Mussels and music, a magical combination

A few weeks ago, The Boys started mentioning the idea of having mussels for Sunday dinner. The Professor even suggested several ways to make them and, thanks to the power of suggestion, I started craving them too. Mussels are easy, delicious, and cheap! I honestly don't know why we don't have mussels every week. Well, that's not true, I actually do know: Not everybody likes seafood. Panda, for one, doesn't care for them so when I heard that Panda was going to be out of town for a recent Sunday dinner, plus one of my dearest loves, the Dancer was in town for a visit. I shall call her the Dancer because she is one, she's also a writer, a professor, a mother, and she's brilliant. She's also one of my best friends in the entire world. Sadly, she lives in Colorado so I don't get to see her as often as I would like. She's what we call vegequarian (a far more accurate description than pescetarian, in my opinion), so I thought we would have seafood for Sunday dinner.

So, mussels it was.

I figured we would need about 1/2 to 1 pound of mussels per person so I was looking at 8 to 10 pounds of mussels. Mussels are pretty inexpensive anyway but I am fortunate enough to have a friend who works for a seafood wholesaler so they were even less expensive. (I got 10 pounds of mussels for right around $20.) As I've mentioned before, I like to try to make Sunday dinners affordable since I do them so regularly and this fit into that category nicely.

One of the amazing things about mussels is that you feel like you're eating this luxurious, decadent meal, even though it's really quite simple. It was such a fun dinner and then the magic happened:

We had two singers/songwriters at dinner. One of The Kids and another special guest for the evening, my dear friend Geeves. At some point, a guitar appeared and after dinner we all moved to the living room and these two amazing musicians began passing the guitar back and forth, playing songs for us all to enjoy for hours and hours. I cannot describe how beautiful it was and I know it was a one-time magical combination of people, ambiance, food, and music. It is most definitely a highlight among Sunday dinners and will for decades to come be that one memory we go back to, "remember that one time ..." Amazing.

I know there are videos and pictures but I don't know who has them and where they live so for now, they live in my memory and therefore I cannot share them with you (they wouldn't do the evening justice anyway). What I can and will share with you are the recipes for the mussels.

I decided to do mussels two ways. One version with wine, one with beer. Very traditional and also very simple. All you need to add in order to have a feast with mussels is some good crunchy bread and maybe a salad. SOOO easy!

First the version with wine:

French Country Mussels

I adapted this recipe from one I found on food.com by Tebo.

Ingredients:

4 lbs of mussels
2 cups of dry white wine
1 Tblsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 16oz can of diced tomatoes
1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped (I use my food processor for this, it's much easier and quicker than doing it by hand)

Directions:

1. Prepare your mussels:

- Keep your mussels cold. If you get farm raised mussels, you'll not have to do much cleaning or de-bearding but you'll want to check each one for signs of life.

- Put the mussels in a large colander in your sink and run cold water over them as you work on them. If they're dirty, scrub them clean. Make sure you check each one to make sure they are all tightly closed. If you come across a mussel that is open, tap it a few times and set it aside. There's a good chance it will close by the time you get done with your pile of mussels. Mussels are still alive when you prepare them. They should be tightly closed. If they're open and don't close after tapping them, they are dead and therefore BAD. Throw any open mussels that do not close away.

- If you get farm raised mussels they likely won't have many beards but you'll want to check them anyway. If any of them have a beard (it's a little tuft or string of what looks like coarse hair), tug it down toward the hinge part of the mussel and it should come right out. Toss any beards you find.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot with a lid to medium high and cook garlic and onion until they are browned, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes with their juice and the cilantro and cook for another 2 minutes.

4.Add the wine and bring it to a quick boil, reduce heat to let the wine simmer for about 4 minutes.

5. Add the mussels, toss well, cover and cook for about 5 minutes until they open up.

6. Remove the mussels to a serving dish and pour the liquid over them.

7. Enjoy with some crusty french bread to soak up the juices.

And now the version with beer:

Mussels in beer

I adapted this recipe based on a recipe by SarasotaCook that I found on food.com

I serve these with any kind of thick crunchy bread for dipping in the sauce and a simple green salad.

Ingredients:

4 lbs mussels (I like to use PEI because they're a small-ish size and have good flavor but use whatever is available and fresh)
2 - 3 cans of beer (any lager will do)
3 shallots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp - 2 Tblsp. red pepper flakes (depending on how much heat you like)
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped (I throw it in the food processor to chop it up)
4 Tblsp butter
1 Tblsp. olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Prepare your mussels:

- Keep your mussels cold. If you get farm raised mussels, you'll not have to do much cleaning or de-bearding but you'll want to check each one for signs of life.

- Put the mussels in a large colander in your sink and run cold water over them as you work on them. If they're dirty, scrub them clean. Make sure you check each one to make sure they are all tightly closed. If you come across a mussel that is open, tap it a few times and set it aside. There's a good chance it will close by the time you get done with your pile of mussels. Mussels are still alive when you prepare them. They should be tightly closed. If they're open and don't close after tapping them, they are dead and therefore BAD. Throw any open mussels that do not close away.

- If you get farm raised mussels they likely won't have many beards but you'll want to check them anyway. If any of them have a beard (it's a little tuft or string of what looks like coarse hair), tug it down toward the hinge part of the mussel and it should come right out. Toss any beards you find.

2. In a large sauce pan with a lid, add olive oil over medium high heat and add the onion and garlic. Saute for 4 - 5 minutes.

3. Add the red pepper flakes if you are using them.

4. Add the beer and bring to a simmer (about 5 to 7 minutes)

5. Once the beer is simmering, add the mussels, reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until the mussels have opened up.

6. Turn the heat off, remove mussels to a large serving dish.

7. Add the butter & the parsley to the sauce and bring back to a simmer until the butter is melted.

8. Pour the liquid over the mussels and serve.

A Mother's Day Feast

It has been a little while since I've had the chance to post so this might seem a little out of date but, well, too bad.

I, myself, am not a mother but I do have 2 mothers in my immediate family. My own mother, of course, and my sister, who is the amazing mother who made me an aunt and I love being an aunt.

My sister lives in South Africa and my mother lives  across the country from me so in lieu of seeing them on Mother's Day, I decided to honor them in the food I prepared:

When we were growing up, my mother made this amazing peanut chicken dish that we really liked - until we found out it had anchovies in it. My sister and I refused to eat it even though there was no way we could actually taste the anchovies in it. Ultimately, rather than fight us on it, my mother began preparing it without the anchovies. I remember not really trusting her on this at first. For all I knew she was still putting anchovies in there so I watched her prepare it one time just to make sure no little weird fish went into it.

I'm not even sure why it was such a big deal. I liked fish and one of my favorite snacks as a 3 year-old was smoked oysters so I have no idea why the thought of anchovies in that dish made me so adamant about not eating.

Anyway, I haven't had it since I was living at home and since it is an African recipe, I figured that was the perfect meal to honor these two women in my life. My mother's recipe and a nod to my sister's (South) African life.

I did want to add a vegetable or salad of some sort to cut the creaminess and richness of the chicken so I created a shredded cabbage and spiced mango salad to go with it.

Anyway, here are the recipes:

African Chicken:

My mother got this recipe when she was in college in Europe from a student from Africa. Sadly, I have no idea where in Africa that particular student was from. Regardless, it's delicious!

I serve this over bulgur, but it's great with rice, quinoa, or couscous as well.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 - 3 lbs of chicken pieces (quarters, thighs, wings, etc. - with bones and all)
1 cup hot water
2 Tblsp. tomato paste
1  16 oz can of whole tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp - 1 Tblsp chili flakes (depending on how much heat you want)
1/2 tsp. grated ginger root (feel free to use powdered ginger, it will work just fine)
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups crunchy peanut butter

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven or any large, deep pot with a lid, heat a little oil and brown the chicken on all sides. About 15 minutes total. (You may have to do this in batches and that works just fine too).

2. Remove the chicken & drain the fat from the pan.

3. Add water, tomato paste, tomatoes (with liquid), onion, garlic, chili flakes, ginger, chili powder, and salt. Bring it to a boil.

4. Once it has begun boiling, reduce the heat, give it a good stir, and cover the pan . Simmer for about 10 minutes.

5. Add the chicken back to the pan, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.

6. Put the peanut butter in a medium bowl and ladle a few spoonfuls of the simmering cooking liquid into it, stir.

7. Add the liquid peanut butter to the chicken. Turn the chicken to coat it in the sauce.

8. Cover and cook another 10 - 15 minutes.

9. Serve with rice, couscous, quinoa, or bulgur.

Shredded Cabbage & Spicy Mango Salad

Ingredients:

2 - 3 cups shredded cabbage
1 - 2 red endives, chopped or shredded
1/2 cup of spiced dried mango, sliced finely
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
3 - 4 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped up
1 handful of slated roasted peanuts
4 Tblsp. olive oil
1 Tblsp. lemon juice
1 Tblsp. spiced rice vinegar (or any other vinegar you like)
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
a pinch of salt & some ground pepper

Directions:

1. Shred, chop, slice all of your vegetables

2. Dump them all into a bowl.

3. In a separate, small bowl, mix up the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper into a vinaigrette.

4. Pour the vinaigrette over the veggies and toss.

5. Sprinkle with peanuts & serve.

French Country Mussels

I adapted this recipe from one I found on food.com by Tebo.

Ingredients:

4 lbs of mussels
2 cups of dry white wine
1 Tblsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 16oz can of diced tomatoes
1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped (I use my food processor for this, it's much easier and quicker than doing it by hand)

Directions:

1. Prepare your mussels:

- Keep your mussels cold. If you get farm raised mussels, you'll not have to do much cleaning or de-bearding but you'll want to check each one for signs of life.

- Put the mussels in a large colander in your sink and run cold water over them as you work on them. If they're dirty, scrub them clean. Make sure you check each one to make sure they are all tightly closed. If you come across a mussel that is open, tap it a few times and set it aside. There's a good chance it will close by the time you get done with your pile of mussels. Mussels are still alive when you prepare them. They should be tightly closed. If they're open and don't close after tapping them, they are dead and therefore BAD. Throw any open mussels that do not close away.

- If you get farm raised mussels they likely won't have many beards but you'll want to check them anyway. If any of them have a beard (it's a little tuft or string of what looks like coarse hair), tug it down toward the hinge part of the mussel and it should come right out. Toss any beards you find.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot with a lid to medium high and cook garlic and onion until they are browned, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes with their juice and the cilantro and cook for another 2 minutes.

4.Add the wine and bring it to a quick boil, reduce heat to let the wine simmer for about 4 minutes.

5. Add the mussels, toss well, cover and cook for about 5 minutes until they open up.

6. Remove the mussels to a serving dish and pour the liquid over them.

7. Enjoy with some crusty french bread to soak up the juices.

Mussels in beer

I adapted this recipe based on a recipe by SarasotaCook that I found on food.com

I serve these with any kind of thick crunchy bread for dipping in the sauce and a simple green salad.

Ingredients:

4 lbs mussels (I like to use PEI because they're a small-ish size and have good flavor but use whatever is available and fresh)
2 - 3 cans of beer (any lager will do)
3 shallots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp - 2 Tblsp. red pepper flakes (depending on how much heat you like)
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped (I throw it in the food processor to chop it up)
4 Tblsp butter
1 Tblsp. olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Prepare your mussels:

- Keep your mussels cold. If you get farm raised mussels, you'll not have to do much cleaning or de-bearding but you'll want to check each one for signs of life.

- Put the mussels in a large colander in your sink and run cold water over them as you work on them. If they're dirty, scrub them clean. Make sure you check each one to make sure they are all tightly closed. If you come across a mussel that is open, tap it a few times and set it aside. There's a good chance it will close by the time you get done with your pile of mussels. Mussels are still alive when you prepare them. They should be tightly closed. If they're open and don't close after tapping them, they are dead and therefore BAD. Throw any open mussels that do not close away.

- If you get farm raised mussels they likely won't have many beards but you'll want to check them anyway. If any of them have a beard (it's a little tuft or string of what looks like coarse hair), tug it down toward the hinge part of the mussel and it should come right out. Toss any beards you find.

2. In a large sauce pan with a lid, add olive oil over medium high heat and add the onion and garlic. Saute for 4 - 5 minutes.

3. Add the red pepper flakes if you are using them.

4. Add the beer and bring to a simmer (about 5 to 7 minutes)

5. Once the beer is simmering, add the mussels, reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until the mussels have opened up.

6. Turn the heat off, remove mussels to a large serving dish.

7. Add the butter & the parsley to the sauce and bring back to a simmer until the butter is melted.

8. Pour the liquid over the mussels and serve.

Shredded cabbage & mango salad

I created this salad to go with the African chicken recipe.  I wanted something that connected to the chicken but was fresh and tangy to balance out the creamy richness of the chicken.

Ingredients:

2 - 3 cups shredded cabbage
1 - 2 red endives, chopped or shredded
1/2 cup of spiced dried mango, sliced finely
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
3 - 4 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped up
1 handful of slated roasted peanuts
4 Tblsp. olive oil
1 Tblsp. lemon juice
1 Tblsp. spiced rice vinegar (or any other vinegar you like)
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
a pinch of salt & some ground pepper

Directions:

1. Shred, chop, slice all of your vegetables

2. Dump them all into a bowl.

3. In a separate, small bowl, mix up the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, dijon mustard, salt & pepper into a vinaigrette.

4. Pour the vinaigrette over the veggies and toss.

5. Sprinkle with peanuts & serve.

African Chicken

My mother got this recipe when she was in college in Europe from a student from Africa. Sadly, I have no idea where in Africa that particular student was from. Regardless, it's delicious!

I serve this over bulgur, but it's great with rice, quinoa, or couscous as well.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 - 3 lbs of chicken pieces (quarters, thighs, wings, etc. - with bones and all)
1 cup hot water
2 Tblsp. tomato paste
1  16 oz can of whole tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp - 1 Tblsp chili flakes (depending on how much heat you want)
1/2 tsp. grated ginger root (feel free to use powdered ginger, it will work just fine)
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups crunchy peanut butter

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven or any large, deep pot with a lid, heat a little oil and brown the chicken on all sides. About 15 minutes total. (You may have to do this in batches and that works just fine too).

2. Remove the chicken & drain the fat from the pan.

3. Add water, tomato paste, tomatoes (with liquid), onion, garlic, chili flakes, ginger, chili powder, and salt. Bring it to a boil.

4. Once it has begun boiling, reduce the heat, give it a good stir, and cover the pan . Simmer for about 10 minutes.

5. Add the chicken back to the pan, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.

6. Put the peanut butter in a medium bowl and ladle a few spoonfuls of the simmering cooking liquid into it, stir.

7. Add the liquid peanut butter to the chicken. Turn the chicken to coat it in the sauce.

8. Cover and cook another 10 - 15 minutes.

9. Serve with rice, couscous, quinoa, or bulgur.

A comfort food kind of night

I make dinner basically every Sunday and have been doing it for a long time now. Generally, everything goes just fine but every once in a while I screw something up. It doesn't happen that often but when it does, it really happens. And then it becomes an endless source of hilarity for all of the regulars. They take every opportunity to mention it in their (usually futile) attempts to get a rise out of me.

The most memorable screw up as of late - and apparently everyone's current favorite -  was the gravy incident. It was the Realtor's birthday and he had requested a German meal. I made Sauerbraten, red cabbage, and Spaetzle. If you've ever had Sauerbraten, you know that the gravy makes the meal.

A good Sauerbraten takes time (days, actually) and the gravy to me is the final piece of a long puzzle. The gravy is, in my opinion, the most important part of the Sauerbraten. It adds the sweetness and spice to the sour and savory meat and, well, it's delicious. Sauerbraten gravy calls for old fashioned, dark ginger snap cookies. For the occasion of the Realtor's birthday, I decided to make the cookies from scratch. I made the cookies the day before so they would be perfect for the gravy. That Sunday, I spent the day cooking and prepping and when the meat had been cooking for hours and was getting lovely and tender, I started on preparing for the gravy. I cooked tons of beautiful veggies in the broth with the meat to really flavor it and once we were almost ready to eat, I was going to finalize the last steps of the gravy - adding the cookies and thickening the gravy: After you remove the meat to a platter, you get rid of the veggies (put a colander in a bowl in the sink), reserve the precious liquid, then you add the cookies, etc...

So, I put a colander in the sink and at the very moment when I dumped the veggies and all that broth in, I realized I had forgotten the bowl as I watched all of that glorious liquid for the gravy go down the drain. NOOOO!!! I tried to reach in and scoop it up but it was still near boiling hot and, lets face it, how much was I going to save with my bare hands anyway? Yeah, that didn't work. All I could do was watch it all go away.

The meal that night was still good but it was certainly not the same as it should (or could) have been.

Since that night, every time I make anything that has any type of gravy, somebody - or everybody - says something along the lines of "do you need a supervisor to save the gravy?" or "uh oh, we're not going to have gravy tonight."

I have never again lost gravy like that (and I have since been vindicated by the Realtor doing a similar thing that involved the loss of pasta water that was meant for a sauce) but I definitely tend to shy away from meals that involve gravy.

This past Sunday, however, I made gravy. There was no mishap or incident, although that didn't stop The Boys from making their usual gravy-related comments. It wasn't even a necessary part of the meal but it made me remember the Sauerbraten story so there you have it.

This Sunday was a raincheck meal. If you recall, the Professor had a birthday recently and although he had originally requested meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans, we decided to go for Greek food instead because we had had the very meat-heavy Southern Fried Sunday the week before. So, the Professor suggested we go back to the meatloaf idea this weekend. And we did.

I decided to go for a traditional style meatloaf but I tweaked it a bit. I used 3 types of meat (beef, pork, and veal) and I used carrots, celery, and onion instead of just onion. I also decided to go with the free form loaf rather than a loaf pan. The meatloaf turned out well. It was moist and flavorful and the (s)mashed potatoes were creamy enough that they didn't even really need gravy.

Here's a before pic of my meatloaf (2 loaves, actually)

And, since I forgot to take a picture when they came out of the oven, here's a version of an after picture:

I know it looks like it is burned but it's not. That part is actually caramelized and freaking delicious!

So, here are the recipes:

Meatloaf:

(I adapted this from a Martha Stewart recipe called "classic meatloaf")

Ingredients for one meatloaf:

1/2 a medium onion

2 cloves of garlic (crushed or minced)

1 carrot (peeled)

1 celery stalk

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1 lb ground beef (I use 85% lean because that fat adds juice and flavor)

1 lb ground pork (I use spicy but you can just use plain)

1/2 lb ground veal

1 1/2 cups to 2 cups of dried breadcrumbs

1 egg

about 1/3 cup of ketchup (plus another 1/3 cup for later)

1 Tblsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce

salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Put the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and parsley in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

3. Put your meat in a large mixing bowl, add the veggies, breadcrumbs, egg, 1/3 cup of ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and a generous pinch of salt & pepper.

4. Get in there with your (clean) hands and mix it up but just mix it until it's all combined. You don't want to over-mix it - that tends to make it tougher than you want it to be.

5. Form the loaf on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish (baking dish is good if you want to capture the juices to make a gravy).

6. Brush the top with the remaining ketchup. (Lots of recipes call for a ketchup, brown sugar mixture here but I think ketchup is sweet enough as it is.)

7. Bake at 375 for about an hour. Check the internal temperature (you want to be get to about 160 - 165). If you don't have a thermometer, you can cut into the meatloaf and take a look. If it's too pink or too mushy, keep it in the oven a little longer.

8. Once you remove it from the oven, transfer it to a serving plate and tent it with foil while you finish up the rest of the meal.

Creamy mashed potatoes:

I use waxier potatoes than the traditional russets. I use baby gold potatoes or red potatoes, depending on the look I want. I also don't peel the potatoes.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. potatoes (unpeeled but washed)
2 to 3 Tblsp. butter
1/2 cup heavy cream (add more if they are too dry)
salt

Directions:

1. Cut the potatoes into quarters and put them in a large pot of cold water.

2. Salt the water and bring it to a boil.

3. Boil the potatoes for about 20 minutes until they are very tender.

4. While the potatoes are boiling, combine the butter and the cream in a microwave safe dish (or a pan on the stove) and warm it a little, just enough to start the butter melting in the warm cream.

4. Strain the potatoes and put them in a large serving bowl and add the cream/butter mixture.

5. With a potato masher or a sturdy large fork, smash the potatoes until they are a fairly creamy consistency. I like mine to have some potato lumps but that's up to you.

6. Add a little salt at the end if it's needed but since you already salted the water earlier, you probably won't need much additional salt.

Lemony green beans:

Ingredients:

1 to 2 lbs of green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup of chicken broth
2 garlic cloves (crushed/minced)
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 small lemon

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, bring the chicken broth and the garlic to a boil.

2. Add the green beans and simmer, stirring occasionally, until they are bright green and tender (I like it when they're still a bit firm but that's up to you).

3. While the beans are cooking, slice up the lemon into thin slices.

4. Remove the green beans to a serving dish and drizzle with the olive oil.

5. Dump the lemons on top and give the whole thing a good stir. Enjoy!

- You can use the leftover chicken broth from the beans to flavor any gravy you might be making, just don't dump it out if you're intending to use it. :-)

Lemony garlicky green beans

- I don't remember where I originally found this recipe but it's so simple that I make it fairly often.

Ingredients:

1 to 2 lbs of green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup of chicken broth
2 garlic cloves (crushed/minced)
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 small lemon

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, bring the chicken broth and the garlic to a boil.

2. Add the green beans and simmer, stirring occasionally, until they are bright green and tender (I like it when they're still a bit firm but that's up to you).

3. While the beans are cooking, slice up the lemon into thin slices.

4. Remove the green beans to a serving dish and drizzle with the olive oil.

5. Dump the lemons on top and give the whole thing a good stir. Enjoy!

- You can use the leftover chicken broth from the beans to flavor any gravy you might be making, just don't dump it out if you're intending to use it. :-)

Creamy (s)mashed potatoes

- I use waxier potatoes than the traditional russets. I use baby gold potatoes or red potatoes, depending on the look I want. I also don't peel the potatoes.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. potatoes (unpeeled but washed)
2 to 3 Tblsp. butter
1/2 cup heavy cream (add more if they are too dry)
salt

Directions:

1. Cut the potatoes into quarters and put them in a large pot of cold water.

2. Salt the water and bring it to a boil.

3. Boil the potatoes for about 20 minutes until they are very tender.

4. While the potatoes are boiling, combine the butter and the cream in a microwave safe dish (or a pan on the stove) and warm it a little, just enough to start the butter melting in the warm cream.

4. Strain the potatoes and put them in a large serving bowl and add the cream/butter mixture.

5. With a potato masher or a sturdy large fork, smash the potatoes until they are a fairly creamy consistency. I like mine to have some potato lumps but that's up to you.

6. Add a little salt at the end if it's needed but since you already salted the water earlier, you probably won't need much additional salt.

Meatloaf

(I adapted this from a Martha Stewart recipe called "classic meatloaf")

Ingredients for one meatloaf (this is easily double-able):

1/2 a medium onion

2 cloves of garlic (crushed or minced)

1 carrot (peeled)

1 celery stalk

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1 lb ground beef (I use 85% lean because that fat adds juice and flavor)

1 lb ground pork (I use spicy but you can just use plain)

1/2 lb ground veal

1 1/2 cups to 2 cups of dried breadcrumbs

1 egg

about 1/3 cup of ketchup (plus another 1/3 cup for later)

1 Tblsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce

salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Put the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and parsley in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

3. Put your meat in a large mixing bowl, add the veggies, breadcrumbs, egg, 1/3 cup of ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and a generous pinch of salt & pepper.

4. Get in there with your (clean) hands and mix it up but just mix it until it's all combined. You don't want to over-mix it - that tends to make it tougher than you want it to be.

5. Form the loaf on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish (baking dish is good if you want to capture the juices to make a gravy).

6. Brush the top with the remaining ketchup. (Lots of recipes call for a ketchup, brown sugar mixture here but I think ketchup is sweet enough as it is.)

7. Bake at 375 for about an hour. Check the internal temperature (you want to be get to about 160 - 165). If you don't have a thermometer, you can cut into the meatloaf and take a look. If it's too pink or too mushy, keep it in the oven a little longer.

8. Once you remove it from the oven, transfer it to a serving plate and tent it with foil while you finish up the rest of the meal.

I made dessert!!

I am not a baker. Mostly it's because I have a hard time following directions so precisely. Now, I know that might surprise some people because I tend to be a fairly precise person but there's something rebellious that rises in me when a piece of paper is telling me what to do. I can't help it!

When I cook, I don't usually follow recipes. I use them as a starting point, a suggestion, a source of inspiration. As you can see from the recipes I've posted so far, they all say, "adapted from" or "based on" or something of that sort because I never follow a recipe exactly. First off, I very rarely measure anything, I eyeball it instead.

And that does not work well when baking. It needs to be more precise than that, especially if you are not  a regular baker.

However, as I was getting ready for Sunday dinner this past weekend, my mother posted a picture and video of a dessert on Facebook. I didn't look at the video until I saw the next day that a friend of mine had used her post to make an afternoon dessert and posted a picture that looked just like the one my mother had posted. I was intrigued so I watched the little video and it looked so simple!

I have said before that I rarely serve dessert with dinner but this weekend I did. Look!!

That was before they went into the oven.

Here's what they looked like when I took them out. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them nicely presented on a pretty plate & dusted in powdered sugar but I had put my phone away by then.

Of course I didn't follow the recipe/video exactly. I used mango preserves instead of the recommended apricot because I could not find apricot jam or preserves without high fructose corn syrup and I didn't feel like going to multiple stores. Also, I doubled the recipe, which meant the time it took to "cook" the apples in water and lemon juice was a lot longer. You'll see in the video, it says to put the apple slices in the water and microwave for 3 minutes. It took about 9 minutes to do the double batch. Whatever you do, just make sure the slices are cooked enough to be soft and "rollable". You'll see why.

Here's the video: Baked Apple Flowers

I was amazed at how easy these were. A bit time consuming but really pretty simple and everybody loved them. They weren't too sweet, they were just the right size for a small dessert after dinner and I served them with plain vanilla ice cream. 

As an added bonus: Panda decided to have a porter float to go along with her dessert, which was also a big hit: pour any porter or other very dark beer into a tall glass - don't fill it all the way! It will overflow - then add a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream and enjoy! 

Professor More-Right had a birthday

Professor More-Right is brilliant. I've already told you that much. However, sometimes brilliance isn't enough to keep you from doing something less than genius. I have also told you that our dear professor is talented in the kitchen and we all especially love his pizza dough. Sometimes though, it's easier to just pop a frozen pizza in the oven and call it a day.

One evening a while back, Professor More-Right went for the frozen pizza. But instead of taking it out of its packaging like a normal human, our dear professor used one of his appropriately-sharp-for-a-chef knife to cut the packaging and promptly sliced off the tip of his finger. Yup. You read that right. He sliced off the tip of his finger. Just the tip, though. :-)

He immediately started bleeding. Duh. He grabbed a towel to put pressure on the finger to stop the bleeding. He couldn't get it to stop and, of course, every time he tried to do anything, he had to let go of the towel over the finger and the blood just kept coming. So, of course he decided to call his best friend, the Slovak, for help. Naturally. But to do so, he had to let go to pick up the phone, he had to let go to make the call, etc.

The call went something like this:

Professor, "Hey, what are you doing?"
Slovak, "Not much, just sitting down to eat something. What's up?"
Professor, "Well, I cut my finger. Can you come over?"
Slovak, "Sure."

Yes, they are really that calm.

And so the Slovak went over to the Professor's place to assist. Have you seen the TV show Dexter? Well, that's how the Slovak describes the scene. Lots of blood. Everywhere. From the front door to the kitchen, all over the kitchen, the bathroom, everywhere. It makes sense really. If the finger spurted blood every time Professor More-Right let go, of course there was blood everywhere. He cut the tip of the finger off in the kitchen, went to the bathroom to get a towel, went to get the phone, made the call, had to go to the front door to open it for the Slovak, etc.

Anyway, the Slovak helped to bandage up the now slightly shorter finger and then the boys continued making that damn frozen pizza and ate it like nothing happened.

Everybody at Sunday dinner knows this story and we laugh about it regularly. Even more so once we learned that our professor is part lizard and eventually regrew that finger tip...

-

Whenever a regular has a birthday, that person gets to choose the meal. Since it was his birthday last week, Professor More-Right got to choose. He originally wanted meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and some sort of vegetable but after our amazing Southern Fried Sunday, he decided to go with something a little lighter and chose Greek food instead. I love Greek food and so I had a ton of fun with this meal.

I wanted to use a recipe I've been eyeing for years that calls for either quail or partridge. Well, those aren't all that easy to come by so I opted for Game Hens instead. This meant I had to adapt the recipe a bit since game hens are bigger than both partridges and quails.

So, we had spicy broiled game hens, roasted lemon potatoes, a traditional Greek village salad, and rocket salad.

The meal.

Here are the recipes. They are all quite simple. The challenge here was timing. I have a small, ancient oven and so broiling the game hens while also roasting the potatoes was interesting but since we like the potatoes to be a bit crispy, it worked out to put them in the oven while the broiler was on and let them roast at a slightly higher temperature than usual.

(Each recipe is also its own post so you can click on the title of each if you want just the recipe and not this entire post for future reference.)

Spicy Broiled Game Hens

- this recipe is adapted from the Spicy Broiled Quail recipe I found in "The Book of Greek Cooking" by Lesley Mackley

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves
salt
1 Tablespoon each of ground cumin and coriander
1 small onion, cut into rough chunks
a handful of fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup of good olive oil
4 game hens (cut in half) (1/2 a hen is about enough for one person)
2 - 3 lemons cut into slices for garnish

Directions:

1. Put the first 7 ingredients into a food processor and make a paste. Spread the paste over the game hens (top and bottom). Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Preheat the broiler.

3. Place the game hen halves on a broiler rack or baking rack and broil, turning every 5 minutes for about 20 minutes until the game hens are slightly charred on the outside.

4. If they're not fully cooked, put them in the oven to bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until the juice runs clear when pierced. (Or you can pull back one of the legs to check if there's any pink left.)

5. Serve garnished with lemon slices.

Roasted Lemon Potatoes

Ingredients:
small baby potatoes (I typically estimate about 4 potatoes per person)
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup (or enough to coat) olive oil
lemon juice (about half the amount of oil you used)
a few teaspoons of sea salt
a little less fresh ground pepper
a few tablespoons of dried rosemary

Directions:

1. Cut the potatoes into quarters and put into a large bowl.

2. Add olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and rosemary to the potatoes and mix until the potatoes are evenly coated (feel free to use your hands for this - after you wash them, of course).

3. Put the potatoes into a baking dish and bake at 425 for about 30 to 45 minutes. It's fine if there a little crispy, it's actually preferred.

If you're making these at the same time as you are using your broiler and if your oven is heated by the same source as the broiler, that's perfectly fine too. Just check the potatoes after about half an hour and keep an eye on them. When they're soft, they're done.

Rocket Salad

“Rocket” is British for arugula; the Greeks call it roka.

Ingredients:

1 bag of arugula
2 large oranges
1 big chunk of feta cheese
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Dump a bag of baby arugula into a large salad bowl or platter.

2. Peel 2 large oranges and cut the sections into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle on the arugula.

3. Cut up a chunk of feta cheese into bite sized pieces and add to the salad.

4. Douse the salad well with olive oil and toss gently. If desired, squeeze some orange juice and or lemon juice over the salad.

Greek Salad

Greek salad does not need to have lettuce. Use the freshest vegetables you can find. If the tomatoes are not in season, it helps to peel them for more flavor.

Ingredients:

4 - 6 tomatoes
2 cucumbers
1 red onion
1 chunk of feta cheese
pitted Kalamata olives (however many you want)
1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon (or more if you like) dried oregano

Directions:

1. Cut up the tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion into bite-sized chunks and dump them all into your serving dish.

2. Top the salad with a good chunk of feta cheese and Kalamata olives.

3. Pour olive oil over the top and sprinkle with dried oregano & toss when you serve.

That's it!

As a final note, this was one of Professor More-Right's birthday presents, appropriately gifted by the Slovak.

blood spatter cutting board

As always, Happy Eating! 

Now, who wants leftovers?

Spicy Broiled Game Hens

Spicy Broiled Game Hens

- this recipe is adapted from the Spicy Broiled Quail recipe I found in "The Book of Greek Cooking" by Lesley Mackley

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves
salt
1 Tablespoon each of ground cumin and coriander
1 small onion, cut into rough chunks
a handful of fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup of good olive oil
4 game hens (cut in half) (1/2 a hen is about enough for one person)
2 - 3 lemons cut into slices for garnish

Directions:

1. Put the first 7 ingredients into a food processor and make a paste. Spread the paste over the game hens (top and bottom). Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Preheat the broiler.

3. Place the game hen halves on a broiler rack or baking rack and broil, turning every 5 minutes for about 20 minutes until the game hens are slightly charred on the outside.

4. If they're not fully cooked, put them in the oven to bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until the juice runs clear when pierced. (Or you can pull back one of the legs to check if there's any pink left.)

5. Serve garnished with lemon slices.

Roasted Lemon Potatoes

Roasted Lemon Potatoes

Ingredients:
small baby potatoes (I typically estimate about 4 potatoes per person)
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup (or enough to coat) olive oil
lemon juice (about half the amount of oil you used)
a few teaspoons of sea salt
a little less fresh ground pepper
a few tablespoons of dried rosemary

Directions:

1. Cut the potatoes into quarters and put into a large bowl.

2. Add olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and rosemary to the potatoes and mix until the potatoes are evenly coated (feel free to use your hands for this - after you wash them, of course).

3. Put the potatoes into a baking dish and bake at 425 for about 30 to 45 minutes. It's fine if there a little crispy, it's actually preferred.

If you're making these at the same time as you are using your broiler and if your oven is heated by the same source as the broiler, that's perfectly fine too. Just check the potatoes after about half an hour and keep an eye on them. When they're soft, they're done.

Rocket Salad

Rocket Salad

“Rocket” is British for arugula; the Greeks call it roka.

Ingredients:

1 bag of arugula
2 large oranges
1 big chunk of feta cheese
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Dump a bag of baby arugula into a large salad bowl or platter.

2. Peel 2 large oranges and cut the sections into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle on the arugula.

3. Cut up a chunk of feta cheese into bite sized pieces and add to the salad.

4. Douse the salad well with olive oil and toss gently. If desired, squeeze some orange juice and or lemon juice over the salad.

Greek Salad recipe

Greek Salad

Greek salad does not need to have lettuce. Use the freshest vegetables you can find. If the tomatoes are not in season, it helps to peel them for more flavor.

Ingredients:

4 - 6 tomatoes
2 cucumbers
1 red onion
1 chunk of feta cheese
pitted Kalamata olives (however many you want)
1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon (or more if you like) dried oregano

Directions:

1. Cut up the tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion into bite-sized chunks and dump them all into your serving dish.

2. Top the salad with a good chunk of feta cheese and Kalamata olives.

3. Pour olive oil over the top and sprinkle with dried oregano & toss when you serve.

The players (or, more accurately, the eaters)

In every good story there are interesting characters. Sunday dinner is no different. The regulars are a pretty colorful group. One of the things I love most about these people is that we all have different interests, different jobs, different lives but we all appreciate each other and each other's company. We are a graphic designer, a realtor, a lawyer, a professor, a coffee shop manager, a school teacher, a daycare provider, and a tech industry something or other (I'm not savvy in that world...), and a mediator.

Now, let me introduce you to these amazing people:

First, there's Panda. She's not a real panda. Obviously. She doesn't look like a panda either for that matter, being a human, non-furry ultra-marathon runner and all. She got the nickname on a camping trip a few years ago when someone decided that she was as lovable and unique as a panda. And it stuck. She's also one of my closest, dearest friends.

Then we have the boys. They are best friends. They are also grown men but they are basically a package deal so they're "the boys". They are both deeply disturbed but in a good way, you know what I mean? No? Ah, well, they're not really all that disturbed if you're speaking in relative terms. They do have a lock on 14-year-old-boy humor though, which might contribute to their being referred to as "the boys". Anyway, they are a Slovak (and his dog) and Professor More-Right.

The Slovak - I'm calling him that because somehow he has managed to escape a nickname and he is indeed Slovakian - is a realtor by profession and he is very good at it, being a charming funny guy and all. He is also very much a creature of habit so he was the first to choose a seat at the table and never change it. Never. Even I have occasionally (okay, once) changed my seat to accommodate a new guest but not this guy. Always the same spot.

Professor More-Right is actually a real professor, although More-Right is not his name. It's what we call him because he's (nearly) always more right than anyone else. Also, if you ever want to know any kind of trivia, ask him. If I were ever on a "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" type of game-show, he would be my phone-a-friend every time. The man is brilliant. I call his brain a hoarder brain.

The Irish One. Well, she's Irish. She's been in the States for over 20 years and people still sometimes have a hard time understanding her. I have often acted as a translator for her. She's also HILARIOUS! She keeps us in stitches with her stories and her take on the world.

The kids. They're fully grown adults as well. It's just that they are the youngest ones in the group - by nearly a decade. The are my upstairs neighbors and they are a wonderful, smart, and quirky couple.

The parents, a.k.a. the hippies. We call them "the parents" because they are newly minted parents. We call them hippies because, well, they're hippies. They bring their baby girl, who is a source of endless entertainment and gets passed around the table. Panda always makes the poor thing cry though so she's not really allowed to hold her for very long. The parents are both wonderful, easy-going, funny characters, a coffee shop manager and a school teacher who bring out my inner hippy and my environmental and social justice side, which I greatly appreciate.

Those are the regulars. We have some frequent guest appearances as well but I will introduce them as they appear.

Now, everybody has a job to do.

Panda is my sous chef, although she's not really allowed in the kitchen for safety reasons. That means she hangs out near the kitchen while I cook and prep for dinner, making sure I have a beverage, taste testing things as I prepare them. She keeps me company before the others arrive.

The Slovak's job is to bring his dog (whom I adore) and also to open wine and make sure everyone has beverages. He takes this job very seriously and everyone appreciates that. He also keeps us laughing (maybe sometimes it's more groaning?) with his unique humor - that of a 14 year old boy as mentioned earlier. The dog's job is to be the most opportunistic animal in the room. He's usually very good around people food but at Sunday dinners he takes the opportunity to snag what he can when no one is paying attention, like entire blocks of cheese or hunks of salami or prosciutto. Unfortunately, his love of cheese doesn't tend to have very comfortable consequences for him. One time he didn't poop for nearly 3 days. That was a very large block of cheese...

Professor More-Right always says the same thing when he arrives, "I know what the answer is but I have to ask: Is there anything I can do to help?" The answer is always no but he asks anyway. Also, his job is to know stuff. We give him a hard time about it every once in a while (okay, all the time) but he really is brilliant! He also sometimes acts as a guest chef, either when I'm out of town or if we want something he's brilliant at making, like pizza dough. He's also an amazing cook.


The Irish One. Ha! Her job is to keep us in stitches. "Up she flew and never lost a feather!"

The kids have different jobs. Her job is to always ask questions about stuff we talk about (and remind us how old we all are) and his job is to eat like it's his actual job! They are also quite hilarious and they just recently got engaged so congrats to them!

The parents/hippies have the important job of bringing and taking care of another, much smaller, human being. He also is going to have a debut performance as guest chef very soon and she is the more responsible one, typically the driver at the end of the night, for which I am grateful.

Alright! That's the cast of characters. You'll get to know them better as time goes on, I'm sure. For now, lets get to eating!

Southern Fried Sunday

So, I did this very dumb thing. A few months ago, some friends of mine were having a conversation on a social networking site (yes, facebook) about running a half marathon. At some point Panda dragged me into the conversation by suggesting that I join them and either run it with them or meet them at the finish line. When others jumped in saying that, yes, indeed I should meet them at the finish line, I got all challenge-y (it's a word if I say so, right?). I have a hard time walking away from a (perceived) challenge. It's a flaw that I have tried - and failed miserably - to remove from my personality. In other words, my reaction was "hey! If you can run it, I can run it! Meet you at the finish line, my ass! I'm running that thing!" and I promptly registered for it.

Obviously I was not thinking clearly at the time. But once I accept a challenge, well... I did attempt to train for the thing. I even borrowed the Slovak's dog on a near-daily basis to go for a run/walk for a couple of months. Being me though - read: lazy - I definitely did not train appropriately. The longest run I ever did (and by run I mean a run/walk combo because, duh!) was 8 miles. That's a full 5.1 miles short of a half marathon for those of you not aware of how terrible an idea this was. 

Anyway, Panda, the Irish One, our friend Geeves, and I found ourselves in Sacramento this past weekend all signed up and ready to go for this half marathon. None of us were adequately prepared, to be clear, although I'd argue that Panda is just generally prepared to run even if she disputes this. She's run several full marathons, an ultra marathon (50 miles!!!), and many half marathons. Hell, she's running another one this weekend! 

We all finished - I was the last of the group obviously! Here are a few pictures before the race when I was still fairly happy about life:

And just a few hours later, we were all slightly less excited, with the possible exception of the Irish One, since she's a freak!

Anyway, after that, we took the train back home and needless to say, I was not going to cook Sunday dinner so we had a guest chef! The boy half of the Parents/Hippies was our chef for the evening (the Boys helped out though). He's from Texas so he decided to do a southern fried Sunday dinner. We had chicken fried steak, bacon Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and a green chili cream sauce. Since I didn't make the food, I don't have recipes to share (I will ask him if I can share them and will post them later if he gives permission) but it was pretty freaking delicious!! 

I thoroughly enjoyed the boys taking over the kitchen. All I had to do was hang out and will my muscles into not being sore from the run. Here's what it looks like when three boys take over my kitchen:

There were only limited leftovers this time but we did have some. And they were pretty fantastic as well!

Welcome!

I have decided that my blog (this thing here: Katy's thoughts) - the sole purpose of which is basically grumbling about life in general - isn't the right place for my happier stuff. Sunday dinners and the random brunch or lunch are my happier stuff.

I started Sunday dinners a few years ago. Well, actually, they started over a decade ago without any of my doing but since I moved to California in 2009, I have re-started the tradition here. Now I host them most Sundays. Sunday dinner is a time for good friends to come together to enjoy good food & drink, and great company. It's also a nice way to end the weekend and start the week.

Since I have a very hard time - I think it might be a physical and mental impossibility actually - cooking for a small number of people.Therefore, depending on how many folks show up, there are leftovers for whomever wants them. Personally, I like leftovers and having some during the week makes the week that much easier (people who refuse to eat leftovers are weird to me). So YAY! I can can ignore that impossible challenge of cooking for fewer people than would make up a small army. (Most of the recipes I post are for the standard 4 to 6 servings so I usually double or triple them as needed.)

I have to warn you: I don't have much of a sweet tooth so you probably won't see (m)any recipes along those lines here but you'll see lots of main dishes and sides. I try not to repeat meals too frequently so it's a fun challenge to find new ideas or old ones I haven't tried in a while. I will always let you know how the recipe came to be in my rotation, i.e. the source of said recipe will be disclosed. I'm not in the business of taking credit I don't deserve, plus there are some pretty amazing cooks out there and who am I to deprive you of other stuff they make that you might like? 

Everything will have labels so you can search for things like "main dish" or "chicken" or "dinner" and the like. 

Pictures. Hm. I usually put my phone away as soon as everyone I'm expecting has arrived and certainly by the time we sit down to eat so I will probably often forget to take pictures of the food. I'll try to remember though. I like pictures. 

I will also try to add recipes regularly, both as I come across old ones and as I make them so there will (hopefully) be some regularity to my posts but we'll see about that.

Enjoy and please feel free to steal, substitute, add to, or for that matter change completely any of these recipes to your liking as you cook them. 

And most importantly, have fun!

Now, who wants leftovers?