Archives for February 2010

Meatless Monday Six

February 9, 2010

(Sorry Guys, No Exclamation Mark for this One.)

Meatless Monday Six was non-blogworthy. We had baked potatoes and broccoli.

Yep. That’s it.

That’s what we had.

I even had a plan for it. Knew what I was gonna make. Tweeted about it.

I’ll be honest: I might not have allotted enough time to make what I planned to make, but that’s water under the bridge. Because I didn’t get to make it.

Know why?

Out of all the days in the year. In my marriage, really, Dave decides this is the day he is going to tell me what he would like to have for dinner.

And that would be, potatoes.

Plain baked potatoes.

With broccoli on the side.

When I tried to overrule him, he simply said: “You ask me all the time what I want to have for dinner. Well, I am finally telling you. Tonight, I want baked potatoes.”

He is a man of brief and true statements. But come on. Like I can write a post about baked potatoes and broccoli!

I don’t even know what to say. I am rendered speechless. And I have to wonder if this was the plan all along.

In the direct opposition to Meatless Mondays, we had a Meatfull Sunday. Albeit was the Superbowl. And we do have a loose tradition of eating chili for the Superbowl. So it’s not like I was snubbing my nose at going meatless. It just seemed funny to me that while I was thinking ahead to the next day and Meatless Monday, I was dumping three pounds of ground beef into a pot.

Anyway.

Chili is not a food I would have eaten until roughly 1991 or so. I believe I have mentioned previously that I used to be a somewhat picky eater. Oh, how it pains me to admit that now! I despise picky eaters.

I guess that makes me something of a hypocrite.

Well. Add it to the list.

Dave does like chili, however, so after getting married, I needed to find a happy medium. For my first foray into chili eating, I made a chicken chili recipe out of The New Basics Cookbook, adapting their vegetable chili recipe. This post is not that recipe, however. It was merely a segue to my own ability to eat chili, that took me to this chili recipe contained in this post.

This recipe is not my invention.

I do, however, own it.

…after winning it at a small and sad silent auction.

I have no idea the legalities of recipe ownership and whether I do, indeed, own the rights to it after paying a ridiculous amount for the framed version of it at that auction.

And frankly, I don’t care.

I will give credit to its creator, Steve Neddermeyer — better known as ‘Uncle Neddy’ — who beat my Chicken Chili recipe in a chili contest with this recipe. Uncle Neddy is a local celebrity, known for driving around and serving his pork chops on a stick, along with various other accouterments out of his souped-up trailer. He works most events as donations for charities and non-profits that he supports. Pretty amazing guy, really.

He probably should have excused himself from the Chili Contest, though, being that he’s practically a professional, don’cha think?

That was about five years ago, and I’m still mad.

At the auction, assuming I would be starting a bidding war — and making much needed money for the school — I put $50 in for the starting bid.

I won the recipe.

And while Dave wasn’t thrilled with my bid, I have to admit that he loves it.

So do the kids.

…more, even, than my chicken chili. Charlie just looked over my shoulder as I write, and — thinking he was complimenting me — said “That was the best chili I’ve ever had. Really. It’s the best. I like it even more than the chicken chili.”

He was trying to be sweet. He didn’t know he ripped my heart out of my chest, raw and bleeding…

Anyway.

I made it yesterday and share it with you now. It really is good.

Uncle Neddy’s Award Winning* Chili Recipe

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup yellow pepper, chopped (I substitute 1/4 c hot pepper)
1 medium onion, chopped
Famous Dave’s Steak seasoning (I substitue Chef Paul’s Cajun Redfish Magic)
1 tsp celery salt
2 T chili powder
1 t paprika
2 t balsamic vinegar
2 T brown sugar (I use only 1 or less, as we don’t like it sweet)
1 can kidney beans (I use pinto. kidneys are too big)
1 can chili beans (I use great northern or chili beans)
2 cans tomato soup
2-16 oz cans tomato sauce (I used 4 cups garden tomato sauce from freezer)
1 t black pepper
1 t garlic powder
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 t dry mustard
1 1/2 c water
I also added 2 t ground cumin

Brown ground beef, drain and remove to bowl.

Saute onion and peppers in 2T oil. Add remaining ingredients and ground beef to pot. Simmer for at least one hour and up to 3 hours, partially covered. Add more water if needed.

Serve with crispy fried corn tortillas or chips, sour cream, green onions, shredded cheese, hot sauce, crumbled Cotija cheese and of course, cornbread with honey butter.

* judges were locals, known to have eaten many pork chops-on-a-stick free of charge. Award is pending appeal.

Meatless Monday Five!

February 4, 2010

Basil “Ricotta” Ravioli with Sage, Walnuts and Browned Butter

As usual, a few disclaimers.

1) yet another scramble at the last minute*

2) very few photos of process

3) very tough day**

* It wasn’t supposed to be a mad scramble. I had the butternut squash in the oven by 3pm to use as filling for the ravioli. However I failed to discern that my parents would be joining us and… My dad hates squash. He seriously hates squash. I have gotten him over many other food hurdles (like an irrational fear of eggs benedict), but he has been very stubborn about squash and sweet potatoes.

**We put our beloved Buzz-dog down on Monday and while I know the show must go on — especially for Meatless Monday — my heart wasn’t really in it, I spent a lot of time crying and the rest of the time writing his tribute… And I by the time I was done with that, well, I just didn’t give much of a rat’s ass about taking photos of the recipe’s progress.

Anyway, regarding the necessity for a last-minute butternut squash substitution — you will love this — I found a ravioli filling in a cookbook that called for ricotta and basil. I had neither ricotta or basil, and since we all know _____________ (please fill in the blank), substitutions were necessary.

Morgan was groaning, “Mom, just go to the grocery store. Why won’t you just go to the grocery store?!” While my mom was saying “Oh for crying out loud, I’ll go to the grocery store, what do you need?”

blah blah blah

We don’t need no stinkin’ trip to the grocery store! We have COTTAGE CHEESE, for heaven’s sake. It’s the same thing! (Morgan said, “It’s not the same thing!”) And for basil, I have this handy SQUEEZE TUBE STUFF, circa May 2009! **more pissing and moaning from the 15 year old** **more reprimands from the mother**

Ignoring their pleas, I zipped cottage cheese around in the food processor to make it more like ricotta and tasted the “fresh” basil paste. Seriously fine. No mold. Tastes like basil… Check. Check. I whipped the pasta dough up in the food processor, and got the pasta roller out.

Meanwhile, my mom and dad, sipping their wine and seated at the island watching me, finally asked, “What are you doing? …Are you making homemade pasta?!”

Seriously people, this is what I deal with. I mean, what did they think I was doing?

Certainly, it takes more time than buying it at the store, but once again — and repeat after me — then you can’t BRAG ABOUT IT and ACT SMUG. Isn’t that why we cook?

The whole ravioli making process took an hour, start to finish, and that includes making the sauce, setting the table, dealing with the stupid butternut squash and heating up a baguette and some kale from the freezer. An hour. That doesn’t really seem that bad for homemade ravioli, does it?

One more thing: The sage I used was from my freezer. Last fall, needing to cut back my gangly sage plants before digging out for the winter, I just threw whole branches into the freezer. I had completely forgotten about them until a couple weeks ago when I was trying to organize the mess and found them. I was too lazy to walk up to the barn to cut fresh sage (which isn’t looking so great this time of year anyway) and used the frozen leaves. They worked AWESOMELY. (Did I just use the word awesomely?) You could not tell at all. So I will be cutting more sage for the freezer next fall!

Fresh Pasta Dough

6 eggs (or as needed)
4 cups all purpose flour
2 T olive oil

Split into two batches when making in the food processor to ease strain on the machine. Process 3 eggs with 2 cups flour and 1 T oil until moist and crumbly. When squeezed it will form a ball. If your dough is too dry, dribble water in by the teaspoon until the right consistency. Briefly knead until ball forms a cohesive mass. It doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth. Then process the other half. You will then have two large balls.

Split balls into four equal pieces and cover with a towel until ready to roll.

Follow directions on pasta roller. And roll to a thickness of “6” (one less than the thinnest setting. Set sheets aside on a lightly dusted surface and cover with a towel until ready to fill.

Basil “Ricotta” Ravioli Filling
(makes 48 ravioli)

Leaves from one bunch of basil chopped fine (OR 3-4 T basil paste)
1 T olive oil (omit if using basil paste)
2 cloves garlic confit (or 1 clove fresh, minced)
1 1/2 c ricotta (OR use cottage cheese and process in food processor until curds are broken up well)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together.

Place one rolled pasta sheet on work surface and spoon small rounded teaspoons of filling on to pasta sheet 1 inch in from the sides and 2 inches apart from each other in two strips (like an egg carton). Using a pastry brush, lightly moisten the pasta on the edges and in between the mounds with cold water. Cover with a second sheet of pasta and press firmly all around the edges and between the mounds. Cut with a ravioli or pizza cutter (or knife) Approximately 2 -3 inches is the best size. Store in a single layer between waxed paper in the refrigerator until ready to cook.

Butter, Walnut and Crispy Sage Sauce

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or substitute pine nuts, pistachio, pecans, etc.)
6-100* sage leaves
Grated parmesan

Before beginning the sauce, bring a big pot of salted water to boil so that the ravioli are done at the same time as the sauce. If you have to cook the ravioli in batches, turn the oven on to 200 and store the pasta, tossed with either the finished sauce or some olive oil in the oven until all the pasta is ready. Then re-toss and serve.

For sauce: in a large saute pan, combine butter, nuts and sage over high to medium high heat until the butter melts and begins to brown and the sage turns bright green and crispy. The key to the flavor of sauce is that the butter MUST begin to turn brown, but over brown. Immediately toss with ravioli, top with parmesan and serve.

* I’m only partly kidding about using 100 sage leaves. We love them. The kids hoard them. And I never seem to have enough. The recipe called for 6. I used the big pile shown in the picture above.

Wapsi Banks Buzz Lightyear

February 1, 2010

May 10, 2000 – February 1, 2010

We put Buzz down this morning at 8:30 am after a relatively brief battle with bone cancer. I’m struggling to find the right tone for this post. Can I laugh and keep it lighthearted? He was a lighthearted dog. Or will I wallow in the quagmire with my tears and fears that we could have waited longer before bringing him in?

I don’t know. Let’s see where it goes.

“You will know.”

Do you know how many people say that about putting a dog to sleep?

I don’t know. I didn’t know. I will never know.

Let me restate that. I did know yesterday, when his tumor began to ooze and bleed, changed almost hourly and threatened to open up completely. I knew when he fell down several times, whimpered in my lap and fought all day to find a comfortable position even when drugged to the limit. (OK, I’ll be honest: over the limit). Of course this happened on a Sunday. We knew in our hearts that it was ‘time’ and began a very long day of saying goodbye to our beloved Buzzy.

I didn’t know this morning, when he came out of the kennel a little more sure on his feet and brighter in the eyes. Were we doing the right thing? As I laid on his bed with him, he growled softly and was shaking quite a bit, and I felt a little better about our decision.

And then he limp-hopped out of the office on two legs and brought me his damn Frisbee.

We laughed through our tears.

And I laugh through my tears now.

And I’m still no surer of our decision.

I loved that stupid dog. I loved him so much.

There is no right decision for something like this. I loved him to the best of my ability and I pray we did the right thing at the right time. This has helped me today:

The godly are concerned for the welfare of their animals.”
Proverbs 12:10 NLT

Will there be animals in heaven? Pet lovers hope so, because earth’s second most important inhabitants are a source of real comfort. What do we know for sure? In the coming Kingdom, “The wolf and the lamb will feed together” (Is 65:25 NIV). Ah, an animal kingdom too! Lambs were actually household pets in Bible days (See 2 Sa 12:3). The Bible says our pets belong to God; we take care of them for Him. God says: “All the animals ‘are mine’” (Ps 50:10 NLT). Furthermore, God holds us accountable for how we treat our pets (Pr 12:10 NLT). So here’s the question we need to consider: When Adam was created, God surrounded him with animals and called it “very good.” When Noah stepped out of the ark to start the world all over again, God made sure that he was surrounded with animals. So when Christ establishes the renewed earth, with renewed men and women, is it a stretch to imagine that He’ll surround us with renewed animals? Eden was perfect — but without animals Eden wouldn’t be Eden. And the new earth is the new Eden — paradise regained. In her book about heaven, Joni Eareckson Tada says, “If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn’t surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character. With all the dazzling discoveries heaven will hold for me, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be — utterly joyful. Heaven is going to be a place that will reflect in as many ways as possible, the goodness and joy of our great God.” If you’re a pet lover that sounds good, doesn’t it?

Yeah, it sounds pretty good. Hopefully when I see Buzz again, God will have tweaked a few of his behaviors and taught him to fetch properly — a ball and not a rock — but all in all, my Buzzy in heaven, along with Casey, Conroy, Daisy and Patches sounds like Heaven indeed.

The bone cancer started at the site of the plate and screws that held together the broken leg he got when he was two.

Normally, they would have amputated the tumor immediately, but sadly they couldn’t because Buzz was already down to three usable legs since blowing out his ACL this past summer. I was sent home with pain medication and told it would go very quickly. That was on December 14th. From my best guess, the tumor was a factor going back to early fall, when he began shadowing my every move and acting nervous. I cringe to think how angry and impatient I was with him then. In hindsight, it was undoubtedly the pain caused by the tumor we didn’t yet know about.

It still doesn’t really seem real. That dog. He was the most lovable. Stupid. Dominant. Pig headed. Frustrating. Happy-Go Lucky dog we’ve ever had. He came on the heels of the ‘perfect dog’, Casey. And before the Sociopath, non-dog, Lola. He will be in our hearts forever.

Some of my best memories:

He tried to get charlie’s pacifier whenever he could and wanted to be in the middle of any game played. Always.

Buzz and Charlie grew up together. They were more alike than you will ever know.

If I put up every picture I have of this 60 lb dog sleeping in every lap that ever allowed him, it would crash your browser. Here are but a few. He was insistent, relentless and big.