth of the soup with some beef stock (bought).... we'll see.

I've been investigation the replacement of my double oven - it's an O L D model (electric) with no self-cleaning feature. It's also only 24" wide....... a couple of the comments by people who have viewed the house mentioned it. I've been selling some stuff on ebay so I MIGHT invest in a new double oven. I also should replace the cooktop. It's one of those glass-topped electric models but the glass has a new crack and the whole thing should be replaced. I wish I could buy a GAS model, but then I'd have to have a gas line run and, as much as I hate electric burners, I might just do an electric model. I think the combination of the cooktop and new ovens might add to the value of the house (for sale).

I'm getting the 'itch' to replace some of my pots/pans...... most of mine are inherited pots from my family (the older Revere-ware) but they no longer sit flush on my cooktop. Plus, newer pots are triple-layered (stainless steel outside/inside with a layer of aluminum between for conductivity)....... I have an 'All-Clad' pot that I'm fond of but I don't see a huge advantage for the BIG cost differential. I may have to investigate this - not that I NEED a lot of pots, but I just want a couple that don't wander around the stove when I try to boil some water!

That's it for now.

Thursday Morn

I had a lot of snowblowing to do yesterday so I wasn't in the mood for a complicated dinner. I rummaged around the freezer and found a rib eye steak that I had vacuum-sealed (while on sale) and defrosted that and cooked that out on the grill. Baked potato and some candied carrots (candied with a touch of maple syrup) rounded out dinner....... yummy. The steak was so big that I still have half of it left! I think what I'll do is to cut it into small pieces and add it to some Progresso vegetable soup that I scored on sale last week.

Tonight it's back to the leftover chicken from the other night with that wonderful gravy - I'll be doin' the Happy Dance after dinner tonight!

Tuesday Evening

My roasted chicken was p o s i t i v e l y A W E S O M E!!!!!!

BUT

At this moment...... this day..... this week..... this month..... even this YEAR........ is there anything better than a jacket-baked potato topped with homemade gravy? I DON'T THINK SO!!!!!!!

Tuesday Afternoon

I'm in the middle of a BIG snowstorm here. Just finished snow-blowing 3 driveways, 2 walks and a city block of sidewalk. Now I'm inside and looking forward to dinner!

Speaking of dinner, I was going to make a beef roast but I didn't want to wait for it to defrost. I had to go out to the Post Office this am so I stopped at the market and picked up a small chicken...... $.69 a POUND!!! It's roasting now and I'm gonna relax a bit before beginning the whole potato and gravy chore.

Sunday - SUPER BOWL

Made myself a small homemade pizza - yummy

My Saints are comin' back - 10 - 3 now!

Saturday Late Afternoon

Last night was left-overs....... but WHAT left-overs!!!! If you've been reading the BLOG you might remember the Sunday Gravy meal I made a couple of weeks ago. Well, I had frozen the left-over sauce (along with the meatballs and sausage) and I reheated that last night and served it over some noodles.... YUMMMMMMMMMM

Tonight is Saturday so it's traditional franks and beans....... hot dogs with sweet mustard, relish, onion and bacon along with some 'doctored' baked beans.

Tomorrow, SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, I may just have to have a homemade pizza..... but I'll need a few things from the market tomorrow morning....... but 'tis a GREAT way to celebrate the Super Bowl!!!

Thursday Afternoon

I had to upgrade a couple of 3-way switches today (successfully - YAY!!) and then do a couple of errands BUT on the 'food front', I'm spending a few minutes making BREAD CRUMBS..... yes, I know, I could go out and BUY bread crumbs, but I've found that they aren't as tasty (or coarse) as the ones I can MAKE.

Now...... I like bread.... but GOOD bread...... hearty, chewy, stick-to-your-ribs bread...... and my market bakes their own chiabatta bread, which I REALLY like. BUT, being the single person that I am, I don't often finish an entire loaf before it begins to get stale. SO...... what I do is to freeze the leftover slices until I get a certain quantity of them, then toast them in the oven at about 200 degrees until they're VERY dry, then plop them into a food processor and make crumbs. These I then freeze (in the same bag that I had stored the bread slices). EASY!

Tonight's dinner is STEAK! I scored a (reduced price) steak at the market and figured I could splurge a little. Soooooo,
Grilled New York Strip Steak with caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms with a big baked potato (wiped with olive oil and then salted and baked).

IT'S GONNA BE WONDERFUL!!!!

Tuesday Afternoon

Hello all:

I'm still here.... just not cooking too much worth posting about.... until now....... I've been experimenting with the pork cutlets even more! Welllll, that's in between an old fashioned hamburger and some oven-fried chicken.

I took the cutlets and put 'em in a freezer bag and pounded them thinner. Then flour dredge, egg dip, homemade crumbs, egg again and crumbs again then fried them in about 1/2" of oil. They cooked in literally 15 seconds (on each side). I was a little concerned that the pork wouldn't be done but one cut into it proved me wrong. They were sooooo tender I could cut 'em with a fork - they were like a chicken-fried steak veal scaloppine!!! AWESOME!!!!!

I just saw a post about a a consumer version of a Sous Vide cooker that has me drooling. It's HERE:

http://gizmodo.com/5461100/sousvide-supreme-review-how-to-cook-from-the-inside-out

Better yet, at the end of the page is a link to a DIY project to MAKE one!!!!! I am SO there!!!!! I've GOTTA buy one o'those gadgets and try this!!!!! The most intriguing part of it is the implications for stuff like short ribs (as mentioned in the link). OH MY!!!!! I may even have to BUY the book mentioned in the link!

Enjoy all you 'foodies' out there..... wish there was a 'counter' that could tell me how many people read/visit this blog.

ENJOY!