June, 2017 ~ What's for dinner?

Hope Brian feels better in the morning, Michelle. Not eating is a horrible side effect from meds.

Beth wrote:The main thing is the equal ratio of brown sugar & cider vinegar for the sweet & sour taste we remember from 'way-back'. Like I said, I've made it with chicken but the pork tenderloin is, by far, my favorite because it cooks quickly, is very tender and reheats without that 'left-over' taste. And adding whatever vegetables you like is a key to having it enjoyed at your table. A can of those baby corn would be interesting, as would some water chestnuts. But over the years I've settled on my carrots, celery, onion & red pepper even though 'HE' doesn't like cooked peppers. But that's why they're RED and in BIG PIECES. Pick 'em out and push 'em to the side if you don't like the taste. LOL

I try to keep a can of mixed Chinese veggies in the pantry, and usually have a couple of small cans of water chestnuts and also one or two cans of bean sprouts.  I laughed recently as an Asian friend of mine had no clue you could buy bean sprouts in a can.  I use to have a couple of cans of the baby corn but once I used them up, I never replaced them.  Brian even tried one of those babies once; he said it didn't taste like anything, which I guess he considered a good enough reason to avoid them!  I usually use the same ingredients in my stir fries as you do, Beth, though not always carrots as I forget to slice them up and add them early so they get a bit tender -- not too tender or his nibs won't eat 'em!  

Thanks for the tip re the cider vinegar and the brown sugar.  I'm adding that to my "Sweet and Sour Pork (Beth's)" in my recipe file!

bethk wrote:Hope Brian feels better in the morning, Michelle.  Not eating is a horrible side effect from meds.

Thanks, B. He just told me he thinks he can handle some Raspberry Tea but wants nothing of substance. I'm going to bring him some graham crackers and I'll bet they're gone the next time I check on him! I will at least TRY to get something down to help but not Brian. But my nausea pills work really well if you can keep them down (trade name is Zofran).

Back to the cooking contest in The Times-Picayune…

When the woman from the paper called me on the phone to tell me I'd been selected as a finalist, I was about to say “Look, we’re current on our bill,” but thank goodness I kept my mouth shut and realized I was going to the cookoff. Right before she hung up, I remembered to ask which recipe I was a finalist for and she told me it was for the Stuffed Anaheim Chilés!

About a month prior to the contest, I bought a half dozen of some gorgeous fresh Anaheim peppers I saw in the grocery. I really didn’t know what I was going to do with them but they were so pretty and so fresh I bagged some up. After about a week, I thought I’d better use them for something or they would go bad. I looked around the refrigerator and spotted a tub of some Garlic Herb Spread I’d bought; the brand name was Rondelé. I immediately thought I could make some filling with the garlic herb spread to stuff inside the peppers. I then tried to think of what I had to do to ensure Brian would eat it; he’s funny about textures so I decided I had to add some Progresso Italian breadcrumbs, a staple in our house, to the filling to give it a bit more chew. So I got busy mixing up a filling, tasting as I went, and writing down what I did and about how much of each item I used for my friends on Fidonet. Brian loves sauces but a sauce would be out of place with a cheese-filled pepper so I decided to make a vinaigrette.

I finished my filling, stuffed it in my Anaheim peppers, which I’d sliced in halves, and then baked them until lightly browned in the oven. I topped them with an oregano vinaigrette and I thought they came out delicious. Brian liked them but he didn’t have seconds so I knew he wasn’t crazy about them but I thought they were so good, I ate his second portion! Not long after, the paper did their annual call for entries and I entered two recipes: in the Appetizer category, I entered Stuffed Anaheim Chilés with Oregano Vinaigrette, and in the Main Dish category, I entered a dish I’d concocted recently (and had written down what I did as I did it, as I ALWAYS did for Fidonet) and called it Veal Chops with Double Tomato Sauce (I used both canned and fresh tomatoes in it). You could enter one recipe in each category but all I was prepared for was those two recipes. Brian is not much of a veal fan, though I thought my veal dish was really quite good; he told me he thought I could have selected a lot more of the dishes I cook that were mine and not from a magazine, and all I had to do was make them and reduce them to measurements on paper. I went ahead and entered the two I’d originally chosen.

Brian dropped me off in the morning and we were told that we would probably be ready for pickup at about 12:30 p.m. Two people were assigned to each little “cube” of a kitchen, containing a sink, a stove and a counter to use. I was paired with a very nice woman, a very attractive woman a tad older than me, who had just returned from Portugal, a place I’ve always wanted to visit. She named her entry after Obidos, Portugal.  I’d brought a hand-painted rectangular porcelain dish/tray to serve my entry on and she immediately asked me if it was made in Portugal, which it was. My mom had purchased it for me several years prior and I loved it so much, I decided it would bring me luck if I served my appetizer on it for presentation to the judges.

I don’t have her entry/recipe on this computer and I cannot for the life of me remember her name, which I have on the recipe. She and her husband were obviously quite wealthy, as they had one of the city-owned boat houses on the Lakefront, quite coveted places to live. You “purchase” the rights to them but you don’t own them, as the city maintains ownership for which you pay rent, but it’s way too cheap considering how much people pay to buy one from a prior “owner.” They’re right on an offshoot of the Lake and the owners pour quite a bit of money into them. I went to high school with very wealthy girls (my family wasn’t) so I’d been to several and also went to a double one once working, where the owner had combined two boathouses into one, with a huge stainless-steel kitchen any professional chef would envy. We liked one another right away and she laughed as I fawned over her chinois, as I always wanted one (I have one now and can’t tell you how often I use it). She said her husband didn’t object to any funds spent on kitchen equipment no matter how extravagant because he said he reaped great benefits from every dollar she spent!

Her entry was called Chicken Obidos with Beurre Blanc Sauce, which was quite good except for one thing – she obviously used regular butter instead of unsalted butter. She presented the portion of her dish, an entrée, right before me. As I brought mine up to the judges’ table, they were finishing up their discussion of her dish and I heard one of them say, “too salty.” After serving our entries to the judges, most of the contestants cut up their entries into small pieces and shared them among all the contestants you had enough for. I immediately realized her error when I tasted her dish, as it was indeed too salty and I hadn’t seen unsalted butter in her ingredients.

Just as they began announcing the winners of each category, I noticed the time was past 12:30 p.m. and that a crowd of people were waiting outside the big kitchen room to pick up people and there stood Brian. So he was there when they announced I WON THE APPETIZER category, and got to see me making a fool of myself, jumping up and down, laughing out loud and clapping my hands! I didn’t win the overall grand prize, though, but made a friend of the reporters for the paper; they told me which categories were always weak and suggested I come up with entries for those categories the following year. And I got lots of recipes ready but I’d competed in the very last cooking contest the paper had.

The newspaper printed a tabloid section and there was a photo of me and a decent-sized article with each category winner; I can’t find it but know it’s in one of my huge closets that we use for junk. I’ll find it one day as Brian wants to frame the cover alongside the page with my photo and interview. He loved the peppers when I made them at home again (all our friends and relatives who visited asked me to make the stuffed chilés for them), and swore that I’d changed them from the first time I made them. I laughed and said I hadn’t and he said his taste buds must’ve been off that day, as he never passed up seconds again!

Here’s the recipe:

Stuffed Anaheim Chilés with Oregano Vinaigrette
Serves 4. Recipe from Michelle M. Bass. This recipe was the 1993 Times-Picayune Recipe Contest Finalist Winner in the Appetizer Category.

5 Anaheim chilés, halved, seeded, inner pith removed
2 (4-ounce) packages garlic & herb spreadable cheese, room temperature (brand is sometimes Rondelé)
3 Tablespoons minced shallots
1/4 cup minced celery hearts
1 Tablespoon minced Anaheim chilé (cut up one chilé for this)
1/2 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon anchovy paste
2 Tablespoons freshly grated Romano cheese
1 Tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 Tablespoons seasoned Italian bread crumbs

Oregano Vinaigrette
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pinch black pepper
2 pinches anchovy paste (pencil eraser size pieces)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine all ingredients (except those for vinaigrette) in mixing bowl and mix together well with fork.
Spray large baking sheet with Pam or oil lightly with olive oil. Stuff chilé halves with stuffing mixture, mounding slightly on top. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Filling will be slightly browned.
While peppers are baking, prepare the vinaigrette by mixing all vinaigrette ingredients together with a fork. You will want to stir it again right before serving.
When peppers are done, place two baked stuffed halves on each of four small plates and drizzle with oregano vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

Michelle ~ looks like a mighty tasty recipe. I can see how you won with it!

And, surprisingly, it's one I could make and enjoy (with just one small change.....I'd use dried parsley instead of the dried cilantro). The garlic & herb cheese spread is one I can usually eat, albeit the brand I normally purchase is Alouette. Cream cheese is one cheese I am able to enjoy and that's what the cheese spread is based on, I think (or neufchatel cheese). It's the cilantro that would have me turning away.

I actually made a similar, but simpler, version for a pot luck in the last couple years....I stuffed those little tri-color sweet peppers with just the Alouette garlic & herb cheese spread and baked them until warm & somewhat softened. I can see where the addition of the Romano & Parmesan, as well as the bread crumbs, would help give some body to the bites.

So, thanks for the recipe, CONGRATULATIONS on the big win!

Crybaby wrote:

Bugster2 wrote:Has anyone ever smoked a chicken? If so, what did you think of it?

We've smoked chickens a lot, Debbie.  We love 'em! But we love smoked turkey, too.  

We not only eat the smoked chicken as a main dish but we've made chicken salad with the leftover chicken, which was really good too.  

What flavor wood did you use?

Congratulations on your win!

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:Tina's got sausage and peppers and onions braising in a pot on the stovetop.
The A.C is running. It's 79 out now, but by tomorrow, they say it will increase in humidity.

and Jimmy's got a big old smile on his face! (I would, too, if I were you....)

Tonight's supper is in complete contradiction to what I've always believed about home cooking....my supper was made up of almost all 'convenience' foods from my local WalMart store ~ and it was delicious. I was in a real 'meal funk' and nothing sounded good. Since I needed to stop at WalMart to pick up some sun screen for the kids (Robin, Ben & Jake are arriving tomorrow) I decided to see what looked good in the produce department.

Wouldn't you know, there was a man stocking FRESH sweet corn. So, I stood behind him and picked up four ears from the stock containers. No sense arranging the ears nicely if I'm just gonna mess up the display! The corn looked fresh - nice green husks and the silks were moist & soft.

So, with fresh corn.....what to go with it. I was standing between the produce department and the deli and, wouldn't you know, they had a bunch of chickens on the rotisserie. Supper decided. I'm a sucker for anything freshly cooked. Then, I also picked up one of the 'salad in a bag' ~ a kale & shaved brussels sprout mix with poppyseed dressing and a little packet of pepitas & dried cranberries. We've had it before and I know we both liked it.

We are having leftover huli huli chicken. I leave the heat out of it so I can eat it. Went to the doctor the other day and he thinks I have an ulcerated esophagus. He went on vacation so I can't have my endoscopy until July 12. I hope it isn't anything worse. I have lost weight because I couldn't eat so all I can do Is sit on my butt so I don't lose any more. Too dangerous for me. My body may be weak but I want to do things but I can't. It is driving me crazy.

I hope you can find something that helps, Debbie. Having the opposite problem myself, unable to drop any real weight is difficult. But I can imagine not being able to support a normal weight would be even more difficult.

If I could, I'd send you 40 pounds to slap on your body and then the two of us could feel better about ourselves.

We're having a bit of rain and a bunch of lightning....and the big stuff is coming closer. I think I'll shut this computer down and unplug everything from the outlet. No sense in taking chances I can't afford to replace.

Yeah, I'm a chicken.......

Oh, my, but I can see how happy you are, Jimmy! Tina's method of braising the whole thing together makes it like velvet in your mouth.

Well, I guess there will be no more photos from my table to the forum......

I got a notice from Photobucket that states: "Some features on your account have been disabled. Your account has been restricted for excessive usage and 3rd Party hosting"

Then, in the email they sent, there was a link to their 'Join" section advising to be able to continue 3rd Party Hosting I needed to subscribe to their PLUS 500 PLAN ~ *What is 3rd Party Hosting?

Photobucket defines 3rd party hosting as the action of embedding an image or photo onto another website. For example, using the <img> tag to embed or display a JPEG image from your Photobucket account on another website such as a forum, Etsy, eBay auction listings, a blog, etc. is definitively 3rd party hosting."

The PLUS 500 PLAN is available to me for a mere $399.99 per year.

I noticed that ALL the pics I had posted in this month's forum were replaced with a placard stating "PLEASE UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT TO ALLOW 3RD PARTY HOSTING".

So, I sent a reply email because I could not connect with their 'customer service' stating that I was a senior citizen on a fixed income and was there a less expensive option.....

I haven't received a reply but now I notice some of my earlier month pics are available for viewing but yesterday's is not.

So, unless I can continue for free, no more pics from me.

I have a Samsung phone. It's not the newest one. It's Galaxy S7.  It takes pictures as good or better than my Nikon and the photos I take are automatically posted on the computer under Google Photos.  All I have to do is click on the picture I want, drag it to my desktop then click on the first icon that says Host an Image in the display above where I am typing and drag the photo down to the screen that pops up. Then I click Send all, then click on insert all and it posts the picture here. And it's here. I took this picture this morning with my phone of the neighbors new fence. I have not used Photobucket much at all in the last few months.

OK, so expect a 100 questions....when I'm more in the mood than I am right now. I'm just so angry that they decided to block ALL my pictures......

They have made it very difficult for me to retrieve my pictures.  I can still post them elsewhere but I have a lot of trouble getting them back to my photo folder.

PS They have added a lot of intrusive ads too.

Sometimes life just sucks.....

It will take me forever, but I am going through and deleting all the pictures I have on my computer and try to transfer the ones I didn't keep copies on the computer.

I am trying to figure out this week's menu. I am sick of everything. I am also trying to find something to cook on my smoker for the fourth. What is everybody doing/eating?

Joe and Katie are going to the opening of the Sawdust Festival and will be out late. I wish I was going but I have to just sit on my butt and try to eat fattening foods. I even did a Google search for ideas. Oils, peanut butter, pasta, brisket, avocado, cheese.