more pickles

When I received 6 pickling cucumbers and banana peppers in a market basket at the beginning of September I thought I would make pickes with both. Because of the number of cucumbers, I decided to try bread and butter pickles and found this recipe. For the banana peppers, I tried this recipe.

Bread and Butter Pickles (adapted from here)
~ 1 lb pickling cucumbers
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp pickling salt
water
1 c apple cider vinegar
1 c sugar
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1/2 tsp tumeric

Slice the cucumbers and onions very thin and layer in a bowl with the salt. Nearly cover with ice cold water and set aside in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.

Drain, rinse well and drain again. Prepare canning jars.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. As soon as it boils, add the cucumber mix and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and spoon into the prepared jars allowing for 3/4-1" headspace. Pour the liquid over evenly distributing the seeds. Cap and process in a water bath for 10 minutes. Makes 1 + pints.

Sweet Banana Pepper Pickles (from here)

1/2 lb banana peppers, seede and sliced into rings
2 c. white vinegar
2/3 c white sugar
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp celery seeds

Prepare jars. Bring brine ingredients to a boil. Place the peppers in the jars. Pour the hot pickling juice into the jars up to 1/2" of the top. Clean the jar top and cap. Process for 15 minutes in a canning water bath.



sweet banana pepper pickles (and applesauce)



traditional family turkey dinner

I cooked dinner for 7 yesterday. Only 6 of us ate, T ran around and played with his new trucks. I think I finally have this down. Of course, when I think about it, I've been doing it (turkey dinner plus fixings) for a good many years now. I did manage to do it on my own a couple of times (small turkey, 1 type of stuffing, 1 veg, etc) for roommates and siblings prior to the first time I stood in for my mum. The first time she ceded the reins for preparing the turkey dinner (thanksgiving), she reclined in noble splendour, as only she could, on her lawn chair in the living room, keeping a close eye on my work in the kitchen. (At this point, she was undergoing treatment for cancer so she didn't have the energy to cook dinner.) So I made turkey and her 2 dressings, bread sauce, lumpy gravy, mashed potatoes (I think), brussel sprouts and mashed turnips, all the way she wanted it to be done. Since she died, I've kept the recipes I liked - sausage stuffing, bread sauce and tweaked all the others to the way I like them. Being the cook gives you much more say in how things get presented. This year's Christmas dinner didn't stray too far from my roots - I still had a roast turkey with 2 dressings (sausage and vegetable), gravy, bread sauce, cranberry sauce (for D's family), braised brussel sprouts, roasted turnip and carrot, creamy potatoes plus a sweet potato and carrot dish my sister-in-law brought. I got cranberry sauce from both my sisters-in-law!

 Sausage and Sage Stuffing

3 500g tubes sausage meat

1 large onion, diced

2 tbsp sage

breadcrumbs

pepper

In a large saucepan, brown the sausage meat. Drain off the fat once the meat is no longer pink in colour. Keep cooking the meat, breaking it up into fine chunks. Add the onion and sage and cook until the onion is cooked. Taste and add pepper and more sage to taste. Add enough breadcrumbs to bind the mixture together. Refrigerate and stuff into the cavity of a turkey or bake for 1 hour at 350 deg F.

Vegetable Stuffing
(this is vastly different from my mother's stuffing)

~ 1 lb bread cubes (I used white sandwich loaf)

1 can condensed mushroom soup
1 can creamed corn
1 c sliced mushrooms
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/4 c diced dried apricots
1/4 c diced apple
1 tsp dried oregano
pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a greased baking dish. Bake for 1 hour at 350 deg F.

Bread Sauce

(this is a traditional English side for roast turkey - at least from where my mum's family is from - this is the way she taught me to make it and I still love it with turkey and in turkey sandwiches)
1 onion
handful of whole cloves
2 c bread crumbs or bread cubes
2 c milk (or more)
grating of nutmeg
pepper

Peel the onion and cut off the root end. Leave whole and push the whole cloves all around the onion. Put the onion into a saucepan and cover with breadcrumbs. Cover the breadcrumbs with milk and put on very low heat for at least an hour. Stir. Add the pepper and nutmeg. Add milk if the mixture looks dry (it should resemble wet porridge). Serve hot with roast turkey.

My gravy still isn't stellar and I have a little secret about it. I used canned turkey gravy as a base and add wine, dijon mustard, pepper and turkey drippings to it. Cheater gravy but it make me stress way less and I figure it's better for my sanity.

Yesterday for dessert I took a departure from tradition. Mum used to make the traditional English Christmas pudding. She had three pudding bowls so once every three years she would make three and at Christmas one would be steamed, set alight with brandy and holly and eaten with hard sauce (brandy butter). I never was overly fond of it - it was a wonderful excuse to eat brandy butter. So yesterday I served this peach pie. There weren't any leftovers.

And to make dinner preparations easier, I made both stuffings and the peach pie the day before. And I used Nigella Lawson's Christmas timetable to keep me on track (sort of) during the cooking. And thanks to K for providing the delicious free range turkey for me to roast.

a hit and a miss

D's been having stomach troubles of late and was recently diagnosed with GERD. In an effort to solve his gas issues and get away from medication he started googling the other night. Among other somewhat contradictory information, we found lists of foods to avoid with GERD. And right there, at the top of the list, is tomatoes. Now, my people, you know I love cooking casseroles. And usually I use tomato sauce or tomatoes in my dishes. So I was a bit stymied the other night when I tried to make a tomato-less version of what I call mexican lasagna. I tried. I made the veggie sauce with a half an onion (onions aren't the best either), some diced celery, carrots, red pepper, sliced mushrooms, drained black beans, creamed corn (I didn't have any frozen), Yves non-ground round and some stock. It looked odd without the tomato but I carried on - adding a bit of cayenne and lots of cumin.

 Then I made the white sauce - 3 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp flour and 1 c each stock and 2% milk. Now normally to this I add about 1 c of salsa but mine is heavy on the tomatoes so I gave it a miss. So in a greased 9x13 pan, I layered the two sauces, some plain tortillas and some sharp cheddar and shredded parmesan and baked it all at 350 deg F.

Now this part is where it all fell apart because it might have all worked if I hadn't baked it for too long and it got too crispy around the edges. D liked it but I hated it. Sigh. So if you can eat tomatoes make mexican lasagna - and add a jar of your favorite tomato sauce to the veggie sauce and 1 c of salsa to the white sauce - making it pinkish, I know - and then layer with tortillas....and don't bake it for more than 30 minutes and it will work.

On the plus side, I made this cake. It was (and is) delicious. 

Gingerbread Apple Upside Down Cake (from Smitten Kitchen)

4 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

4 tbsp butter

1/2 c packed brown sugar
pinch of salt

1/2 c soft butter

1/2 c sugar

1 egg
1/3 c molasses
1/3 c honey

1 c buttermilk (1 c milk with 1 tbsp vinegar)

2 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the sugar over medium heat and stir for 4 minutes. Add the salt, stir and pour into a greased cake pan. Lay the apples slices in a ring over the caramel, fitting in all the slices.

Beat the butter until fluffy and light. Add the sugar and beat until well blended and light. Beat the eggs with the molasses, honey and buttermilk. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients together. Add the flour and the egg mixtures alternately, blending well after each addition. When all incorporated, pour over the apples.

Bake at least 45-50 minutes (I did 60) at 325 deg F until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for 15 minutes and then invert on a larger plate, in case there are drips.

casserole queen

I love casseroles. No - really love them. I love the idea of one dish serving and making. And I know that usually a casserole involves many pots besides the casserole dish. But still. I love them. So this week it was casserole week at our house.

Sunday night I made Mushroom Spinach Lasagna - a recipe I've been tweaking for ages trying to eliminate the oily film that I had the past couple of times. And I think this version worked really well.

Fresh lasagna sheets (I made mine using a breadmaker pasta recipe and my pasta machine)

Ricotta spinach mixture (adapted from a Delia Smith recipe in Basic of Cooking One)
1 tub of ricotta
1 bag of spinach, cooked with a bit of butter until wilted, drained, chopped
70 g gorgonzola cheese
70 g mozarella grated
grating of nutmeg
2-3 tbsp milk
Mix all ingredients together until well blended.

Mushroom mixture
Half a medium onion, chopped, sauted
1 leek, green part only, sliced and rinsed well, sauted
1 c. sliced mushrooms (I used cremini and button), sauted
1 tub of Safeway Gourmet mushroom soup
2 tbsp flour
Saute the vegetables until soft, add the soup and flour and mix well. Heat through for 5-10 minutes.

In a greased 9x13 pan, spoon 1/3 of the mushroom mix and spread over the bottom. Fit one layer of noodles over the mix. Pour over 1/3 of the ricotta mix, and 1/3 of the mushroom mix and spread over and cover the noodles. Create another layer of noodles. Sprinkle some grated mozarella over the noodles and follow with 1/3 of the ricotta mix, spread and then 1/3 of the mushroom mix. Add the final layer of noodles, cover with the last of the ricotta mix. Top with a layer of grated mozarella and parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 deg for about an hour.

Monday night I made another casserole - broccoli, cauliflower and rice with ham from Delia Smith's book Basics of Cooking One:
1 1/2 c brown rice
1 small onion sliced
3 c. vegetable or chicken stock
Saute the onion in ~ 1 tsp oil until soft. Add the rice and turn. Add the stock and cover, bring to a boil and then simmer for 50 minutes.

Meanwhile steam 1 head of cauliflower and 1 crown of broccoli florets.

Make the blue cheese sauce:
1 1/2 oz butter
1 1/2 oz flour
500 ml milk
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 c chopped ham
120 g blue cheese, crumbled
In a saucepan, add the milk, butter and flour. Whisk together and cook for 5 minutes. Add mustard, ham and blue cheese.

Once the rice is done, spread it into a greased 9x13 pan. Layer the cauliflower and broccoli florets over the rice. Pour the sauce over the vegetables, covering them as much as possible. Combine one handful of bread crumbs and some grated parmesan cheese in a small bowl and mix. Sprinkle over the dish and put into a 350 deg oven for 20 minutes, then put under the broiler for a couple of minutes until browned and bubbly.

I went away for a couple of days (to the spa for some relaxation) with my pal. I had a wonderful time despite the crazy, stormy, windy, wet weather and the guys had lots of leftovers to eat in my absence!

adventures in cooking

Friday night was a cooking night at our house. I recently picked up a copy of Pretend Soup (cookbook for preschoolers) to see if I could get T more interested in food. So Friday we tried making zuccini moons. T had a great time running around in his apron and then cutting the zuccini (only a bit of help from me needed!) and then cooking them and watching D eat them! He announced after he'd made them that they were for Daddy to eat....and he didn't even try one. We'll have to try again.

T with the pile of cut zuccini.

T "reading" the recipe while the zuccini cooked.

The finished dish - yummy!

Well, after T went to bed it was my turn to try a new recipe - Ricotta gnocci -

15oz tub of light ricotta, drained for about 20 minutes

salt, pepper, sage, garlic, an egg all mixed together

flour - 1/4 cup at a time until the dough holds together (I used 1 1/4 c) - try a ball of dough in boiling water to see if it holds together. If not, add more flour.

Roll into 1" diameter logs and cut into 1" long pieces and indent with a fork.

Drop into boiling water and cook until the gnocci float to the top. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

I cheated and used jarred Arribiata sauce with added onion, mushrooms, spinach and mozarella. It was yummy!