Easy Dinner Recipe

   Sometimes I'm in the mood to plan something challenging for dinner. Sometimes I don't want to plan or even cook for that matter but most often I want to do what I want to do and still have a yummy home cooked dinner. Being that it's summer and I live where people come to vacation I wanted one of those "do what I want days at the beach with friends but not have to scramble off the sand early to get dinner ready" days. That's where the trusty old crock pot comes in to play. Ok my crock pot isn't really that old. I had an old one with a High, Low and Off switch. It was harvest gold with a removable brown crock. It worked great. But then I started hearing the buzz about new crock pots, ones with auto shut off, warming temp, bright shiny and white. I looked at them when I was at the store and read the stats on the side of the box. I did this for probably a year. How could I justify a new one when the old one worked just fine? I even bought a dial lamp timer to plug mine into so that it could come on while I wasn't home or turn off while I was still out playing. That worked pretty well although I did have angst about it over cooking my food or just over heating. In the end I gave into all the bells and whistles of something new to replace something that still worked. It was a good decision. For one thing my new one is bigger. It has 4 different time settings and automatically switches to warm once the time is up. Crock pot liner bags are another great improvement in crock pot cooking. You still have to wash the crock but it makes clean up way faster and easier.

   Let me tell you what I made in my crock pot last week that was a big hit. This is one of those easy dinner recipes you'll go to again and again. Green chili pork. I should come up with a better name but this is what it is. Country style pork strips were on sale for $1.79/lb when I was at the store. Whenever I see these on sale I get excited, kind of. There always seems to be a great ratio of meat to price and then I'm suspicious. Why aren't people buying this stuff up? What's wrong with it? Nothing that I can see. I once knew a Sicilian grandmother who cooked them all day in a tomato sauce to serve over pasta. It was to die for but I knew I'd probably never stand over the stove all day and stir sauce. Mine wouldn't have an Italian flare but a nod to south of the border. I prepped the crock pot with the liner, added seasoned meat, covered it with green sauce, chilies, added some spice, set it for 8 hours and went to the beach. I know I take this to the next level and most people don't want to and you don't have to and still have a great dinner. But, if you are looking for an amazing over the top dinner make your own tortillas. It's easy I promise and you will never eat tastier tortillas than fresh homemade. Try my Green Chili Pork and if you are adventuresome enough, make Homemade Corn Tortillas. Do it. And for those who don't know when to say when, make cheese.  Make your own Queso Blanco. It's a fresh white cheese that is crumbly and creamy with just the right amount of saltiness and goes best with this kind of food. It only has 3 ingredients and you can make it in about an hour. If you make any or all of these I wanna know. Make one thing and buy the rest then the next time make something else. If you never try it you'll never know if you can. If nothing else you can say you tried. Nothing was ever accomplished without trying and most things tried probably had an early failure. Without failure there is no trying and without trying we have nothing. 

Cheese Before Church

Finished Cheese

   We normally go to the first service at church. It's less crowded, our day seems longer and it's "our service." We have our seats and we see our friends. Hum...seems like we've made church too much about us. Ok, attitude adjustment coming. Today we're going to second service since the church will be recognizing our graduating students and we have one of those. Because we push 50 over here our bodies are used to getting up at a certain time and today is no different. So what to do with all this extra morning time? Make cheese of course. Simple tasty cheese. Queso Blanco to be exact. It's a whole milk fresh cheese. No aging required and only 3 ingredients. Whole milk, vinegar and salt. The hard work takes about 30 minutes, stirring. That's it. Stirring hot milk until it gets to 195 degrees then add vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes then pour it through cheese cloth to drain off the whey. Toss in the salt and let it hang out in the cheese cloth for a while longer. Consume. I'm almost embarrassed to say it's that easy. People are always so impressed when I say I make cheese. I don't expect most people will make their own cheese, I don't know why however. I'll work hard to stay focused in church this morning knowing fresh cheese is waiting at home for me. What do you do before church?

Queso Blanco 

Eating Out

   I really don't eat out that much but if you only read my post from this week you'd think otherwise. It's been an unusual week. Wednesday evening I met a couple friends from work for dinner before they went to a movie. I was invited to the movie but if you know me you know I don't really like to go to the theater. I don't like paying for something that I have no control over. People talk, their cell phone might ring, kids get up and down and squirm around, I can't pause the movie while I get a snack or ask my hubby a question about what's going on or just get up because I'm uncomfortable. I go to the movies about 2 times a year. We ate at a place I've only been to one other time and had an enjoyable time. We got there early enough to order off the "Happy Hour" menu. It was a great deal and somehow that can make food more delicious. I ordered the Seared Ahi over Potato Cakes with asparagus and wasabi sauce and soy ginger sauce and the Shrimp and Chips, popcorn shrimp and seasoned fries. It was a lot of food and I took shrimp and chips home which were promptly consumed by the son. Left-overs never go to waste at our house.

Respect for The King

   It looks as if I've not posted since Tuesday but that's not really true. I've been busy posting recipes from Tuesday's brunch and adding some pictures. I like to see what things should/could look like when complete so I like to take pictures. It's also a good reminder of something I might do differently next time. I don't claim to take awesome pictures of food and lots of time I'm disappointed in how my food looks in photos. Most things taste way better than they look but you'll just have to trust me on that one. All that being said you should check out the recipes under my "Brunch" post and look at the recipes and pictures. Be inspired to make one of them. You won't be sorry.

Diver Scallops, Sweet Pea Succotash, Maple Jus

   I have eaten some very yummy food this week. On Wednesday I had lunch with the girls from my Bible study at one of my favorite restaurants. The only option is to sit outside on the beautiful plant covered patio with herbs growing in mini pots as center pieces. They provide lap blankets for cool mornings or as cushions for those of us who need that extra padding. When the train begins to leave the adjacent station conversation stops while the train whistle blows. The place was bustling with couples and tables of people celebrating what looked like a birthday. People were talking and enjoying themselves but when our table of 10 stopped to pray before we ate, the whole patio went quiet as if to respect our moment before the King. I thought that was cool. But I digress. Diver scallops, sweet pea succotash with maple jus. Look at that picture. Oh heavens. Scallops cooked perfectly. This is one of those things I don't make a home much so I'm prone to order in a restaurant. I can hardly stand to go to a place that has something I make for dinner on the menu. I'm paying $ for something I can't or don't want to make and that list keeps getting shorter. I know, I'm doing that to my self. Oh well.

Brunch

   Today I had friends over for brunch. This is my annual get together with some of the girls I work with and we celebrate that school is out and that we get to "do summer" like our kids do. They always appreciate whatever I make them and it makes me wish I could cook for them more. I experimented on them. I do that often with company. I know some people have their old stand-byes they make when someone comes over but I do that for dinner most nights. I throw out the caveat that these are all new recipes and if they don't work I'm sorry. Usually things work out, sometimes not. Today everything was great!

Here's the menu: (pictures too)

Baked Eggs and Mushrooms in Ham Cups

Croque Madame French Toast Cups

Garlic Squished Potatoes w/ Sour Cream Dill Sauce

Mixed Fruit Salad with Vanilla Sugar

Pastries

Ginger Lemonade

   I bought the pastries since I don't really like to bake and the reality is I don't really like sweets so I'm not compelled to make something I don't like. There was nothing special about the mixed fruit except that I tossed the fresh strawberries with vanilla sugar the night before. It begins to break down the strawberries which makes them a little soft but the flavor is so good. I'll tell you about Vanilla Sugar in a minute. I mixed the berries with cantaloupe, green grapes and blue berries. Simple but screams summertime.

   I wanted to do small things. I guess that's all the rage. Shot glasses of soup, mini desserts. You get the picture. While the 2 main dishes have similarities they were different from one another. The Baked Eggs and Mushrooms in Ham Cups has no cheese or bread but obviously has meat. The Croque Madame French Toast Cups have bread and cheese and ham. I made some with whole eggs with runny yolks, some with beaten eggs, scrambled style and some with only egg whites for my friends who are watching what they eat. Not much of it is low calorie but they are small so it's easy to have portion control if you practice that kind of thing.

   So, the Vanilla Sugar. I've had mine so long I forget that I have it. I started the jar when my now 25 year old son was little, like 4 or 5. (Wow! That makes it 20 years old. Some things just should not be pondered.) This "old" sugar lives in a glass jar with a metal hinge and rubber gasket. You know the type. It probably holds about 2 1/2 cups. Whenever I use a vanilla bean I put the spent bean in the sugar. It just stays there. For years. I add to it any time I can. We use the sugar for French toast, in coffee, in cremé brulée. I add sugar to the jar to keep it topped off. It just sits there waiting for us to find a good reason to crack it open and take a big whiff. It's delightful and every home should have one.

   Have people over. It does several things for you and others. It makes people feel special and it gives you an excuse to try new recipes and you get the house in a little bit better order than you probably would have other wise. Is it stressful? Yes a little but it's the good stress, the kind that gets your heart beating and mind thinking and with good planning you get to enjoy good food and good friends and when they go home your house is clean (except the kitchen) and you can take a nap. 
  
  

Korean Pickled Vegetables

Korean pickled vegetables. I tasted this the other day at the Korean market that has a mini food court inside. It was a side to my Bulgogi noodle soup. It was so good that after walking through the produce section of said market I went back and asked the 2 guys working there what it was. Well, actually I pointed at it and gave them my best "?" face. The younger of the two told me what it was. The older asked me if I liked it. I inquired if it could be purchased in the store and after selling me a Styrofoam cup full for $2 he told me how to make it. Equal parts vinegar and soy sauce and half as much sugar. Sweet, I'll make my own. Back to the produce department for daikon (giant radish), cucumber and onion. Now the vinegar. Asian markets always have a larger selection to choose from compared to the mainstream stores in my area and vinegar was no exception. Shelves and shelves, bottles and bottles. Clear, golden to amber. Which to choose? The only English word on the bottles and shelves is "vinegar." Not too helpful so I pick a middle of the road one. Middle of the road as in just under $2. Once home I tasted the vinegar straight. Holy schnikies it was sour! I had planned to compare it the variety I keep on hand. So strong and astringent I went right to the distilled white vinegar, 5%. Normal stuff. I'm guessing what I bought was 10%. Oh well I thought, using it any way. I peeled my 18" long daikon, 1 large white onion and cut the ends off my cucumber. I combined 18 oz of vinegar with 18 oz of soy sauce and heaping cup of sugar. Mixing it to make sure the sugar dissolved then everything into a giant zip top bag. Seems like more stuff would fit so I dig around in the fridge and pull out 4 carrots and 4 small sweet peppers and add them to the mix. If I had jalapeno I would have added that too. Onto a sheet pan and into the refrigerator over night. After church today we pulled it out to do a comparison of my purchased pickled veg and homemade because hubby is always in the mood to do a food or drink taste test. Theirs is sweeter and less astringent. Mine has a bite that grabs your throat but is so tasty you keep going back to it. The addition of carrots and peppers were a good move. Next time I'll tone down the vinegar a little but in the meantime I'll be adding the 6 hard boiled and peeled eggs that have been waiting around while I figure out their purpose. I'll let you know how those turn out. Stand by.