What Ya' Got Cookin' 2014 Part3

G.. then what's my excuse for forgetting lots of things? ;) heeheeheeheee

Coworker was soooooo happy when I took that recipe in for her today! =)

Tonight's dinner - kielbasa dogs (basically just kielbasa on large rolls, eaten like hot dogs) and fries.. well, fries for DH, potato salad for me! =)

Tonight was a bbq shrimp recipe from Southern Living and fresh corn on the cob from the local farmer's market. The bbq shrimp has melted butter, Italian dressing, worcestire sauce, bbq sauce, lemon pepper seasoning, bay leaves, sliced lemons, and sliced onions - baked in the oven for 20 minutes. Pretty tasty. The corn was nice and crisp, but I don't think it has reached the peak sweetness yet.

Speedie---
Your excuse is a too-busy mind.....one can only jam so many thoughts
in one's pea brain at a time,,,,

G,

LOL, Haahahahaaahaaa Gita; THANK YOU!! (I think) heeheeheee

Aspen, that shrimp sounds soooooooo yummy!!!!! Could you share the recipe please? Like, what amounts of which ingredients.. baking dish, etc. Thank you! =) (I looked through Southern Living recipes online.. don't have time to look through 500+ recipes at the moment). < =/

Tonight I will figure out some interesting way to make Mahi Mahi. Never done it before, but we got a bag of the frozen fillets from Costco recently and it's about time I tried them out! =)

OK, I found this interesting-looking recipe for the Mahi Mahi and will be trying it out tonight; will let ya'll know how it comes out. (hope it isn't awful, LOL!)

Sweet Cajun Mahi Mahi


1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 (4 ounce) fillets mahi mahi fillets, rinsed and patted dry



Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
Stir the maple syrup, Cajun seasoning, and garlic powder together in a small bowl.
Brush the maple syrup mixture over the mahi mahi fillets.
Cook the mahi mahi in the hot oil until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 3 to 5 minutes per side.


* Can also bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Speedie---
i LIKE the ingredients.....should taste awesome...
I bet some other fish would work with this recipe too... G.

I've read that many other fishes would work great with this as well, so I will remember to try it. Last night... well, DH and I both agree that it was "Meh"... the sauce was great, but it didn't permeate the fish, so the fish itself was rather bland. Next time I shall double the recipe and marinate the fish in it for a few hours before cooking it. Never realized how "meaty" Mahi Mahi is, WOW!!

Speedie---I never heard of marinating fish????? Do you mean in something liquid?
A spice rub (your choice) OK--would you call that marinating?

I, pretty much, fry all my white fish the same way .
Mix up seasoned flour (S&P, Onion powder, asome garlic powder,
some dried parsley (or your favorite spices). Beet a couple eggs w/a bit of milk.

Dip the fish into the flour mixture, shake off excess--then dip in beaten egg, and fry in a pan
with OO mixed with butter. More S&P will be needed....I use coarse Sea salt.

Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on both sides as you fry. Be generous--it's good.
Fry remaining egg in same pan--if any is left.

YUM.

I usually don't marinate fish, never have, but I think this stuff might benefit from a little more flavor absorbing into it. Just my opinion though. No matter what fish I eat, I ALWAYS squeeze lemon juice on it; it's just not fish without lemon juice!! < =D (some with cooking, LOTS upon serving!) =)

I've been looking for recipes that use up a lot of herbs -- specifically Italian basil, Thai basil, and mint. I definitely don't want these herbs going to waste!

I also have a lot of lemongrass, but it turns out it needs to thicken up at the bottom before it can be used in cooking. Right now my lemongrass is just taking up a ton of room and not doing its job as a mosquito repellant!

I like this recipe, which uses up a lot of Thai basil. So yummy, and Much better than takeout Thai, imho!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/thai-holy-basil-chicken-pud-ga-prao-gai-sap-recipe0.html

Oh, I paired it with coconut jasmine rice.

This message was edited Jul 23, 2014 8:59 PM

It's supposed to thicken up at the base before you can use it? (lemongrass). I never heard that before, and I'm embarrassed to say that I've never done that, I just cut of bits as I need them... mostly for my iced tea. I always thought that the "younger" or "newer" blades would be better to use. Hmmm... learn something new every day! :)

Speaking of learning something new... my 50th birthday is coming soon, so DH has decided to do "50 days of birthday" for me... so for the last million years I have gotten to open 1 gift per day. Well, today's "gift of the day" is a new pizza stone. (WHEEEEEE!!!!) I have never used one before; anyone got any helpful hints or tips for me please? All I know to tell you is that it's a "Pizzacraft" brand, and it's made of cordierite. The info on the packaging says NOT to season it with oil, and to store it inside the oven. Sound about right? Anything else I should know? Thanks! Calzones for dinner tomorrow night!! =)

Speedie, I think the new growth is for tea and the thicker inner growth is for things like lemongrass chicken, which is what I was trying to make.

Ooooh OK, thank you, I didn't know that! Cool, love learning something new. .. Hmmmm, that probably explains why my shrimp on the barbie ended up tasting like Fruit Loops. ;)

Soooo nice of your DH, Speedie! :-) The pizza stone sounds really cool. Let us know how the calzones turn out!! What flavors did you go with for it?

I lived in Connecticut for over 20 years, 12 of them in New Haven. They had (still have) a place there called Toni & Lucille's that made the best calzones. Okay, now I want to make a trip back up there just for another calzone at Toni & Lucille's... ;-)

The calzones turned out GREAT, but the down side of the stone is pre-heat time, which has to be extended by about 42 days. I can see that the use of this thing is going to be quite limited, and it will NOT be stored IN the oven, but in the drawer beneath. In fact, it's already in its home in the drawer beneath. I think, when we get a new barbecue I'm going to try pizza out on it - I hear they're really yummy that way! =)

Yumm! :-) Too bad about the preheat time, though...

Salmon and cod in dish, butter over, dill on salmon, sauteed onions and thyme on cod, baked. Sauteed gold potatoes in skillet, green beans from garden, tomato-cuke-onion salad with feta--YUMMM

The tomatoes from the garden are starting to ripen in quantity now. I remembered Jill had an article on Roasted Tomato Sauce, searched it out in the archives, and made a 9 x 13 pan of it last night. The whole house smelled wonderful! Will use it on chicken cacciatore for tonight's dinner.

hi, Aspen. Do you have a link to that article by Jill?

That salmon dish sounds delicious! Aspenhill, great idea for using extra tomatoes.

Here is the link to Jill's Roasted Tomato Sauce article:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/984/

thanks, Aspen! :-)

Sally, your salmon/cod dinner the other night sounds wonderful!! And thank you Aspen for sharing the link to the recipe for roasted tomato sauce, that looks awesome!!! My tomato plants are coming along quite happily, I have several ping-pong-ball sized babies on them now; still green, but looking happy and healthy. Now I know what I will do with many of them! =)

I'm having a Cherokee Purppalooza here, but will try to give them away at work. I'd rather share the wealth, than spend the time getting them all processed some way.

SURPRISE!!!

I am cooking something today! A really big batch of Sweet and Sour Pork.
My freezer is about 4 packages lighter....BUT--when I make up some dinners to freeze--
I will, probably, have about 6 packages to put back in it.

Can't win! It is like two steps forward and 3 steps back

Sounds like a wonderful "win-win" situation to me: Not only do you have delicious food to look forward to, but you have LESS work to do to enjoy it! =)

Got the oven preheating (the hour + preheat) with the pizza stone in it, getting ready for a homemade pizza! The dough is rising, and I've got the peel on the counter with the corn meal, all ready to go! Here's to hoping I don't **FLING!!** that dough right off the peel onto the CEILING of the oven!! < =D

Fresh salsa is going fast with the tomatoes coming in.

Oh that reminds me, I think I detected some red on my cherry tomato plant yesterday, need to take a closer look this morning!

Well, I didn't end up flipping the pizza dough all over the oven last night, but I did end up "shucking" LOADS of corn meal from the peel into the oven. How on EARTH are you supposed to get dough off the peel onto the stone without quickly/sharply "HOIKING" cornmeal all over the oven floor!?!?!?! There's just GOT to be some sort of trick to it!! < =/

HOIK hahaha
I'm sure you'll get the hang of it, I haven't tried.

You know those cute kirby type/ pickler types cukes I'm having trouble with? They're 99 cents a six pack at Adli today. Figgers!!

sally--
Those "cute kirby type/ pickler types cukes" is all I am growing.
Nice compact size and fewer seeds. WHY are you having trouble with them?

Mine are still producing, even though the leaves are srarting to dry out.

I have a new batch coming--near the 6' fence. They are growing OK--just not sure
how much sun they will get there...
NO biggie! It is an experiment.....
G.

Mainly, I keep losing them in the vines and finding huge yellow overripe ones.. But they are also still coming on pointed at the tip. Poor pollination?

Sally--

You are right--the ready-to-pick Cukes are hard to find. They look exactly
like the leaves...and those leaves are like handling sand paper...Yuk!
Cukes also a,most double in size each day. Have to get them on just the right day.

Here's a little secret I found that helps...

Go BEHIND the growing Cukes and look for ready ones in the mess.
Since all the leaves will be facing in one direction (sunlight), from the back
end you will, easily, see any cukes ready to pick. Pay attention to the lower
stems near the ground as well as higher up. Mine are, by now, climbing the shed.

Try it!!! Works for me. G.
.

Sally, hope your cukes aren't growing too close to a wall or something! < =/

I read up last night, I think they are lacking nitrogen. At this stage of summer, I don't know if its worth trying to help them out, but I do have blood meal, can give them a shot.

Hay! Good idea!
I have my second bed of Cukes planted...(in that "doomed bed" I fixed up)
I will amend it with some "N" also. Even, maybe, my current bed.

The Cuke plants are starting to wither...still producing, though.

Today was Henry's birthday party. He had handed out invitations to his whole class. Apparently to his two teachers, also, because they came. How special!! 4 girls from his class came and three boys. One of the girl's mothers said the girls showed up because they like Henry. They try to mother him apparently. I'm glad they watch out for him and not bully him. He is so very naive. He is now a tenager. Double digits. 5th grade this year.

Not cooking tonight. Leftovers if anyone is hungry.

Back again. Since my Dad and nephew are visiting I'm cooking a good bit. Made a huge 3#s of meatloaf last night, 12 portions of mashed potatoes, brown gravy, and roasted 2 zucchinis cut up and shaken with EVOO and herbs. There were only 7 of us but there was very little left. BooHoo. No sandwiches for me.
Tonight, pot roast with baked or mashed, and fresh corn or stewed tomatoes. I don't expect any leftovers again.
Tomorrow I'm starting with 5#s of potato salad and going from there. It's more fun cooking when you have plenty of hungry family around.

Speedie, I've marinated Mahi for hours before grilling you can't hurt it. The other thing I do is add either vinegar or alcohol to marinates to help them penetrate. Mahi and tuna are often referred to as red meat fish, because of the texture and appearance of the meat.

My cukes are officially shot.

Really tasty combo the other night= Zatarains red beans and rice, Johnsonville Jalapeno/cheddar smoked sausage, and kale with onion and bacon and chicken broth.

My Cukes are shot too--as well as my Tomatoes. Will pull them up.
i DO have a second seeding of Cukes coming along nicely.
They are in the "doomed bed" by the fence. May notget enough
sun--but they don't know it yet.....:o)
They are getting big already...they even have some blooms....

Will have to pull out the old cukes--as well as my Ch. Prpl. Tomatoes.
I think the powdery Mildew on all the leaves did them in. C-r-u-n-c-h......
Also the cool temps and all the rain. I don't even have any GREEN tomatoes--
it is NO tomatoes--that is what is weird....One fruiting of about 809 tomatoes--
that's it. No more blooms....

Ok with me--I have not really eaten either one too often.
WHY do I even grow them???????
G.

--this is all the lg. tomatoes I got....after these--NOTHING!
--these are the new Cukes--a few weeks ago.
As i write this--they are all about12" tall and in bloom...Growing very well...

Second cukes seem on track.
I'm having a great year for tomatoes. Go figure. Ch Purple and German Johnson and your Sungold.

Off tomorrow and going to cook. Chicken simmered first then finished on the grill. Pasta salad (had the box on the counter today and two kids asked so I guess they really like it) and corn, and cantalope, we have not had enough cantalope yet this summer