Tidbits (of Cooking)

Sis and the Strawberry-Mixed Berry Pie

The other day, when Bud fell sound asleep during rest time, surprisingly, Sis and I headed downstairs to have some time together. First, we painted garden pots to give to their swim teacher (the last lesson was today and they are sad both to end swimming and to say goodbye to her). Then we made pie. Sis called it "strawberry-mixed berry pie," (a phrase they actually came up with after reading Berries for Sal and playing "bear family") which is exactly what it was--two bags of frozen mixed berries, including strawberries. She helped measure sugar and flour, mash berries, lay out pie crust (store bought) on the bottom and the top, helping with the sugar sprinkles, butter pats, and fork pricks. Mmmm, mmmm good. A nice treat after dinner.

Mud Pies

Well, sans the pie part, but it would be good that way, too. We went to Mama Teacher's house last week for lunch and, after marvelous grilled cheeses (which I've been begged to replicated twice since then!), she served mud. My kids were skeptical, to say the least, and couldn't get past the name to try some. I could and it was good. But then, how can you go wrong with pudding, whipped cream, and crushed oreos? She says she tries different flavors, including vanilla with wafers.

One Batter, Three Foods

Well, not exactly. But we did seem to pan fry a lot of things during our unplanned homage to Southern cooking. First were the fried green tomatoes, which were delicious--crisps and acidic--especially with a batch of Green Goddess seasoning in sour cream (I prefer Ranch but this will do). The next night, Mama made fried fish for the kiddos, using frozen flounder from the T.J.'s and a recipe off the internet. The kids loved it! Then, drawing on the idea, Mama fried up some onion rings, from our CSA onion, in another batch of the flounder batter. And she loved that! Now, if we can only figure out how they fried pickles at our favorite BBQ joint in Chicago. And those were good with Ranch dressing, too . . . .

Potato-Kale Soup

Using up the last of our CSA ingredients, I made this soup today and was amazed that such a simple recipe could result in such a yummy soup. Or maybe I was just glad it didn't have beans or tomatoes!

Uses of Marmalade

I love marmalade, though I have yet to make it myself (even though I think Lambeth has told me how, at some point). And I've found one that isn't too American-sweet, though, gasp, it is French: Bonne Marie, with the red gingham-lidded jar (the British stuff at our store--Chivers--is just too bitter for me). I've been eating it mixed in Greek yogurt, from a dessert I had at the National Gallery and Royal Academy cafeterias in London; on top of our favorite Oatmeal Scones recipe; and tonight, because I was out of yogurt, mixed with a little ricotta--so much easier than cannelloni!

Thai Cucumber Salad

We had lots of CSA cucumbers and so Mama decided to pickle them. But not traditional dill pickles in processed jars, but Thai Cucumber Salad, which is a quick pickle. She loves it, but the kids haven't touched it. Yet.

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Fruit Pie (adapted from Aunt T's Dewberry Cobbler recipe)

Crust*:

2 frozen pie crusts

Filling:

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour, to thicken

2-10 oz. bags frozen mixed berries

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Remove both crusts from plastic bag. Place one on a cookie sheet. Cut the edge off the other so as to leave a circle of dough.

Mix sugar and flour together and then toss into frozen berries, mixing well (there is no need to defrost; the flour absorbs the extra liquid). Crush berries to extract juice.

Fill the pie crust with the berries. Remove the second pie crust (sans edge) and place it on top of the filled crust; it will overlap the edge of the filled crust. Pinch edges together and the impress with fork. Puncture the center to allow steam release, dab with pats of butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Cover edges with foil and bake 1-1 ½ hours, with cookie sheet below to catch spills, or until bubbling.

*Grammy and Aunt T's Original Oil Crust:

2 cups flour

½ cup oil

¼ cup milk

Mix flour, oil, and milk until it is the consistency of store-bought pie crust. Take 1/3 of dough and put aside for crust. Roll out remainder until the size of the pie plate, about ¼ inch thin. Place in ungreased plate (we used bread tin). . . . Later, roll out other crust and cover plate. Puncture to allow steam release, dab with pats of butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Mama and Mommy Hungry

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Mama Teacher's Mud

1 package chocolate instant pudding

1 tub whipped topping (small, I believe)

crushed Oreos

1 1/2 cups milk

Make pudding with milk. Stir in whipped topping and crushed oreos. Chill and serve.

Can be used with a variety of pudding and cookie combinations.

Mama Teacher

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Fried Green Tomatoes

3/4 cup self-rising flour (to make 1 cup self-rising flour: 1 cup all purpose + 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder + 1 pinch salt)

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup milk

3-4 green tomatoes, cut into 1/4" slices

vegetable oil

Combine first 5 ingredients; mix until smooth. Add additional milk to thin, if necessary; batter should resemble pancake batter. Working in batches, dip tomato slices into batter, allowing excess batter to drip back into bowl. Fry in 2" hot oil (my note: can do less)--375F--in a large heavy skillet until browned, turning once carefully with tongs. Transfer to a colander to drain.

Fanny Flagg's Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook

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Pan-Fried Flounder

Recipe courtesy Martha Nesbit

4 skinless flounder-fillets
Salt and pepper, to taste
Flour, for dredging fish
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1 lemon, juiced
1 small bottle capers

Wash fillets in cold water and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt
and pepper. Dredge fillets in flour. Place oil and 2 tablespoons butter in flat, heavy-bottomed skillet and
heat on medium-high until butter melts. Keeping heat at medium-high, cook fish on 1 side about 3 minutes (more
or less, depending on size of fillets), until deep brown and crispy. Turn fish and cook on second side, about
3 minutes. Turn fish only once.

Remove fish to serving platter. Turn off heat. Into hot skillet, whisk in remaining 1 tablespoon butter.
Add lemon juice. Pour in capers, liquid and all. Whisk. Pour thin sauce over fish fillets. serve at once. (We didn't make the sauce).

Food Network

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Potato-Kale Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (I didn't use this)

2 cups chopped onions

2 leeks, white and light green part only, washed and thinly sliced (I didn't have this)

6 cups water

4 medium potatoes, cut into 3/4" cubes (about 4 cups--I had Yukon golds)

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

3 carrots, peeled (I didn't have these either)

3 celery stalks

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 lb kale (about 4 cups chopped)

[And I added minced garlic]

Heat oil and butter in soup pot over medium heat. Saute onions and leeks for 10-15 minutes, until golden, soft, and sweet. [Add garlic and saute for a few more minutes.]

Add the water, potatoes, parsley, whole carrots, whole celery stalks, bay leaves, salt, and peper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

While soup is cooking, wash kale and strip the leaves off the stalks. Discard stalks and chop leaves into bite-size pieces. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Add the kale and cook, covered, over high heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, approximately 5 minutes. Remove and drain.

Remove the carrot and celery pieces and bay leaves from the soup. Puree half. Stir in cooked kale and heat through. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.

Johnna Albi and Catherine Walthers, Greens Glorious Greens

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Miss B (in PA)'s Oatmeal Scones

1 ½ cups flour

1 ¼ cups quick cooking rolled oats

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder (slightly less than)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar (slightly less than)

½ teaspoon salt (slightly less than)

2/3 cup butter, melted (1 stick butter also works well)

1/3 cup milk

1 egg, slightly beaten (Eggbeaters also work)

½ cup raisins (or other dried fruit)

In large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add butter, milk, and egg, stirring until just moistened. Shape into a ball, flatten into 8” circle, score into wedges. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 425°F for 12-15 minutes.

Note: we have also made chocolate chip scones, which are very good.

B.S.

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Ar-Ma's Thai Cucumber Salad

cucumbers

water

vinegar

sugar

garlic

red pepper flakes

Peel stripes into outside skin of cucumber. Cut into spears, removing some of the seeds. Place cucumbers in jars.

In separate container, mix vinegar and water (more vinegar than water, in approximately a 2:1 ratio). Add sugar ("a couple of tablespoons"), a sliced and peeled clove of garlic (or more), and red pepper flakes, if desired. Make sure sugar is dissolved.

Pour liquid into cucumber jars to cover. Eat immediately or store in refrigerator (not sure how long it is good).

Ar-Ma, via Mama Hungry