Geo's Pasta Salad

When I was little I didn't like pasta salad...it was usually just overcooked macaroni with some cheese and celery thrown in and some mayo. My Mum (who is an awesome baker) is not the queen of spices and likes simple food. I found it to be just too boring to make on my own - I did not like her pasta salad.

Now? I like pasta salad. I've tweaked a version of it, with a greek flavour. Last night I made some for our lunches today and threw in some chic peas for the first time - definitely a good addition. I just finished eating it and I'm still tasting the yumminess on my tongue - so I thought I'd post the recipe quick. It makes enough for 4, as a stand alone meal.
The amounts below are estimates...I usually end up with far more veggies than pasta.

2-3 c cooked whole wheat pasta (I usually use rotini or penne)
1/2 c cucumber cut up into 5mm square pieces
1/4 c carrots sliced up
1/3 c celery cut up into 5mm square pieces
1 roma tomato diced up
4 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 c feta cheese crumbled
1/2 c both red & green pepper cut up into 5mm square pieces
1/3 c red onion cut up into 5mm square pieces
1/4 cup diced fresh parsley
1 c cooked and rinsed chic peas (I just use canned ones)

For dressing: 1/2 c low fat greek style oil/vinegar herb dressing, 1/2 c fat free sour cream, dash of cayenne, 1/2 t garlic, 1 t oregano, 1 T lemon juice, 1/2 T fresh black pepper (or more to taste).
Mix it all up and let sit a few minutes before you eat. It's even better the next day...it is a picnic favourite of mine. Tossing olives or parmesan into this is always a good thing too. Usually it's whatever veggies are around, but if I have all these it's a bonus. I'm trying to find a way to get less oil int he dressing to be a bit healthier, but for now...pastaliciousness.

Chard

I am on a bit of a Swiss chard kick these days. Last night I steamed chard in white wine with parsley, sage, pepper, garlic and onions. I served it with rice - partially cooked in white wine - and chicken seasoned with pepper, sage and rosemary. Excellent meal. Tonight, I am steaming chard in beer to see what difference it makes.

Update: the slightly sour taste that the wine lends to the dish (a good thing, believe me) is absent when cooked with beer (I used an amber ale) but still excellent.

- Magnus

Wrapping it up

Okay, I feel guilty about culture schilling for Kraft so I figure I ought to push some homemade food. Tonight I felt a bit lazy so I made wraps. I had been thinking about the 1988 film, The Milagro Beanfield War, (which is actually on the idiot box as I type - great film) and got in the mood for some Hispanic flavours. I used some pork shoulder that I had steamed for four hours last night and proceeded thusly:

- Sauteed steamed pork in olive oil on medium/low heat with two cloves of garlic, diced onion and chilis - including chipolte.
- As they cook together, I added 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, 1/8 a cup of parsley and a pinch of hot paprika.
- I added a small amount of 5 year old English cheddar.
- Lastly, I added in some brown rice and black beans and sauteed it with the rest of the ingredients for about five minutes.
- I rolled it all in white flour tortillas and consumed.

Gotta say, it was damned tasty. Geo - learn to love the cilantro.

Getting Curried Away

When I was in my teens I put curry in just about everything. I loved it and the sensory overload it provided in the way only a teenager truly can. It started actually because my Mum was concerned with my salt intake and wanted to find ways to drastically reduce it. She had made her own spice mix at first and it was good, but eventually I wanted something with more punch so out came the curry.
One of the things I loved to dump curry into was Kraft Dinner. Not that I want extol the "virtues" of a major food manufacturer, but I revisited that flavour twice recently and was not disappointed. But how to add it? When I was a kid it went in with the cheese mix, but what if I let it cook into the margarine for bit? Sounds like a good idea, makes sense in a more grown up sort of way - but it actually doesn't work as well as adding it straight in. Figuring I might try using coconut milk the next time.

Grammacake

When I was little and we went to see my grandparents my grandma always baked amazing things. One of my all time awesome favourite things she would make for us was Johnnie Cake - a simple sweet buttermilk cornbread loaf that you'd slice and have warm with syrup for breakfast. My Mum would make it occasionally as a treat too. I LOVED it.

A few years ago, long after my Grandma passed on, I had a craving for Johnnie Cake...and the recipe could not be found. My Mum misplaced it (after we all left the nest she didn't make it anymore) and every cornbread or johnniecake recipe I tried just wasn't right. Just not good enough to match up to what I remembered. My husband J just didn't get why I just had to make it...the recipes I had found just weren't that memorable. He had not tasted the deliciousness...

A few weeks ago I was over at my brother's place and we were talking about favourite foods...I mentioned Johnnie Cake and he said "Oh, I have the recipe for that. Mum gave it to me when I moved out". Wah! SCORE! I wrote it down (along with a few other awesome things I had no written recipe for) and that very saturday morning I introduced J to the awesome wonders of Grammacake AKA Johnnie Cake.


I think you all should make this for yourself on a lazy weekend morning. It makes enough for a few breakfasts and reheats great...

Grace's Johnnie Cake

3 c cornmeal
1 c flour
1 t salt
1/2 c sugar
1 t soda
2 eggs beaten
1 1/2-2 c buttermilk (sour milk works in a pinch, but buttermilk is WAY better)
2 t melted margarine

Mix dry ingredients. Add beaten eggs and enough buttermilk to make a smooth dough. Add melted margarine last. Mix well. Bake in a loaf pan @ 325 for 50-60 minutes (until a toothpick/knife comes out clean).
Let it cool out of the pan for 5 minutes. Slice 1 cm thick slices and serve with syrup and some bacon.

Heaven in a cake...

Mmmm Meatbuns

Back in college my roommate's mom would send her meatbuns in care packages...yummy little mennonite buns with meat baked into them. I spent time once I had a kitchen of my own working out my own perfect version of meat buns...there was (of course) cheese involved, and some spice added to the meat.
I like milk bread as the bun dough. I make a TRIPLE BATCH of the following recipe for 1 loaf of milk bread (It's a bit of work so I make a whole bunch (~5 dozen) as these freeze well):
Dissolve 2 1/4 t yeast in 3 T warm water for 5 minutes. Add:
-1 c skim milk, warmed in the microwave.
-5T melted butter
-3T sugar
-1 large egg
-1t salt

Mix well with mixer. Mix in 1 c whole wheat flour and 1 c white flour. Then add another 1 1/2-2 c flour until the dough is soft and sticky, using the dough hook on your mixer. Then knead the dough by hand for 8 minutes until it is soft and elastic. Place it in a BIG covered oiled bowl and let it double in size (~1.5 hours)

While the dough rises the first time, make the filling so it can cool.
Gouda cheese works well in these - it's not a greasy cheese. I cut a regular brick of cheese into ~0.7 cm cubes, and fry up 1 Lb of ground beef together with a few T of finely minced onion, seasoning it with garlic pepper sauce and taco seasoning...the low salt taco seasoning work well for this. Then this must cool to room temperature or the buns will have weird air pockets in them from rising strangely.


Once it's risen once, pound the dough down and divide it into 4 quarters. Each of these quarters can be flattened and cut into 16 pieces, 1 piece for every bun. Now you must make the buns by flattening the dough piece, and placing 1t of meat and 1 cube of cheese in the centre of it. Use your fingers to pull the dough around the filling and pinch it shut.

Place the buns finched side down into a greased cake pan. Continue until they are all done and cover them and let them rise about 1 hour. If you run out of meat or cheese, just improvise...

Then bake the pans of buns at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown.
Yum...
Like all baked goods, these are best frozen if they aren't to be eaten within a few days. They warm up quickly in the oven or microwave for a great quick lunch or snack.

Exotic Rice

I am sure some culture somewhere is doing something very similar, but I must plead ignorance as to which one it might be. I bought fragrant jasmine rice recently to vary up my consumption (which is typically brown) and have been experimenting. Most recently I took my french press, removed the filter and filled it with cold water and added one stick of cinnamon bark, two...um...pieces, slices ..errr, things of star anise and some cloves to it. I let that sit for two days in the fridge and cooked my rice in it. It doesn't overpower the rice but adds a very subtle flavour and aroma to it. It is also good drinking.

- Magnus