Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

A while back, Libertarian27 provided a link to a Blue Cheese dip recipe that she had previously posted. I tried it this week, and it really is good; I used it on seasoned Chicken Lettuce Wraps and it went perfectly. Here is her link:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2644498/posts?page=5#5

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I'm not sure I've posted this before, but it's a nice appetizer or side dish, and though not strictly 'low-carb friendly', you can cut down on the flour, or use a low-carb substitute:

Zucchini Pancake Appetizers

3 cups unpeeled, grated zucchini

½ tsp. salt

2 large eggs, beaten

3 T. all-purpose flour

1 Cup crumbled Feta cheese

Butter for Frying

Dips/Garnish: Yogurt, Sour Cream, etc.

Toss the grated zucchini with salt and let stand in colander for 1 hour at room temperature.

When ready to cook, squeeze excess moisture from zucchini, without wringing it dry.

Place in medium bowl; add the eggs, flour and feta, and mix well.

Melt about 1 T. butter in a heavy sauté pan or griddle, enough to coat bottom generously.

Fry zucchini mixture in small pancake-sized amounts over medium-low heat until dark golden on both sides, about 5 minutes altogether. Transfer to paper towels to drain and continue with another batch until done.

Arrange pancakes on serving platter and garnish as desired (can use fresh or dried oregano, lemon slices, slasa, yogurt, sour cream.)

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The following is from George Stella's 'Livin' Low Carb' cookbook. The recipe makes 4 servings, with only 2 grams of carbohydrate per serving.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

8 oz. crab meat

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/8 tsp. minced garlic

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. poultry seasoning

1 tbsp. parsley, chopped

Vegetable cooking spray

16 white button mushrooms

2 green onions, sliced into 1/8 inch rings

In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, crab meat, Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, black pepper, salt, poultry seasoning and chopped parsley, and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and coat a baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray (I would use parchment or a Silpat mat for this.)

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and wipe the mushroom caps clean with a damp cloth.

Stuff the crab and cream cheese filling into the mushroom caps and transfer them to the baking sheet, stuffing side up.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook the mushrooms for about 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and transfer the mushrooms to a platter. Sprinkle the green onions over the tops of the mushrooms, and serve immediately.

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I'm always looking for interesting YouTubers who are doing videos on cooking/gardening/household subjects, and I found a new one last weekend. Her name is Phyllis Stokes, and she and her husband live in South Carolina. This lady is somewhat older than I, but we are near enough in age to be 'of a generation' and a lot of what she talks about is familiar to me. I felt very close to her after watching just one video, and there's probably a reason for that: she appears to have grown up in or near Newport News, not a far jaunt from my father's birthplace in Gloucester County, VA. When I'm listening to Phyllis I can catch in her diction, and in the cadence of her speech, little vestiges of my grandmother's ancient Tidewater accent.

Phyllis does lots of videos on healthy smoothies, and LOTS of wonderful Southern comfort food (you will gain weight just watching her 'Full Meal' and 'Southern Dessert' videos :-)

Here she is talking about Food of the 1950's (I do have to disagree with her on one point: I've loved Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast since being introduced to it in the 1950s! Also, she has a video on the Nilla Wafer Banana Pudding that she mentions here, which I've strangely never made or eaten; but my crew at work would love it):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsfAx98fHzY

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

We haven’t dried tomatoes yet; but a quick search brought this up:

http://www.food.com/recipe/olive-oil-packed-sun-dried-tomatoes-with-basil-497980

[Patriot Babe]

I’m surprised there are people that love Eggplant. For me they taste kind of rubbery. LOL Doesn’t have that nice tender feel like other vegies when cooking it.

[Jamestown1630]

I actually like the taste of it, and especially like eggplant parmigiana and eggplant fritters. One of its benefits in cooking is the way it soaks-up other flavors.

Baba Ghannouj is a wonderful dip:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baba-ghannouj-recipe.html

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

LOL! If I made it from home-made vanilla wafers, my crew would probably say, ‘it doesn’t taste right’; which usually means it doesn’t taste like Mom’s or Aunt Sally’s...

I guess it’s what you grew up on. I see lots of recipes trying to fancy-up the traditional green bean casserole that’s made from canned soup and French’s fried onions; and I’ve tried a couple of them. It just doesn’t hit the same spot ;-)

-JT

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

WOW!!!

How have I not heard of these Magic Rolls before?
I'm definitely gonna try these this weekend.
And it looks like I'm gonna have to buy that cookbook.

Thanks!

[Califreak]

Eggplant?

Moussaka!

Yum yum!

[miss marmelstein]

I agree with you. I think that we have atavistic taste buds - we like the food our ancestors ate and if it involves canned green beans and French’s fried onions that’s the way it has got to be. I know I feel this way. And since my mother was a strange health-nut who thought nothing of serving carob fake-chocolate and Brewer’s Yeast at meals, I never had a Nilla Wafer until I tried it about two years ago in a banana pudding. (My husband ate it up.)

[miss marmelstein]

It can be rubbery if not cooked properly - and it’s basically bland. It needs to be cooked with strong flavors that it can absorb. I posted a very simple eggplant chutney a few weeks ago.

We need a Freeper cookbook!

[miss marmelstein]

Looks good, Liz.

I’m going out now - sigh - to store up for the hurricane that our tubby NJ governor is touting like there’s no tomorrow.

[Patriot Babe]

o Ok thank you

[Patriot Babe]

Perhaps that was the problem. I did not cook it correctly. I guess I will give it another try and see.

[Trillian]

Those zucchini pancakes sounds delicious! I’ve never tried any with feta before.. just parmesan cheese.

[Trillian]

My grandmother in Italy used to dry them on the rooftop and then pack them in jars filled with olive oil.

Here’s a recipe I found that is similar, although she didn’t use thyme.

Homemade Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Makes an 8-ounce jar, easily doubled, tripled, etc., so long as you have oven space.

Update: a couple of notes, as apparently botulism can rear its head in the fridge, too! If you want to keep these in oil for more than 4 days, you should either freeze them or avoid flavoring the oil with garlic and leave it plain instead. Tomatoes in oil and garlic stored in home fridges can still be dangerous, so best not to test the fates.

Ingredients
1 pound plum tomatoes (5-6)
a few pinches coarse salt
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup olive oil (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)

Preheat oven to 200°F. Place a metal rack on a baking sheet.

Cut each tomato in thirds lengthwise. Each slice should be about 1/3-inch thick.

Sprinkle salt on the cut sides of the tomatoes–not more than you’d want to eat though! Line a cutting board with a dish towel or paper towels and place the tomatoes on top. Top with another dish towel and another cutting board. Weight with a heavy cookbook or two. Leave for 20 minutes. This helps get some of the tomato’s juices out early, before they go in the oven.

Remove the tomatoes from the cutting board sandwich, dusting off any salt that hasn’t dissolved, and place them on the rack, with at least 1 inch in between. Sprinkle with the fresh thyme.

Bake for about 5 hours, until the tomatoes are dry to the touch and have wrinkled around the edges. You can really decide how dry you want them–as dry as raisins? or do you want to leave a little plumpness? Watch them (and try them) as they cook, and decide for yourself. When done, remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.

If you’re going to be storing your tomatoes in olive oil, place the olive oil and garlic in a small jar while the tomatoes are cooking, and let the garlic steep to flavor the oil.

When the tomatoes are cool, add them to the oil. Store in the fridge for 4 days. If not using oil, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a few weeks.

http://www.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/2012/08/homemade-sun-dried-tomatoes.html

[Trillian]

My favorite ways to have eggplant are either stuffed eggplant or stuffed eggplant rolls. Both are filled with the same mixture of ground beef, parmesan, breadcrumbs, eggs, parsley, salt and garlic. Both topped with marinara sauce and baked in the oven. For the rolls you have to remove the skin, slice thin and fry. I always throw away the skin because of it’s bitter taste.

[miss marmelstein]

I do think eggplant is an acquired taste so don’t go to too much trouble. You may just not like it.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Thanks very much !

[Patriot Babe]

ah perhaps that is the problem with me, its the skin. I’ll try experimenting a little with it.

[Jamestown1630]

My husband has that book somewhere, but all I recall from it is the Magic Roll recipe. When he comes home, I’ll ask him if there were any other recipes that he especially liked.

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

For most recipes using eggplant, you usually salt it and let it sweat for awhile, which helps to break it down. Don’t skip that part, if it’s in your recipe; it makes a big difference.

-JT

[doorgunner69]

I have always associated cream cheese with super high caloric stuff, never though of it in low carb settings.