Burgers in Pitas with Lemon-Mint Mayonnaise, May 1, 2017

Last night's dinner was so excellent, I did something I rarely do. I had the exact same thing for lunch today. I made burgers tucked into pita halves, with a lemon-mint mayonnaise and some spring mix for extra flavor. They were stellar, but not as wonderful as the salad I threw together, which tasted of spring and freshness and light-heartedness. My 17-month-old was crazy about the salad, too. He got a little confused about the cucumbers and kept asking for, "More pickle?" He was also sorry I wouldn't let him have more and more and more of the kalamata olives.

For the salad, I threw some chopped up green pepper, cucumber sliced in demi-lunes, pepperoncini rings, sliced red onion, halved kalamatas, red wine vinegar, olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper together in a salad bowl. Then, I sprinkled it with a little crumbled feta and tossed it all. I like this kind of salad, absent of any lettuces or other delicate greens, because it's still terrific the next day.

Burgers in Pitas with Lemon-Mint Mayonnaise

1 lb. ground meat (to make it very Mediterranean, you'd use lamb. If you are not a lamb eater, 96% lean ground beef is excellent)

1/4 onion, chopped

1 tsp. oregano

Salt & pepper

1/4 c. mayonnaise (I used olive oil mayo)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 squirt lemon juice

A handful of chopped mint

Pita halves

Salad greens

Lightly, but thoroughly, mix meat, onion, oregano, salt, and pepper. Shape into 4 patties. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium-high. Cook burgers until browned on both sides and cooked through. Mix mayonnaise with garlic, lemon zest and juice, mint. Spread on the insides of the pita halves. Adorn with salad greens, then add burgers. Serves 4. You could easily adapt this to be vegetarian or vegan by sautéing veggie burgers in onions, sprinkling them with the oregano, and then using a vegan mayo. 

For dessert, we had raspberry shortcake, using some biscuit-style shortcakes I found at Whole Foods. I macerated the raspberries with a smidge of sugar while dinner cooked and we ate. Then, I served them over the shortcake with a dollop of whipped cream. I could cheerfully have just eaten the berries, while my son eschewed the berries and went right for the shortcake. 

Baked Pork Chops, January 26, 2016

Last night, in keeping with her January comfort food theme, Jeannene made a really yummy dinner of seasoned baked pork chops (she used some kind of packet for the seasoning and it included a bag, so my clean-up was much easier), potatoes au gratin, and very wonderfully garlicky brussels sprouts. I added dessert to the meal, a really easy and good from-scratch mint chocolate cake. I'm not usually much of a baker and I definitely don't often make my cakes from scratch, but this was super simple. Warning, though---it was SUPER rich, requiring small portions and a mug of milk!

Mint Chocolate Cake

2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1/4 c. cocoa

1 tsp. instant espresso powder (this brings out the chocolatey flavor)

1 c. butter

1 c. water

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 c. buttermilk

2 tsp. vanilla

10 oz. bag mini peppermint patties (I like York)

Chocolate frosting (I used Duncan Hines' dark chocolate fudge)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, and coffee powder. Mix water and butter together and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add baking soda. Add flour mixture, then eggs, milk, and vanilla. Spoon into a greased, floured 13x9 pan. Bake half an hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Top with peppermint patties and bake another couple minutes. Gently spread evenly across the top of the cake. Allow to cool completely, then frost with the chocolate frosting of your choice. 

Green Tomato Bounty! And Rhubarb, Too!

Last week, a friend from church found out I collect Boyd's Bears and invited me to come over and pick some of hers to take home with me. I was bowled over by the kindness of that invite and will be going later this week to see her collection. Today, I received a Facebook message from another church friend, asking if I like fried green tomatoes. I responded that I love them. Her husband is a tremendous gardener and had just brought in a couple dozen green tomatoes---did I want some? Did I ever! Not only did they extend that lovely offer, but they threw in a couple of beautiful ripe tomatoes and a bunch of rhubarb! The best part of all, though, was getting to visit with them, meet their gorgeous German Shepherd, and have a tour of her quilt studio! She is terribly creative and makes beautiful pieces of art in fabric.

Because of their generosity, we get to have fried green tomatoes and rhubarb cake! I told her I would post my tomato recipe before I actually make them, so that she can use it, too. The tomato recipe is my adaptation of the Neelys' recipe.

Fried Green Tomatoes

6 green tomatoes, sliced about 1/4" thick

Salt, pepper, and a smidge of cayenne

3/4 c. flour

3/4 c. buttermilk

Dash hot sauce (I like Louisiana Hot Sauce best, but use your favorite)

3/4 c. cornmeal

1 1/2 c. panko

Oil for frying

Sprinkle tomatoes with salt, pepper, and a little cayenne---or a lot, if you are a big fan of very spicy food. Whisk the buttermilk with the hot sauce. Mix the cornmeal with the panko. Dredge the tomatoes in flour, then dip in buttermilk, and coat in panko. Fry until golden on both sides---make sure your oil is nice and hot before you put the tomatoes in or they will be greasy and soggy. Don't be afraid to get them deep golden. Place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Adjust seasonings, if needed. Serves 4-6. 

These are good with remoulade or

Basil Mayonnaise

2 c. fresh basil

1 c. mayonnaise

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Salt & pepper

Pulse together in a blender or food processor (of chop basil finely and whisk together by hand). Also good on sandwiches. 

My favorite thing to do with rhubarb is to my my friend Shawna's rhubarb dump cake:

Rhubarb Dump Cake

1 lb. rhubarb, cut into 1/4" pieces

1 c. sugar

3 oz. strawberry jello

1 box yellow cake mix

1 c. water

1/4 c. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9 baking pan. Put the rhubarb in the bottom. Sprinkle with sugar, then jello, the cake mix. Pour water and butter over the top. Do not stir! Bake 45 minutes. 

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sauce

My wife is a huge fan of peanut butter in probably every one of its forms. I'm not so hot on it, but sometimes I do like it, when I am in the right mood. I must have been in the right mood the other night because I made a chocolate-peanut butter sauce for Jeannene's ice cream and ended up thinking it was completely terrific! We had it on Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. Talk about gilding the lily! This would also, I am certain, be pretty amazing just eaten from a spoon. Yum yum! Complete decadence!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sauce

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate

14 oz. sweetened, condensed milk

2 tbsp. peanut butter (I think the creamy kind is best here)

2 tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

Melt all the ingredients but the vanilla together on low heat, stirring the whole time. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm. 

Artichoke & Garbanzo Soup, February 3, 2015

Tonight, I was pretty sure we were ordering pizza. Jeannene came in, took one look at the soup I had on the stove, and said, "So, should we just order pizza?" She is seldom a fan of dishes I make that have no meat in them and no food group is subject to her skepticism like a broth-based vegetarian soup. I popped a ciabatta loaf in the oven to finish baking, anyway, and waited for Jeannene's verdict. Finally, I decided to give her a sample, to elicit a decision, one way or another. I was almost positive we'd be calling Jet's & I'd be eating soup for lunch the rest of the week. I pulled the bread out and asked if she would like some. She said she would---then, she said, "The soup will be okay, too. It's good." Hurrah! Turns out, it was really very good. The whole time we were eating, Jeannene was making happy little "Mmm" noises and dipping her ciabatta cheerfully into her soup. For dessert, I had a bowl of frozen sunshine, a funny little retro fruit salad that is quite refreshing and delicious.

Artichoke & Garbanzo Soup

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

5 small carrots, peeled & chopped

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp. coriander

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 potato, chopped

1 tsp. salt

32 oz. broth (I used beef, but feel free to use veggie broth)

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cans artichoke hearts, drained & chopped

1 can garbanzos, drained

Heat oil in a soup pot. Add onion and sauté 5 minutes, until softened. Add carrots, cover, and cook a few more minutes. Add cayenne, coriander, & garlic. Cover & cook a few more minutes. Add potato, salt, and broth. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until potatoes are nearly tender, 10-15 minutes. Add the rest, adjust seasonings, and heat through. Serves 8. 

Frozen Sunshine

1/2 c. sugar (this can be reduced)

1 tbsp. lemon juice 

6 oz. frozen orange juice, thawed

6 oz. water

15 oz. crushed pineapple

15 oz. peaches, drained & chopped

4 bananas, sliced (optional)

Mix sugar, juices, and water. Add fruit. Put in muffin tins with paper liners. Cover and freeze. Thaw for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serves 12. 

La Luna Cooks Mrs. Yoder: Lazy Wife Cake

Perhaps I should have called the last La Luna Cooks Mrs. Yoder entry "Mortally Wounded." The project has come to an end (well, or shifted gears, really). Almost since the beginning, I have questioned whether that particular cookbook was a good one to cook all the way through. The recipes are incredibly repetitious. There are a whole lot of recipes that call for canning or pressure cooking, neither of which I was prepared to do. I was constantly having to cut the quantities significantly and, truth to tell, the math was a mite hard for me sometimes. It's one thing to halve a recipe. It's another to reduce something made to feed an entire congregation. And, to be completely honest, I just didn't love the food. Some of it was pretty good, to be sure, and there are still recipes I want to make from that cookbook. I didn't want to be a quitter, especially not so shortly after beginning. But to continue making food I was lukewarm about, food which wasn't particularly healthy in the first place, with so many of the ingredients being either processed or simply full or carbs and fat, seemed not only an unpleasant task, but irresponsible.

However, I need to blog about one last recipe adventure before moving on to the new cookbook. Last week, I made a recipe called Lazy Wife Cake. To me, a lazy wife cake would mean one purchased at the bakery and brought home. Or, at the very least, one from a mix. A lot of women of my acquaintance, frankly, consider themselves pretty enterprising if they do a cake from a box. This cake, however, is all from scratch. It's what I have often seen referred to as a "wacky cake," with vinegar in the mix. The vinegar didn't make me nervous, although the very small amount of cocoa powder for which the recipe called did, just a little.

The recipe calls for the baker to mix the dry ingredients (No Spoons! Forks Only!---Anyone know why this would be the preferred method?) and put them in a pan (size was not specified, so I went hunting for other "Lazy Wife Cake" recipes online and determined that an 8x8 pan would suffice), then to make little wells in the mixture for the liquid ingredients. Although my oil overflowed its hole, all was well and the resultant cake was lovely and lofty. It was a humble cake, fairly light and not terribly rich.

Because I am terribly picky about cake, I took one bite and decided that it wasn't worth the calories for me. My wife thought it was tasty and it apparently got rave reviews at her plant, where I sent the rest of it, so I think lots of folks would really dig it.

Toasted Almond Shakes

If you are the sort who likes to drink your dessert, this milkshake for grown folks is for you! It's nutty and rich, perfect for summer's fade into fall. My older boy would say it's a girl's drink. Me, I say it's for anyone who has a sweet tooth. But it is pretty perfect for a group of girlfriends to enjoy together.

Toasted Almond Shake

2 oz. Kahlúa

2 oz. Amaretto

 2 pints vanilla or coffee ice cream, softened a bit

Put everything in the blend and whirl it together until it's smooth. Serves 4. 

Making Candy for Team Building

My wife decided to have a team building exercise at the local art studio, you know, the sort of place where you can paint your own pottery or be instructed in how to create a canvas with a reasonable facsimile of a giraffe or dandelions or what have you. It was pretty amusing watching all those business guys trying to figure out what on earth to paint. Jeannene got the main dinner foods from a local restaurant, but asked me to pitch in and make some desserts. I have several go-to candy recipes, treats I've been making at Christmas for years, so I decided to make a few of those. I am also rather vain about my key lime pie, which I learned to make after discovering that it's near-impossible to find proper key lime pie in Ohio. It's one of my favorite desserts and nothing disappoints me more than ordering it in a restaurant and being served a bright green monstrosity that was clearly made with Jello included or a frozen, white, frothy thing that features Cool Whip and is scarcely tart at all. A proper key lime pie will be custardy, buttery yellow, and quite tart. I like mine with no topping at all, unless perhaps a little bit of unsweetened, real whipped cream to cut the sweet of it. I'm not opposed at all to a lime meringue pie. Just don't call it key lime pie. Rant over.

Key Lime Pie

4 egg yolks (I like to use the whites for pavlova or meringues)

1 can sweetened, condensed milk

3-4 oz. key lime juice (bottled is acceptable---I like Nellie & Joe's)

1 graham crust (I seldom make mine, although I do think homemade is better)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix egg yolks with sweetened condensed milk until it turns a beautiful light yellow. Gradually add a little juice at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. If you dump it all in at once, it becomes a real pain in the neck to get incorporated. Why, yes, I did learn this the hard way. Pour it all into the crust. Place it on a baking sheet (in case it slops over) and bake 10 minutes, checking in after about 8 minutes to make sure the edges aren't burning. Allow to cool completely, then cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving. 

Until my almost-grandma, Mary,  couldn't physically do it any longer, she used to set about baking for Christmas like nobody's business. I would arrive at her sweet little blue house in the holler and there would be planning sessions for what we would bake that year. One of her favorites from her younger years was chocolate rum balls and they became a favorite of mine, as well. My second-grandma, Gen, loved these so much that she submitted the recipe for the Dayton Women's Club cookbook and gave me a copy as a surprise for Christmas that year. My grandmom took some I had made along to Vermont one Christmas. They were destined for ham radio buddies at a stop along the way, in Fredonia, NY, where my grandies always overnighted on their way to spend the holiday with my auntie. Jean ate so many that Christmas that she made herself sick, but asked for more the following year. You have been warned.

Chocolate Rum Balls

1 c. chopped pecans (a mini food processor does this perfectly; you can also buy pecan chips)

1 c. Oreo crumbs (I used to be able to find these boxed, but they have vanished from the shelves in recent years. You can buy the more expensive cookies like the Bremner chocolate wafers, but it's not that hard to empty Oreos and pulverize the chocolate part in a food processor or with a rolling pin. I have recently begun to wonder if perhaps the insides might not be interesting in truffles or something else.)

1 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. light Karo syrup (use any brand you like---I use the term generically to mean corn syrup, much like Southerners use "Coke.")

1/4 c. light rum (or any liqueur you fancy, really. Cinnamon whiskey might be interesting.)

Granulated sugar for rolling

Mix everything but the rolling sugar. Shape into small balls (walnut-sized). Roll in sugar. makes 2-3 dozen. 

I'm a big fan of truffles and the cappuccino truffles are some of the yummiest I've ever had. They're not much to look at, as they are seldom perfectly round and tend to be a bit misshapen, but they are amazingly rich and wonderful. I make them a bit on the smaller side, not nearly as big as, say, a Godiva truffle, because they are so very sweet. If you want bigger truffles, by all means, make them bigger! These are a little time consuming because they have to chill and be rolled. They are also terribly messy. Make them anyway. They are worth it.

Cappuccino Truffles

12 oz. milk chocolate chips (you can make espresso truffles by using bittersweet chips)

6 tbsp. butter, cut into 6 pieces

3 tbsp. heavy cream

1 1/2 tbsp. instant espresso powder (I might try Cafe Bustelo sometime for cortadito truffles, but I usually use Medaglia d'Oro)
Cocoa powder for rolling

Melt the ingredients together in a microwave safe bowl on high/full power for about a minute, until the chocolate & butter are almost melted. Stir until smooth. Freeze for 1 hour. Shape into small balls, rounding them in the palms of your hands and wiping/washing hands frequently to maintain traction. Roll in cocoa & keep refrigerated until you're ready to serve them.

My granddaddy, Clyde, loved peanut brittle, so from the time I was a tiny girl, he got a box of peanut brittle from me for Christmas. When I was in my 30s, I started toying with the idea of making it from scratch for him instead of buying it. I was intimidated by making it, though. I wish I'd known then how easy it is. I didn't, though, so I waited and waited and kept buying him peanut brittle. The last Christmas he was alive (although I didn't know it was his last at the time), I finally worked up my nerve and made a batch for him. He loved it and I have now started making it for my stepdad at Christmas and for his birthday. Jeannene loves it, too. This year, I tried just a smidge more baking soda than usual and it really made it fantastic. 

Peanut Brittle

2 c. sugar

A little baking soda on the end of a spoon (the more you use, the fluffier your brittle will be)

1 c. peanuts

Grease a baking sheet well and have it by the stove. Have everything, in fact, measured and ready by the stove. Get a tall saucepan with a heavy bottom nice & hot (but not too hot or you'll scorch your sugar) over medium-high heat. Pour in the sugar and stir constantly, stirring out all the lumps, until the sugar has just gone completely to syrup. If you're not used to this process, it can be worrisome, as the sugar gets all clumpy and hard before going liquid. It will look kind of like the ice is breaking up in spring for awhile there. Keep stirring. While you are stirring, you should also be brushing down the sides of the pan with a basting brush. If you don't, it won't ruin everything, though. It will, however, ruin everything if you allow your sugar to scorch. If it starts looking really dark or smelling burned, you could be in trouble, so keep a very close eye on it and act quickly in everything. Also, be very, very careful. Molten sugar hurts like mad when it touches your skin and it can bubble up unexpectedly. The second the sugar has gone to syrup, dump in the soda and the nuts & stir very, very quickly to incorporate before pouring onto the prepared baking sheet and spreading, working very quickly, into an even layer. Then, you just have to let it cool before breaking it into whatever size slabs you like. 

Scrumptious Kidney Bean Burgers

I try to have at least one or two meatless meals every week. My mama & stepdad are vegetarian & I learned growing up that there is a wide world of deliciousness available to vegetarians. Our meal last week of kidney bean burgers, cheesy chile rice, salad with green olive orange dressing, and scalloped pineapple was a perfect example. My friend Kira gave me the burger recipe. It comes together easily and is cheap, to boot!

Kidney Bean Burgers

1/2 c. sour cream (I used light)

2 scallions, chopped

A pinch of oregano

15 oz. can kidney beans, drained

3 tbsp. dry breadcrumbs

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

A good grinding of pepper

1 egg, beaten 

Oil

Mix the sour cream with scallions & oregano. Mash the beans and mix in bread crumbs, garlic powder, pepper, & egg. Shape into 4 patties. Fry about 5 minutes per side, until nicely browned. Serve with dollops of sour cream. To be honest, I completely forgot the egg when I made them last week & they held together fine, so if you're vegan, you can omit the egg & sub vegan sour cream. I also had some avocado and cotija cheese on hand, so I added those with the sour cream topping. Serves 2.

Cheesy Chile Rice

1 c. rice

2 c. sour cream 

2 c. shredded Mexican cheese blend (or Monterey Jack or pepper Jack)

8 oz. chopped green chiles

Several drops hot sauce

Cook rice as you usually do. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything but 1/2 c. cheese together & put in greased 2 qt. casserole dish. Top with reserved cheese and bake 15-20 minutes. Serves 4-6. The leftovers are stellar in scrambled eggs or an omelet.

Green Olive Orange Dressing

1/2 c. orange juice

1/4 c. good olive oil

A healthy splash red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. ground fennel seeds

Salt & pepper

A handful of chopped green olives (Castelvetrano is my preferred variety, but kalamatas are good, too. I got lazy & just used the pimiento-stuffed green olives from a jar & they worked.) 

Mix everything together, whisking to combine well. This is good on any sort of salad, but does better with sturdier lettuces and bitter greens, as it is fairly chunky and fairly assertive. Jeannene's favorite is romaine hearts.

Our pineapple dessert was a deliciously cozy, spicy end to the meal. It's much like pineapple upside-down cake, without the cake. Me, I don't miss the cake. You can do this with any kind of canned fruit you like, but I think pineapple is the best. If you're feeling a little daring and your dining companions don't mind, you might toss in just a smidge of chile powder or cayenne.

Scalloped Pineapple

2 cans pineapple slices

1/4 c. + 2 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

2 1/2 tbsp. room temp butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put fruit in lightly greased (I do recommend butter for greasing in this case) casserole or cake pan. Mix the other ingredients together & put over fruit. Bake 1/2 hour. This times out well if you pop it in the oven while you eat supper.