Monday, November 10, 2008

Find your inner sandwich MacGuyver

Just writing to let you know that I am taking a week's break from my regular postings.

I have arthritis and it's affecting my hands to the point that typing and using a mouse really hurts. I am working with my doctor to get things under control.

My usage has been aggravating the pain, and I'm choosing to take a week off, rather than quit.

So, this week, take your favorite dinner recipe and turn it into a sandwich. It's a great way to explore leftovers in a different way.

Here are some inspirations:
Meatloaf -- yellow mustard on whole wheat with cold meatloaf slices
Pot Roast -- horseradish, mayo, sliced cold post roast on your favorite bread
Chinese Food -- take the meat pieces out, throw some sauce on a roll with the meat, and eat the rice and veggies on the side
Spaghetti -- Provolone Cheese melted over ground turkey or beef and atop toasted garlic bread

Also, if you know of any treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, let me know. I'm using immunosuppressants, the new "last line of defense" and having little success.

Enjoy your week eat happily!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Free Recipe Friday: Carnitas, or "This is what happy tastes like"

I’ll make a cook’s confession. Up until last night, I couldn’t cook a pork loin to save my life. It’s not for a lack of trying.

My husband is my guinea pig, and every time I serve him something, he says, “This is the best (insert food here) that I have ever eaten.” The jury is still out on whether he's lying, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

But that still doesn’t mean that the non-bacon pork that I’ve put in front of him for the past 3-4 years has been worth a damn. I’ve tried roasting and searing and sautéing, grilling, braising, and even frying and they have pretty much sucked, not to put too fine a point on it.


Two years ago, I traveled to Phoenix to visit my sister and she took us to a Mexican market, Pro’s Ranch Market and it was one of the most amazing food adventures I’ve ever been on.

The Gibson adventure, starring Aunt Betty, Dad, & my then-very-pregnant sister Lindsey

From the Pro's Ranch Market website (www.ProsRanch.com)

I had the best meal of my life there -- pork carnitas on warm, soft corn tortillas and fresh watermelon water. I have been trying to recreate them since, to no avail.

Until last night.

On a whim, I tried doing the recipe I have backwards, and it worked beautifully.

So, here goes…

CARNITAS
-- Serves 6-8
-- Prep time: 10 minutes
-- Passive Cooking Time: 16 hours
-- Active Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Essential Equipment
* large Crock Pot
* very sharp knife
* wire mesh strainer or small colander
* coffee filters

Ingredients
* 1 pork butt (3-4 lbs), cut into 3 inch cubes (if using bone-in, just trim around the bone and include bones while cooking)
* 1 tsp ground cumin
* 1 medium onion, peeled and halved
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 tsp dried oregano
* 1 tsp kosher salt
* 1 ½ tsp granulated sugar
* 2 Tbsp white vinegar
* juice from 1 lemon
* juiced-lemon, washed and trimmed and seeded, then sliced
* 2 cups hot water
* 1 pale beer (I just used a Bud Light because that’s what was in the fridge, but you can use anything of the lighter variety)
* pinch of cayenne pepper (optional, if you like them spicy)

Basic Summary
Combine all ingredients and cook in crock pot. Broil the meat. Boil down the reseved juices for a sauce. Pour sauce over meat and serve.

1. Turn on Crock Pot on LOW. Add beer and bay leaves and cover.
2. Cut up pork loin. If using bone-in, trim the meat from the bone and include the bone in the pot while you cook. Include the fat cap (the big layer of fat), but be sure to cut lines into it so that the fat renders.
3. Wash the lemon well, trim the ends and squeeze juice and seeds out into a separate bowl. Remove the seeds and slice up the squished lemon.
4. By now, the beer should be at least lukewarm. Add vinegar, sugar, salt, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and stir. Lay down a bed of lemon slices in the Crock Pot.
5. Squash the pork pieces and onion into the Crock Pot so it’s relatively even on top, so that it will cook consistently.
6. Add hot water until the liquid barely covers the meat.
7. Cover and cook on low for 12-16 hours.
8. Turn off the crock pot and let everything cool off enough to handle the meat. Be careful not to leave it too long to avoid bacterial growth.
9. Remove bay leaves and remaining lemon slices and throw away. Remove meat and onions and transfer to cookie sheet.
10. Put coffee filter in strainer and pour remaining liquid through it. Boil the strained liquid for 20-30 minutes until reduced to one cup.
11. Put pork under a broiler for 7-10 minutes, flipping once in the middle until the meat crisps and the fat caramelizes.
12. Pour liquid over meat and serve with warm soft corn tortillas.

In my opinion, the meat is so good that you don’t need any toppings, but in Mexico these are usually served with chopped onion and guacamole.

Happy eating! I served these to my husband and he said, "This is what happy tastes like."


Monday, October 27, 2008

Belated Free Recipe Friday: Black Bean Hummous


I'm learning to embrace Murphy's Law: anything that can deter you from your goal will happen when you are trying to get something done, up to and including small pygmy warriors breaking into your home and kicking you in the shins.

I'll admit, I exaggerated and penned the last part. The pygmy warriors didn't kick me in the shins. They poked my external hardrive with sticks until it ceased to function.

So, I hope that you can have patience that this recipe is 3 days late, and I pledge my alliances to you when those pygmies come knocking on your door.

The following recipe is vegetarian and is one of the tastiest things ever. I would choose this over a succulent piece of meat anytime, and I'm definitely a "meat-a-tarian." I make it a little thick, so I can spread it on toast. If you want it thinner, then add more olive oil to it.

Please note: This recipe uses canned beans. I usually start with dried beans as they are much cheaper, but I chose to give you this recipe as it is super-fast.

Happy Eating!


BLACK BEAN HUMMOUS
-- serves 6-8 as an appetizer dip
-- prep time: 15 minutes
-- cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Essential Equipment
* Food Processor or Blender

Basic Summary
Using Canned Beans: Rinse and drain the beans, combine all ingredients in food processor and process, enjoy!

Ingredients
* 1 can of garbanzo beans (chick peas, or cici beans)
* 1 can of black beans
* one clove of garlic
* 3 lemons
* 1 1/2 Tbsp Tachina Sauce (or Tahini, which is a Mediterranean Sesame Butter, sort of like peanut butter, but with no sugar. You should be able to find it in the Mediterranean aisle.)
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse and drain both cans of beans. Place beans in food processor or blender.
2. Peel garlic and add clove to food processor.
3. Squeeze juice from the lemons into a small bowl, so you can make sure you catch any seeds. Pour into food processor or blender.
4. Add Tachina and olive oil and process until smooth.

Serve with veggie crudites, crackers, pitas, with toast. I've even used it when making creative tacos.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Food Porn: Pics & Previews


Chicken Soup -- sear the chicken first for more flavor.





Preview for next week: Black Bean Hummous




And, potato salad... Stay Tuned!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Free Recipe Friday: The BEST Chicken Soup

This is one of those recipes that I swore I would never share. It is technique-heavy and chock full of surprising secrets, but taking time with this one really makes the difference. And, it's fairly cheap and filling.

This is the perfect food to feed someone who's got a cold.

THE BEST CHICKEN SOUP

- serves 6

- prep time: 10 minutes

- cooking time: 90 minutes-2 hours

Essential Equipment

* large stock pot

* large burner on the stove

* paper towels

* baking sheet

* sturdy tongs

Ingredients

* 6 chicken thighs, bone-in & skin-on

* one large yellow onion or 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and quartered

* 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

* 4 celery stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces

* 2 cloves of garlic, whole

* one bay leaf

* 2 tsp of fresh thyme or 1 tsp of dried thyme

* 1 tsp of fresh rosemary or ½ tsp of dried rosemary

* 2 Tbsp of kosher salt in a small bowl

* 2 tsps freshly ground black pepper

* 3 Tbsp olive oil

* 5-6 cups of water

* 1 Tbsp ketchup

* large wire-mesh strainer

Basic Summary: Sear the chicken, add veggies and spices, add water, cook and enjoy.

1. Place stock pot over medium-high heat and add 2 Tbsp of olive oil.

2. Line a baking sheet with 2 layers of paper towels. Place chicken thighs on paper towels w ith the skin facing up and cover with 2 more sheets of paper towels. Pat the chicken completely dry.

3. Rub or brush 1 Tbsp of oil on the skin side of the chicken and sprinkle with salt from the small bowl (having a separate bowl of salt reduces the chance of cross-contamination; you definitely don’t want raw chicken drippings in your box of salt!).

4. By this time, your oil should be hot. You will know it’s ready when it just begins to smoke.

5. Using the tongs, place the chicken breasts skin-side-down in the oil in one layer. If they don’t all fit, then get a bigger pot or reduce the recipe for 4). Sprinkle the backsides of the chicken with more kosher salt and pepper. Let the chicken sear in the pan 7-10 minutes. Flip the chicken and sear the backside for only 4-5 minutes (Note: you will only flip the chicken once. The chicken only sticks to the pan until it forms a crust; you might be tempted to fiddle with the chicken because you think it will burn, but as long as you watch the time, it won’t).

6. Add onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary to the pan and stir a couple of times to distribute the olive oil and chicken drippings. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic cloves and stir once more.

7. Warm the water in the microwave until it is hot. Add water to stock pot while scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze (deglazing gets all of the amazing concentrated seared chicken flavor unstuck from the bottom of the pan).

8. Bring the soup to a boil, put a lid on, reduce the heat to medium low and let simmer for 90 minutes.

9. Remove every bit of chicken from soup and let rest. Pour soup through strainer and then put back in the stock pot and turn heat to medium. Add 1 Tbsp ketchup.

10. Remove bay leaf from strainer and put all veggies back into soup.

11. Using two forks (and a bit of caution), pull the chicken from the bones and put back in soup.

12. Simmer for 10-20 minutes, salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Last note: If you like your chicken soup with rice or noodles, cook them separately and add right before you serve. If you try to cook them in the soup, you’ll end up with a big squishy mess.

Enjoy!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Free Recipe Friday: Comfort Food-Mashed Potatoes

After being bombarded this week with the message that the world is going to Hell in a hand-basket, I thought a good, cheap, and easy recipe should be on the menu.

Hang in there, folks. We've seen better, but we've seen worse and the only thing that ultimately matters is what we do with what's put in front of us. You have the choice to make your life whatever you'd like it to be, even when things get tough.

When things get tough, I make mashed potatoes. Potatoes are cheap and mashed potatoes freeze well, so you can buy the 10 lb bag, spend an afternoon cooking a big pot and then be set for a couple of weeks.

Happy Eating!

MASHED POTATOES
- serves 6
- prep time: 10 minutes, relatively unattended
- cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Equipment
* large-ish standard stock pot
* potato masher or large serving fork (if you like your potatoes with lumps)
* hand-held blender (if you like your potatoes smooth)
* large burner/eye on the stove
* large dish for soaking the potatoes
* soup bowl, for reserving your potato water
* small scrub brush (I bought a $.99 fingernail brush that works great)

Ingredients
* 6 medium size baking potatoes (you can use any potato of your choice, but I really like the light, fluffy baked-potato texture)
* 1 stick of unsalted butter (be sure to get unsalted, or you'll have to play around with how much salt you add)
* 3/4 cup of half & half or whole milk (you can substitute 2% or skim, but they won't be quite as rich... which is the whole point of comfort food, right?)
* 2 tsp coarse kosher salt (you can substitute 3 tsp regular table salt, but kosher salt is fairly cheap and tastes SO MUCH BETTER)
* 1 bay leaf
* additional salt and pepper to taste

Basic Summary: soak the potatoes, scrub the potatoes, boil the potatoes, mix in the yummy fattening things and enjoy!

1. Place unwashed potatoes in a large dish and cover potatoes with HOT water. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Remove potatoes from dish and scrub them with a brush under running lukewarm water to dislodge any soil from them.

3. Cut the potatoes in half so that each one could fit completely in the palm of one hand. Place into large stockpot. Make sure you have a single layer of potatoes.

4. Cover the potatoes in warm water, making sure to add no more than 1 inch of water above the tops of the potatoes. Add the bay leaf and 2 tsp of coarse kosher salt. Bring water to a rolling boil, stirring the potatoes once or twice only to prevent any sticking. Turn heat down and simmer the potatoes for 15-20 minutes, until they flake (sort of like a baked potato) when you press them with a fork.

5. Remove the potatoes from the eye of the stove. If you've followed the directions, the water in your stockpot should be half-way up the potatoes. Remove the bay leaf and pour the water into a bowl and set to the side. Make sure to drain the potatoes very well.

6. Melt the stick of butter in the microwave (about :30) and pour over the potatoes.

7. Warm the half & half in the microwave (about :45 to 1:00) and add half to the potatoes.

8. Smash the potatoes to the smoothness of your choice, adding additional half and half to loosen up the mixture. You should easily use the rest of the half & half.

9. At this point, your potatoes should still be a little dry and tight. Add the reserved potato water one tablespoon at a time until they are the way you like them.

10. Add salt and pepper... or cheese... or red onion ... or bacon ... you get the picture.

You'll have potato water left over. Save it and add it when you're making soup. The potatoes have made the water starchy which is perfect for thickening up sauces or soups.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Wednesday What's On the Menu

I've had some GREAT experiments this week. Enjoy the inspirations!

Teriyaki Chicken Skewers with sauteed navel orange sections and cold soba noodles with veggies
Italian Sausage & Egg scramble with wheat toast and cantaloupe
Hot Sweet Cucumber, Carrot and Red Onion Pickles
Philly Cheesteak Stir Fry (this one's the WINNER this week -- yummmm! Most of the ingredients from a cheesteak, but low-carb!!)
Mexican Chicken and Rice with roasted red onions and tomatoes

Happy Eating!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Free Recipe Friday: Pasta in Herbed Garlic Butter

This week, I'll share one of my favorite recipes. It's so easy to make, but so easy to screw up if you don't know what you're doing. It's also cheap and incredibly satisfying. It's vegetarian, but is the perfect recipe for infinite experimentation, so break out your inner MacGyver and have fun.

You'll also notice that my recipes are VERY detailed. I do this because most every recipe I've ever followed leaves out steps that are integral to the process, small things I've had to learn through experimentation. Consider it my special gift to you.

Happy Eating!

PASTA IN HERBED GARLIC BUTTER
- serves 2
- prep time: 3 minutes
-- cooking time: 8-12 minutes

Equipment
  • medium saute/frying pan
  • Saucepan large enough to boil pasta
  • medium whisk or large dinner fork
  • large burner/eye on the stove
  • garlic press or microplane grater
Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil (since you're cooking with it, you don't have to use Extra Virgin)
  • 6 oz of dried pasta (I use Angel Hair because it cooks the most quickly)
  • one clove of garlic (DO NOT substitute garlic powder, garlic salt or even minced garlic that comes in the jar pre-prepared; trust me on this one)
  • 2 tsp salt for cooking pasta
  • Herbs of Your Choice: 1 tsp dried or 1 Tbsp fresh, as a general guide
  • salt & pepper, to taste
Basic Summary: Start the pasta, melt the butter, saute the garlic, drain the pasta, throw the pasta in the butter and garlic, laugh because it was so incredibly easy, eat and enjoy.

1. Fill your sauce pan with water and add 2 tsp salt. Cook pasta almost according to package directions, removing it from heat 2-3 minutes before the package says it's ready. Since your pasta will need time to cook, start it and complete the rest of the recipe while it's cooking. DO NOT put oil in the pasta pot. DO NOT rinse your pasta. I'll be happy to explain why once I get into your kitchen and show you.
2. While your pasta is cooking, heat your saute pan over medium heat on a large eye of the stove. Add 1 Tbsp butter and olive oil to pan.
3. Peel garlic. For garlic prep techniques, hire me and I'll show you how.
4. As the butter and olive oil heat in the pan, you'll see them change. There will be a point when the butter begins to separate into a yellowish liquid and whitish solids.
5. At this point, your pasta should be ready to drain. Simple pour it into a collander/strainer and leave it alone. Again, DO NOT rinse your pasta.
6. When you see the butter separating, grate your garlic into the pan as quickly as you can. Be sure to get every drop of garlic from the backside of the grater. You'll hear it sizzle a little and smell really strong.
7. Immediately begin stirring the garlic with a whisk or a dinner fork. Your main objective is to cook the garlic to a light golden color. It happens very quickly (1-2 mintues), so DO NOT leave the pan unattended for any reason. If it starts to brown at all, remove the pan from heat and turn temperature down. Return the pan, but watch to make sure it doesn't happen again.
8. Once the garlic starts turning golden, add the last 1 Tbsp of butter and let it melt for about one minute. If you are using dried herbs, add them now.
9. Reduce heat to low and add your pasta to the saute pan and fold into the garlic butter. The pasta will be a little sticky, but the garlic butter will quickly fix that. If you are using fresh herbs, add them now.
10. Turn off the heat and let the pasta sit covered for 3-5 minutes. Salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve and enjoy!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Wednesday What's On the Menu

Every Wednesday, I'll bring you recipes that I've been experimenting with over the past 7 days. I choose Wednesday, not because I enjoy being difficult (which I do), but because I abide by rule #1 of the How To Cook Knoxville Mobile Cooking Academy:

Rule #1: Choose one day a week and set aside 1-3 hours for planning and organizing.

The amount of time you'll need depends upon what meals you want to cook, but planning and organizing will make every meal easier and less expensive. I'm a busy girl starting her own business, so any time and money I can save is golden. From menu-planning for the week to making a shopping list to separating portions, if you can create the good habit of being prepared then each meal you make should take no more than 30 minutes of actual time during the week.

And, if you think that advice comes from a Type-A super-anal organized gal, then think again. Call my mother and father and ask them if organization has ever been one of my strong points. For me, though, it's infinitely worth it, because I love everything about food -- the smell, the taste, what it means to eat, what it means to feed someone, what it means to be fed -- it's almost a religious experience.

But, back to Wednesday. I choose Wednesday because on my schedule I've already experimented with meals for 7 days and it's time to start all over again.

Enjoy the inspirations, and if you want to learn how to cook them, let me know you know how to find me.

Ground Pork Black Bean Chipotle Chili with homemade Chili-lime Tortilla Chips
Lemon Rosemary Shrimp Alfredo with Parmesan Potatoes
White Balsamic Vinegar & Honey Chicken with Herbed Rice
Sauteed Bosc Pears and Bananas over Honeyed Cous Cous with Scrambled Eggs and Ciabatta Steak Minis

Find your inner MacGyver and experiment with what you've got in your pantry. Then, plan your meals for next week and start all over again.

Happy Eating!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Food Tip #1: Always have the following on hand:

For those of you who have not seen my business cards, I have this on the back:
---------
Food Tip #1: Always have the following on hand:

one sharp knife
one plastic freezer bag
one slice of bread
one tablespoon of ketchup
2 cubes of ice
a sharp, pointy stick
---------

Here's why:

1. One Sharp Knife: Having at least one sharp non-serrated knife in your kitchen toolkit will allow you do almost everything you need to do in your home kitchen. From paring an apple to cutting a tomato... from slicing bread to slicing cheese... from cutting open a chicken to cutting open a bag of salad. Some people will tell you not to cut open the bag of salad with it, but as long as you are keeping it dry (NEVER let your knife soak in water for any reason) and sharpening it (you can pick up a great knife sharpener for a couple of bucks), feel free to cut open any MINOR packaging with it.

2. One Plastic Freezer Bag: A plastic freezer bag has so many uses in the kitchen -- marinade in it, portion out meals for the week and have fresh meals READY when you come home from work, store your measuring cups and spoons together in the cabinet so you never have to hunt them down, freeze meals for leftovers, keep the odds and ends from cooking in it and use contents to make a great broth at the end of the week... and the list goes on and on.

3. One Slice of Bread: Ever made a sauce that was way too salty? Remove your pan from heat and push everything over to one side and let the sauce drain to the other side. Take a piece of regular bread and sop up as much as the sauce as you can/want. Return the pan to heat and add a little water and/or chicken broth to rehydrate and dilute what you have left. Voila! This works in a pinch if the dish hasn't cooked for too long.

4. One tablespoon of ketchup: This is one of those secret ingredients that I use all the time. If a broth-based soup is a little lacking, add a little ketchup and it will immediately taste better. Same with salsa, same with pasta sauce. This is for American eaters only, though... one reason it works is that American palates are so used to the combination of flavors that it makes the food more "friendly" to our tongues.

5. 2 Cubes of Ice: From "shocking" vegetables to soothing the burn on your hand, ice is just plain "hand"-y. Yes, I went there...

6. One Sharp, Pointy Stick: This is one of my new discoveries. At the beginning of the summer, I got a gas grill. I prefer gas because I have the ultimate control of temperature. Of course, at the beginning of the summer, I tried shish-kabobs. I used about 10 of the wooden sticks that came in the pack of 50 and the rest have sat in my drawer for months. So, I started experimenting with them. They are great for stirring tea, flipping chicken breasts in a saute pan, securing a pork roast and handling small and medium-sized pieces of raw meat. The key here is that they are cheap and DISPOSABLE and since they are wood, they are biodegradable and can be composted. I primarily use mine to put raw meat on the grill because I touch raw meat as little as I have to in the kitchen to cut down on contamination.

Remember, if you're in the Knoxville area and want more... just email me and we can set up a time to meet.

Happy eating!

Welcome to How To Cook Knoxville

Welcome to the How To Cook Knoxville, the blog of a woman crazy enough to think she can convince people that:

1. Cooking is worth it because it's not hard and can be quite fun.
2. Cooking is worth it because it can save you money.
3. Cooking is worth it because it can bring you closer to your family.

Cooking can also be an art form, a religious experience, a healing ritual, a confidence builder and quite honestly, a very enjoyable endeavor.

If you are in the Knoxville area, How To Cook Knoxville (HTCK) can also be your one-stop-shop for 100% personalized, 100% cost-effective and 100% YUMMY cooking lessons.

100% personalized : Using your Personal Food & Technique Inventory, I will create a custom lesson to suit your needs and tastes. I can show you how to "fake" your favorite restaurant fare. I can try my hand at your favorite family recipe. After an initial consultation, I will come to YOUR home, show you how to use YOUR equipment and show you how to cook the RECIPE(S) OF YOUR CHOICE.

100% cost-effective: You buy the ingredients and pay me for my time. That's it. My rates are $40.00 per hour for private instruction and $60.00 per hour for group instruction (up to 5 people). Non-profit organizations pay only $25.00 per hour, but must choose from recipes I have selected. Most lessons can be completed in 1.5 - 3 hours.

100% YUMMY: I will bring a sample of my cooking to our initial consultation and you can taste for yourself.


Thank you for reading!