APRIL 2019 ...What's Cooking??

Felt like cooking for the first time in 4 days yesterday, (been under the weather, as they say) so I made some fingerling potatoes and tilapia fillets in the oven, fresh steamed asparagus to go along last night. Yumm.

Charlie and I went to Trading Post Kansas which is about an hour south of where we live now.  We went because I wanted to show him the cemetery there which has several Matthews ancestors buried there. Most directly related to us is his great great grand father who was a blacksmith in the town of Boicourt which is a little ways out of sight from there. It also has his father, David Matthews who was born in Ireland.  Trading Post is listed in one place as the oldest continually inhabited settlement in Kansas and in another place, both towns are listed as ghost towns. I wondered how someplace that was continually inhabited could be called a ghost town but I guess it can. When we got back we ate at a Chinese buffet restaurant.

I took one of the portioned, frozen & marinated London Broils out of the freezer this morning and let it thaw so I could grill it over charcoal. I was a bit concerned because of the way I had to trim this particular piece ~ it had a huge chunk of fat/gristle/silver skin running through it and it ended up with a really skinny edge.

But, I have to pat myself on the back.......I NAILED IT!

I was able to sear it on all sides over some very hot charcoal, including the sides, and then I put it on the back of the grates without any fire under it and let it 'roast' with the lid on the grill down.

I made zucchini & onions and creamed corn for sides. It never ceases to amaze me how much corn is on two ears when you cut it off. When I was a kid (with 3 brothers at the table along with Mom & Dad) we always figured on 6 ears each for a summer meal. And that was along with some sort of meat, probably potatoes, but not necessarily.....a couple vegetables and a salad of some sort. But working on the farm and being young required a lot more body fuel than my slacker life now does.

Supper ( Palm Sunday ) .... DD wanted a pizza, and we wanted a pot roast.
Mashed potatoes with no gravy. A whole stick of butter in the potatoes.
It was good.....believe me!

Joe wanted panko crusted cod with homemade tartar sauce for dinner, so we had that with a side of white and wild rice pilaf and zucchini.

I just noticed that quite a few of my dishes and food storage containers had gone missing. I asked Joe to go in Katie's room to see if they were there. YUP! 6 soup containers, 2 cereal bowls, 1 mini bowl, 4 salad plates. They are sitting in the sink and have black mold on them. I took one look and gagged. Sometimes the strangest things will set me off. I refuse to touch them. She will have to scrub the mold off and load them in the dishwasher.

Tonight is fried chicken tenders, potato salad and corn on the cob.

Niagara Visitor wrote:Felt like cooking for the first time in 4 days yesterday, (been under the weather, as they say) so I made some fingerling potatoes and tilapia fillets in the oven, fresh steamed asparagus to go along last night. Yumm.

Sorry you haven't been feeling as chipper as usual, Lore. I know it wasn't Lake Erie fresh caught but I bet you enjoyed a real meal all the same.

Hopefully the boat can go into the water soon!

Yesterday was pierogi day. Our dinner will be leftovers. Polish sausage, sauerkraut, pierogi, stuffed cabbage and kolachke. Yum

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:Supper ( Palm Sunday ) .... DD wanted a pizza, and we wanted a pot roast.
Mashed potatoes with no gravy. A whole stick of butter in the potatoes.
It was good.....believe me!


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Oh, Jimmy, a tender, fall-apart pot roast rates right up there with a perfectly roasted chicken as favorites at our house, too. And the mashed potatoes are a must have!

You have me hungry for Brussels sprouts ~ ~ but I'll make do with some steamed cabbage tonight. Your pic just make my mouth water.

JanaAZ wrote:Yesterday was pierogi day. Our dinner will be leftovers. Polish sausage, sauerkraut, pierogi, stuffed cabbage and kolachke. Yum

Judy, I wanted to reach into the screen when I saw your stuffed cabbage......I'm not Polish but I could easily eat all that food on a regular basis. It looked like everyone had a great time working together.

I browned a boneless, skin-on chicken breast in my little 8" cast iron skillet and finished it in the oven, which was on to roast some carrots & parsnips ~ a real favorite of both of us. I sliced up half a small head of cabbage to braise because I knew I had a little bit of cooked bacon looking for a use. And when I reached for something in the pantry the package of Stovetop dropped off the shelf so I figured, why not?

I did my usual braised pork steak ~ seasoned the boneless pork with s&p and did a light dusting of flour, browned on both sides & then a splash of chicken stock ~ and a light squeeze of Sweet Baby Ray's and let them simmer on the stove top for about 35-40 minutes until they were tender. I had 3 tiny sweet potatoes that I peeled and just tossed in a tiny bit of olive oil and steamed in the microwave. Did the green beans with the Penzey seasoning. And since I had some leaf lettuce I made a big bowl of Grandma's Everyday Salad with the sour cream/vinegar syrup dressing. (but instead of sour cream I used some of the leftover Creme Fraiche I had from a meal I made last week) Man, THAT was the hit of the meal!

Looks good Beth.
Tina went to the uncles today. They went to the diner and had club sandwiches.
She brought home the rest she didn't eat.
I took out the turkey, and ate the tomato and bacon.
I heated crab stuffed mushrooms, and I ate them, and Tina nibbled a few bites.
Dessert was a cheese danish.

I'm considering tonight as our 'Easter Dinner'......because it's ham. We usually had ham for Easter, but occasionally it would be a beef pot roast or a roast chicken or a turkey. It all depended on what Dad wanted to cook while we 4 kids were at Easter Service with Mom. He was the 'Sunday Chef' for as long as I can remember ~ and nothing was better than to bust through the door to the smells of what was in the oven or on the stove top.

I made about a tablespoon of an orange glaze for MY piece of ham steak. Dane doesn't like anything put on his meat, prefers it plain. But it reminded me of what Mom use to make, only with my own twist ~ orange marmalade, some of the pan drippings and the tiniest amount of yellow mustard. I just heated it in a little sauce dish for about 15 seconds in the microwave. I thought it was pretty darn tasty!

The serving bowl of asparagus steamed in the microwave for a mere 3 minutes ~ such an easy way to cook vegetables.

I had originally planned to make an orzo pilaf but realized I had a container of leftover rice ~ so....why make rice shaped pasta when you already have rice that needs to be eaten?? I just cooked some finely chopped onion, celery, carrot and fresno pepper in a small skillet. When it was soft I added the rice and let it all heat up, adding a splash of soy sauce for salt. Dane ended up having a second helping so I figured it must have passed approval.

By the way....I posted this year's pics of Dane's Angel Trumpet Tree in the 'Homestead' thread in case you missed it.

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:Looks good Beth.
Tina went to the uncles today. They went to the diner and had club sandwiches.
She brought home the rest she didn't eat.
I took out the turkey, and ate the tomato and bacon.
I heated crab stuffed mushrooms, and I ate them, and Tina nibbled a few bites.
Dessert was a cheese danish.

I probably would have done the same with the sandwich, Jimmy. I'm just not a fan of sliced turkey ~ except for the few days after Thanksgiving. I think that's the only time I ever eat it. The deli turkey is a strange texture to me. But to each his own! I figure what I don't eat leaves just that much more for the people who like it!

bethk wrote:

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:Looks good Beth.
Tina went to the uncles today. They went to the diner and had club sandwiches.
She brought home the rest she didn't eat.
I took out the turkey, and ate the tomato and bacon.
I heated crab stuffed mushrooms, and I ate them, and Tina nibbled a few bites.
Dessert was a cheese danish.

I probably would have done the same with the sandwich, Jimmy.  I'm just not a fan of sliced turkey ~ except for the few days after Thanksgiving.  I think that's the only time I ever eat it.  The deli turkey is a strange texture to me.  But to each his own!  I figure what I don't eat leaves just that much more for the people who like it!

That turkey wasn't deli wet lunchmeat breast, but was fresh baked breast.
( Still I won't eat it). When I carve the turkey, I more or less push the knife into the meat, and make sure I produce chunks of meat.

We have been invited to a brunch at my sisters for Easter.  If we hadn't, instead of ham, I was going to see if I could find a rabbit.

NormM wrote:We have been invited to a brunch at my sisters for Easter.  If we hadn't, instead of ham, I was going to see if I could find a rabbit.

Maybe there will be a chocolate Bunny with your name on it! LOL

Last night Joe had a leftover tri tip sandwich. Katie had a can of Wolfgang Puck's tortilla soup and I had a Stouffer's chicken alfredo. Easter we will have turkey. I bought a cheapie frozen one at Thanksgiving (49 cents a pound) so I pulled it out and it is defrosting in the fridge. Glad to get it out of the freezer. It takes up too much room.

bethk wrote:

NormM wrote:We have been invited to a brunch at my sisters for Easter.  If we hadn't, instead of ham, I was going to see if I could find a rabbit.

Maybe there will be a chocolate Bunny with your name on it!  LOL

Maybe a Bugs Bunny?/?

"Uhhhhh....what's up doc!"

I was thinking Easter Bunny.