I think we should...

do restaurant review here, too.

Turkey Burgers with Grated Zucchini and Carrot

I opened up the most current issue of Real Simple yesterday and decided to try this recipe. It was SO GOOD. I used a full lb. of turkey, which I think would work better than what the recipe called for.

I'd highly recommend this. It was fast and great for kids (my kids anyway) because you can hide veggies in burgers and cover them with ketchup.

good mango alert

for those in omaha, just wanted to report that whole foods has absolutely great mangoes right now. i don't usually like mangoes, but these are amazing.

My quick and easy dinner stand-by.

Daphne mentioned her love of goat cheese in the comments section. I love that stuff, too. Here is a way we use it for a really quick meal (In fact, we had it for dinner last night, wish I would have taken a picture)

Goat Cheese Omelet (serves 2)
serve with crusty bread and lettuce salad

Preheat skillet over med. heat with a bit of olive oil.
--
3 eggs, beaten with generous pinch of kosher salt and a splash of water
1/8-1/4 c. frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and the water pressed out
--mix together--

Pour into hot pan, swirl to cover pan bottom. As it cooks, lift out omelet and let egg run underneath to cook. I don't flip it, if you want the top cooked more, you can put a lid over the pan.
--
Next, drop crumbles of goat cheese onto omelet. Last night we also added parm cheese and chopped roma tomatoes. Fold over and serve. Yum!

Recipe requests

We're having company Monday, and I'm looking for two things:

a cold side dish to accompany grilled meat and veggies
a recipe or idea for an egg-free dessert (our friend has an egg allergy)

i'd be grateful for any suggestions!

Italian Muffins

Caron requested this recipe. These are savory muffins, by the way-- better to be served with dinner than with orange juice at breakfast.

Italian Muffins

1/4 c. dried tomatoes, soaked in boiling water to soften
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
2 T. sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg
1/4 c. oil
1 c. fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/2 c. hard cheese, grated
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
3/4 c. milk

Oil 12 muffin tins.

In skillet, cook mushrooms and garlic in a bit of oil until most of liquid is evaporated.

In med. bowl, mix flour, cheese, sugar, powder, salt and soda. Make a well and pour in the combo of egg, milk, and oil. Stir in mushrooms and chopped tomatoes (drained) just until moistened.

Spoon batter into cups. Sprinkle with more cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Simplify.

A while back on the WhoCares blog, I remember a discussion about trying to simplify meals. Well, we've really been trying to do that at our house as an effort to make meal times less stressful. We had this for dinner last night-- it was SO delicious and most of it was from our back yard.

Pasta w/ Fresh Herbs

1/2 lb. whole-wheat fettuccine
1/8 c. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. minced fresh parsley
1/4 c. minced fresh basil
1/4 c. minced chives
(also can use others-- I added a bit of dill)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
grated Parmesan

Cook pasta. While pasta cooks, warm oil over low heat. Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Add herbs and cook 30 more seconds. Add 1/4 cup pasta water and set aside. After pasta is done, drain and put in large bowl. Toss with herb mixture and grate cheese on top.

Marinade that rocks.

One thing I am not good at cooking is plain meat. You know, like a roast or something. For one, (though I'm not a vegetarian) I HATE touching raw meat and for two, I always over cook it and for three, I generally think meat is a boring thing to eat by itself. However, despite all this, sometimes I have a hankerin' for some plain meat. Hence, this great marinade recipe for pork chops. We used it tonight and have used it a lot in the past.

I make a few changes: I always half this recipe-- it makes way too much. Often I leave out the ginger and always the Lee Kum Kee black-bean chile sauce because I don't know what it is.

Grilled Vegetables with Feta

I made this with for dinner with Ali and Caron at my place one night, shortly after I had painted my apartment it's beautiful shade of green. We ate by the candlelight of a chandelier that Alicia made for me. It made for a very cozy evening. I also made this “fancy” spicy shrimp recipe to go with the vegetable dish. The veggies were far tastier than the shrimp. Found this while looking for a recipe to serve a vegetarian friend tomorrow. Anyone have another idea?

Vinaigrette:
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp. salt
3 garlic cloves, minced

Vegetables:
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise (about 1 lb)
1 red bell pepper, quartered
1 yellow bell pepper, quartered
4 (1/2 inch-thick) slices Vidalia or other sweet onion
4 (4-inch) Portobello caps
Cooking spray

Remaining ingredients:
4 cups hot cooked basmati rice
½ cup (2 oz) feta cheese, crumbled

To prepare vinaigrette, combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk.

To prepare vegetables, combine ¼ cup vinaigrette, zucchini, and bell peppers in a large bowl. Brush remaining ¼ cup vinaigrette over both sides of onion slices and mushroom caps.

Place vegetables on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 2 ½ minutes on each side or until vegetables are tender and browned. Place vegetables on a cutting board; cut each vegetable piece in half. Serve over rice; sprinkle with cheese.

I don’t have a grill so I use the George Foreman grill. You could roast these too, I think. It’d probably be just as good. Just no grill marks.

masala corn on the cob with chili aioli (sauce)

this is a recipe for a killer dry rub and creamy sauce for corn on the cob. we first tried it at an indian food class last summer, and have been crunching our cobs (?) this way since. the chef, who cooks at the indian oven, says this is a common street snack, "equivalent to hot dogs" in mumbai. de-lish.

Masala Corn on the Cob with Chili Aioli (aioli = a mayo-based sauce with garlic)

To prepare the aioli, mix the following in a food processor or blender:

- 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped finely with seeds left in
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (or chili powder or cayenne pepper)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- sugar to taste (I usually end up adding a tablespoon or two to offset the heat of the pepper and the tart mayo)
- salt and pepper to taste
- thin to a nice saucy texture with a little chicken stock or water

Serve the aioli on the side of sweet corn prepared this way:

- ears of sweet corn (recipe is for 2 ears, but actually goes much farther, i usually have lots of aioli and chili mix left over)
- melted butter to brush
- 1 lime (for 2 people, so multiply according to your guests)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder and 1 teaspoon coarse salt, mixed in a small bowl

Cut the limes in half down the middle. Brush ears with butter, dip the wet side of the lime into the salt and chili mix, and rub on the ears, squeezing out the lime juice a little as you go. Drizzle the aioli over the corn. Sigh with happiness and contentment.

p.s. it's spiceeeey for lightweights like me. keep an ice tea handy. also, the chef suggested that the aioli recipe is also good with chicken or seafood.

By request.

Lindsay wanted me to re-post this recipe for the bread that we Dyers are slightly
addicted to.  We still make it often-- my new addition is to cover the loaf in sesame
seeds before I make it. Yum!

3 cups (430 grams, to be exact) of all-purpose flour
scant Tablespoon of coarse salt (like Kosher, don't use table)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (also known as RapidRise OR Breadmachine yeast)
about 1 5/8 cups of water
extra flour for dusting

 In large glass or plastic mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast.
Pour in water and mix with wooden spoon. The dough will be sticky and kind of shaggy looking.
This is normal even though it looks wrong. Cover bowl with plastic wrap
and let stand for 16-20 hours. (Can be at room temp., unless house is
really cold) The dough should be bubbly looking and should be stringy when
the bowl is tipped. Turn dough onto a WELL floured surface.
With a bench scraper pull out both sides of the dough and fold over each
other into thirds. (It will be VERY sticky) Give a quarter turn and do it
again-- flouring all the while. Oil the bowl a bit and toss it back in. (Update: I now just leave the dough IN the bowl, grab a rubber scraper and "fold" it a few times. I don't oil the bowl in this case and it works just fine.)
Cover it with plastic wrap and let stand for another 2-3 hour rise.

Place a medium cast iron pot with lid OR any casserole WITH LID into oven
WHILE you pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Let the casserole dish heat for at
least 30 minutes. Remove dish, sprinkle bottom with flour (or sesame seeds).
Transfer dough to hot pot, sprinkle with a bit more flour, (some salt and
sesame seeds),cover with lid and return tooven. Bake 30 minutes WITH lid,
remove lid and bake 15minutes more. Shake it out onto cooling surface.
Wait AT LEAST 45 minutes to slice. (Another update: We now use 2 c. of white flour and 1 c. wheat and really like the results)

Recreating Darby’s Indian-style going away party

Divide the following components among all who attend. It’s a party folks -- everyone should contribute something.
--The following Indian recipes
--Naan from an Indian restaurant because nobody wants to make that stuff and Indian food can’t be eaten without it.
--The wine
--The scotch
--The ambiance
--The entertainment

Light candles. Put some music on. Push all the furniture to the corners of the room. Spread a big Indian bedsheet on the floor. Everyone sits on this blanket, cross-legged with a plate of food and a glass of wine. Water is optional. Eat heartily with your hands…no, your hand. The right one! The right hand; this is very important.

Eat all the food that will fit in your belly. Drink lots of wine with the food. When you can’t eat anymore, take a swig of scotch. It will burn the food fat or something like that (or so Darcy says). Eat and drink some more. Repeat. Repeat.

Read good poetry, everyone should take a turn. The musicians will perform a few songs next. Everyone must clap loudly.

Walk over to Mark’s in Dundee for some dessert, preferably the bread pudding (although Darby would likely recommend the chocolate mousse). Steer away from the coffee if you can; it’s lousy. And cold. But then, you should probably just go for it. Dessert is nothing without coffee. Even if it’s bad coffee.

Remember the evening for years to come -- you won’t be able to help yourself.

Saffron Rice
3 cups chicken broth
1/8 – ¼ tsp saffron thread
½ medium onion, chopped
2 cups basmati rice

Cook onion until it is soft in a little oil. Add chicken, brown and rice. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Daph uses the rice cooker to make this. Brown the onion then dump everything else and turn the sucker on. Eat this rice with the Egg Curry, Sag Paneer or Chicken Curry recipes. Or all three!

Chicken Curry (crock-pot dish)
Makes 4 servings
3½- to 4-quart cooker

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 medium onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. turmeric
q tsp. ginger powder
1 tbsp peanut oil
1/3 cup water

Mix the chicken, onions, garlic, soy sauce, curry, chili, turmeric, ginger, oil and water n an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until the chicken is tender and cooked through, 7 to 9 hours. Serve the chicken over hot basmati rice.

Creamed Curried Spinach with Cheese (Sag Paneer)
½ c. water
1 lb. fresh spinach, washed, de-stemmed, coarsely chopped (sometimes I use frozen)
3 T butter
1 T finely chopped ginger
½ c. finely chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. garam masala
1 cup cheese (paneer), cut into 1-inch cubes
the recipe doesn’t call for it, but I also use some red cayenne pepper to spice it up.

Combine ½ of the water and a handful of the spinach in a blender. Blend at high speed for 30 sec. Keep adding spinach until about half is blended. Add a little more water, if necessary, to puree.

In a large skillet, heat the butter over moderate heat. Add the ginger and sauté for one minutes. Add the onions and salt and continue sautéing for 5 more minutes.

Stirring after each addition, add the cumin, turmeric, coriander, and garam masala. Then stir in the leafy and pureed spinach. Reduce heat and cook mixture uncovered, for 20-30 min. Most of the liquid should evaporate. At the last minute, gently add the paneer. Serve hot.

***Paneer (cheese)
For the cheese, you can use any white cheese. But I discovered that it’s super easy to make the real deal Indian paneer. You just have to plan ahead a little.

6 cups whole milk
2 cups whole yogurt

Pour milk into a deeeeep pot (room to boil) and cook it to boiling, stirring almost constantly so it doesn’t scorch. after the milk boils, add the yogurt and continue to cook and stir. this gets a little gross….it will form curds and a greenish liquid will separate from the curds. this takes a couple minutes of cooking.

Pour the curds and green crap (is this called whey? like little miss muffet?) into a cheesecloth lined colander. Drain until the cheese cools and can be handled. ball up the cheese in the cheesecloth and squeeze out excess liquid. Twist it up tight and put a rubberband on it, then tie the ball to the sink faucet and let it drain for about half an hour. take off the rubberband and form into a block then put the block of cheese between two plates and put something heavy on top (like a pot of water, which is tricky to balance but can be done) for about an hour or so. Drain liquid off plate occasionally (if there is any. I usually try to squeeze all the liquid out and even use a paper towel to blot it out of the cheesecloth before I form the block. cause I think that liquid is disgusting don’t want it to touch my cheese for a long time). Cut it up and, voila! CHEESE.

Also, you can add salt and/or cumin after you add the yogurt if you want. But I usually keep it plain, cause the saag is already salty and savory enough for my taste. the blandness of the cheese helps to balance it out.

Egg Curry (Anda Kari)
Serves 4

In frying pan, sauté in 2 T. oil:
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

When onions are transparent add:
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 ½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground red pepper
1 tsp. garam masala
Fry for 1-2 minutes

Add 1 ½ cup tomatoes (fresh or canned, I used chopped canned).
Cover and simmer until thick, about 20 minutes.

Add 4-6 eggs, hard-cooked and cut in half.

Simmer 5 min. Serve over rice with chutney on side.

Cucumber Raita
½ tsp. ground cumin (or cumin seeds)
½ cup plain yogurt
¼ tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper
1 medium cucumber (about ½ lb)
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

In a small frying pan, toast cumin over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Transfer to medium bowl, add yogurt, salt and pepper, stir well. Peel cucumber and cut in half lengthwise; scoop out seeds with teaspoon and discard them. Slice cucumber lengthwise into ½ inch strips and then crosswise into small cubes and add to bowl, along with green onions and cilantro. Stir to combine well. Cover and chill until shortly before serving time, makes about 1 ¼ cups.

sorry this is such a long post! i hate long posts.

Biscuits For All Time

I've been making this biscuit recipe since I was 10. Ask Ali. And it's good every time. Our favorite way to eat these is with chicken and gravy, or soups. Here's the official recipe with my modifications.

2 cups flour (white unbleached - wheat gets really heavy)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

1 stick butter
1/2-2/3 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk (and who does??), you can measure out regular milk and add a couple of little dashes of vinegar (not balsamic) to substitute. This will work with any recipe calling for buttermilk)

Preheat to 425. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl, and cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender. This usually goes better if the butter is cool, but not fresh out of the fridge. When the butter is blended into the dry ingredients so that you have pea-sized bits, add the milk and mix thoroughly. You might need to add a little more milk than called for to get a nice, thick biscuit dough.

The original recipe said to roll out the dough and cut into circles, but I put huge spoonfulls into a muffin pan (spray with Pam first) and bake that way. Baking time is 10-20 minutes, until golden on the top.

This recipe also works GREAT for strawberry shortcake. Just add another couple of tablespoons of sugar.

split pea heaven

we make this yummy, tasty, healthy split-pea soup occassionally. it is fantastic and is perfect for those days when you don't want to be cooking at 5pm. CROCKPOT HEAVEN!

Very interesting cookies.

I made these and packaged them up for mom today-- a mother's day gift. They are truly the most unique cookie I've ever made. I've never heard of using rosemary in a cookie. Anyway, they turned out nicely-- a shortbread type cookie that would go nicely with tea. (As a side note, I got the rosemary at Wohlners, who purchased it from a local source.)

Rosemary Citrus Cookies
2/3 c. flour
1/2 c yellow cornmeal
pinch salt
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 large egg
2 T. finely chopped rosemary
2-3 T. grated lemon zest
1/2 t. almond extract

Combine flour, meal and salt. In another bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in egg, rose., zest, and extract. Stir in flour mixture just until combined. Roll into a 10 inch log encased in wax paper. Freeze overnight. Slice the next day in 3/8 inch wide slices. Place on parchment lined sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely.

Welcome everyone.

Hello WhoCares friends. Welcome to our food blog. A bit of history: a long time ago, us WhoCares-ians discussed the idea of publishing an actual paper cookbook of recipes we'd like to share with each other. This sounded like a great idea, but a lot of work. Plus, what if we wanted to add new ones?

This blog functions as a place for us to share recipes with each other and also to archive our own for our personal use.

We'll see how it goes. If it is a flop-- adios, food blog. Here goes nothin'.

P.S. Just a reminder Who-Cares posters: make sure you put appropriate labels on your posts.