Menu for this week posted. 2/5/2018 (Chicken Monday!)

Posted on February 6, 2018 by Beebamom

I enjoy planning menus for the week, printing them, and hanging them up so family members can see (and I can remember) what is planned for dinner. I use the title Kap’n Mom’s Kitchen – Homade Specials because our family has standards and this is a joke. While traveling we NEVER eat at a place using incorrect spelling (such as Kaptain or homade), dialect which shortens words ( Kap’n), or a family member’s name (Mom, Uncle, etc. also includes Mr. and Mrs.) We once had a terrible meal at Mr. B’s homade cookin’  and learned our lesson. That being said, here is my week’s menu –

This week’s menu

In explanation “traditional chicken” means boneless, skinless chicken breast cooked in the immersion circulator and “big chicken” means a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. (Our local grocery store advertises its rotisserie chicken as “Big Chicken! Big Flavor!”

As indicated, Monday was Chicken Monday. This satisfying dinner comes in at about 350 calories. That includes some butter in the rutabagas and on the broccoli and 1/4 cup of the packet chicken gravy.

“Traditional” chicken dinner – 1/2 boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 cup each of mashed rutabagas and broccoli with butter, and 1/4 cup packet gravy

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Instant Pot beef stew. 2/3/2018

Posted on February 4, 2018 by Beebamom

My mother always made beef stew in a pressure cooker so I have never been afraid of them even though I ended up cooking in one until it was dry and all the food was burnt up inside. I have always owned a pressure cooker and used it sometimes for beef stew or stuffed cabbage. When the Instant Pot came out I was interested in its ease of use and cleanup. It is also much quieter than the hissing pot that used to be on my stovetop.

In the Instant Pot that I got for Christmas we have made lamb chili (good, but a little watery), white and brown rice (worked perfectly), meat sauce for spaghetti (needs work), and now beef stew. The beef stew came out really really tasty.

Beef stew made in an Instant Pot

We bought a small boneless chuck steak that John cut up and browned using the Sauté function. He also browned the mushrooms. We loaded in carrots, onions, garlic, celery, and small new potatoes. We added a can of diced tomatoes, a cup of red wine, and enough beef stock so that it was visible but not covering everything. The Pot did its Pressure Cook thing for 18 minutes and then we let the pressure fall of its own accord. John thickened the gravy with a potato starch slurry and we adjusted the seasoning with my secret weapon, fish sauce.

The meat texture was amazingly soft and full of flavor. The stew was so good that we ate practically the whole thing!

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Do-overs. 1/31 & 2/1, 2018

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Beebamom

I tried to improve on two dishes this week. I wanted to make them easier or better. I had mixed results.

I decided to make my tomato and ground beef spaghetti sauce in the Instant Pot. Recipes I read said you could get that hours of simmering taste in about 15 minutes. I browned the 12 oz. of ground beef I had. I figured I would make enough for two meals. The recipe said I was supposed to use 2lbs. but that seemed like too much to me. I sautéed onions and garlic, added oregano, fresh basil and parsley as well as pepper flakes and tomato paste. For liquid I added 2 cans of diced tomatoes and a cup of chicken sauce enhanced with some fish sauce for umami. The sauce came out okay but was missing  a robust meat flavor. That was probably the result of not enough meat. If I am going to tinker with the recipe I need to keep the proportions consistent.

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Spaghetti with meat sauce

I also redid the spicy Thai basil with eggplant and tofu. I threw out the leftover globe eggplant and found Chinese eggplant at Whole Foods. It worked much better. The whole dish was less bitter although I might have overdone the soy sauce a bit.

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Spicy Thai basil eggplant with tofu served with brown rice

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Shrimp in a saffron Pernod sauce. 1/30/18

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Beebamom

Until recently we have eaten lunch at the Kenwood Restaurant when we were wine tasting in the Sonoma Valley. The food was good but the clientele seemed to be getting older and older – not really a sustainable business plan. The last time we were in the area we noticed that the restaurant had closed.  Sadly we are left with only a copy of their wonderful shrimp dish, Shrimp in a saffron Pernod sauce.

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Recipe for shrimp with saffron in Pernod sauce

Mostly what is required here is skill and patience in chopping things up. We had this covered since I love to chop things up. John loves to cook stuff.

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The sauce cooking on the stove with collard greens and corn in the foreground

An additional ingredient which we needed was rice.  Instant Pot was to the rescue. We used the Pot with a ratio of just a tad over 1:1 rice to water. Since we were rinsing the rice there was plenty of water. Heat up the Pot, pressure cook for 10 minutes, let the pressure drop naturally and voila, rice done. I also prepared some collard greens and corn as a side dish.1B64D5BB-7795-4B60-BF76-E1BD88C58181

The shrimp cooked with the finely chopped vegetables in the Pernod sauce over the rice was quite delicious!

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Shrimp in a saffron Pernod sauce over rice with collard greens and corn

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Vegetarian pasta and vegan spicy Thai basil eggplant with tofu. 1/29/18

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Beebamom

Having had quite a bit of animal protein last week, I started out this week with a vegetarian and a vegan dish. Actually the pasta was only vegetarian because I added some fish sauce and grated some parmesan cheese on it so the pasta could definitely be vegan as well.

Since I was making a quick sauce I started with a jar of spaghetti sauce and enhanced it. To the plain sauce I added parsley and basil, red wine, and pepper flakes.  It tasted too sweet to me so I added some fish sauce to give it a more savory flavor.

Spaghetti with tomato sauce

The second dish was our attempt to replicate our favorite Thai dish, Spicy Basil Eggplant with Tofu. It is really pretty easy to make. You stir fry the components and then you add the sauce and it’s done. Our problems with it came from too spicy fresno chiles and using globe eggplant instead of Chinese or Japanese eggplants. We are going to have a redo later in the week and in the meantime I will find the correct types of eggplant.

Spicy Thai basil eggplant with tofu and brown rice

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Moo, cluck, moo. 1/27/18

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Beebamom

We made some more chicken and a couple of beef dishes last week.  The steak we really like is a prime ribeye cap. They sell it at Costco and it comes tied up like a pinwheel of deliciousness. John makes it in the immersion circulator to 125F and then slaps it on the hot grill to get a nice brown crust on the outside. It is so delicious! Along with the steak we split a baking potato that I microwaved first to get it cooked through and then it joined the steak on the grill. I score the potato halves and then put garlic, salt, and olive oil on the cut side. Finally I steamed some broccoli along with some celery and onions.

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Ribeye cap steak with grilled potato and broccoli

We also had a second chicken dinner.  Usually I like to try to keep things more varied but the chicken that I had on Monday was chicken parmesan and the second chicken is what I would call our traditional chicken dinner which entails a chicken breast made in the immersion circulator, mashed rutabagas made in the instant pot, steamed broccoli and a packet of chicken gravy. It is fun to cook with all our cooking toys!

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Chicken breast with mashed rutabagas and broccoli

Lastly I made meatloaf which John had been craving. I especially like a cold meatloaf sandwich so everyone is a winner. I was pretty lazy with the rest of the meal going for a frozen spinach soufflé that Stouffer’s makes and Oreida crispy tater tots.

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Meatloaf with spinach and tater tots

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Chicken Monday change-up. 1/22/18

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Beebamom

Spent the weekend getting home from Utah. Our daughter fixed dinner ahead of our arrival so it was not until Monday that we started cooking again. Since Monday is our chicken day, it was a no brainer as to what we were going to take out of the freezer, but how to prepare it?

Since we had leftover penne from the dinner our daughter made, we decided on chicken parmesan. Along with the chicken and the pasta I made zucchini with onions and garlic. The secret for getting mon-mushy zucchini? Cut it up and salt it so that some of the water drains out of the slices.

Chiicken Parmesan with penne and zucchini

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Pasta, fajitas, burger, all American!

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Beebamom

Notice that I did not use All-American. Why? Because all these foods are mainstream American fare. What a boon to get up each day and decide what type of cuisine you want to eat and then run out to your local grocery store for the easily available ingredients. I could have added curries, sauerbraten, or Mongolian beef and still be talking about American food! Things have come along way since I was a kid!

Among the dishes that we have prepared this week are –

Spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic toast

It was so nice to reach into the refrigerator and pull out the sauce that we made last week – minimal work!

 

Shrimp fajitas with enhanced brown rice

I admit to using a packet of fajita seasoning. I also used the last bit of brown rice from last week enhanced with frozen corn, onion, and red bell pepper. Some Mexican spices kicked up the flavor.

 

Beef burger with salad

I do love a burger. John grilled this one after seasoning the meat and adding a pinch of baking soda to keep the meat juicy.

We are going to be heading home soon so cooking is done for this week. It was an enjoyable all American week.

 

 

 

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Bits and Pieces – 12/25/17 to 1/14/17

Posted on January 14, 2018 by Beebamom

After almost nobody even bothered to look at my pretty rum cake, I decided to make a change.  I am tired of trying to find vegan recipes and I am going to be traveling quite a bit this year and want to eat what I like. So I guess that I am just going to be truthful and turn my blog into “Omnivore” and post when I feel like it.

Over the past few weeks I have made a few interesting dishes and thought I would post about them.

First is our Christmas Breakfast of Champions, bagels, cream cheese, capers, onions, and lox all washed down with Schneider’s Weissbier (Tap 7).  No mimosas for us!

Bagel with cream cheese, capers, onions, and lox plus Schneider’s Weissbier

Christmas Day our son made dinner. We had prime rib, mashed potatoes, death by broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and several pies made by his mother-in-law. Our contribution was to pay for the meat and bring the wine. He did a great job!

Christmas dinner

After the Christmas hoopla I made a tasty vegetarian fried rice that turned out pretty well with some egg and leftover brown rice and vegetables that were wilting in the refrigerator. It sits upon my recipe folder. I keep all my recipes that I have tried and as you can see I make notes on the ones I have made so I know what to add or subtract next time I make it.  I am making the chickpea soup soon and using my experiences to improve it.

Vegetarian fried rice

This is the chickpea stew made with ditalini instead of orzo and spinach instead of mustard greens.

Chickpea stew with ditalini and spinach

I got an Instant Pot for Christmas and the first thing we tried in it was lamb chili. It turned out well but I learned that I need to adjust the amount of liquid to less or else it will come out too soupy.

Lamb chili made in new Instant Pot with tortilla chips

Never one to stay in one place too long, we hit the road to Utah for sunshine and good times. Along the way we stopped at the surprising Mojave Thai Cuisine in Mojave, CA. We ordered our favorite, Spicy Thai Basil Eggplant, and it was very good and VERY spicy! (Mojave is really not known for cuisine other than fast food so this was a welcome find.)

Spicy Thai Basil Eggplant at Mojave Thai Cuisine (vegan)

I have not been too good about taking pictures here in St. George but so far we have made pasta with meat sauce, chicken breast with brown rice and mixed veg, pasta fagioli, fried scallops with new potatoes and spinach, steak with grilled potato and broccoli, and barbecued chicken with brown rice and broccoli. Whew! That is a lot of cooking! Here are  two pictures I did take, Chicken Monday and Pasta Fagioli.

Chicken Monday

Pasta fagioli

I will be trying to post more frequently and get back to taking pictures. Hope you will enjoy what I eat!

 

 

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Rum cake. 12/24/17

Posted on December 25, 2017 by Beebamom

I make almost no desserts but I do have a recipe for a Bacardi rum cake that turns out so well that I get requests to make it. You can find the recipe on the internet. One difference is that back in the 80’s when I first used the recipe it called for a box of Duncan Hines cake mix which weighed 18.25 oz. These days cake mixes have shrunk and they now weigh 15.25 oz. In order to keep the proportion of cake mix correct with the rest of ingredients you have to either do a bunch of math and pare off the amounts of the other ingredients by 1/6 or you can simply buy a second cake mix and add 3 ounces to your mixing bowl. Save the rest for next year’s rum cake.

Bacardi rum cake

It turned out a bit boozy but no one seemed to mind. Decorated with red grapes and mint leaves, the cake is a festive addition to your holiday table.

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