Oh! You Cook!

Found the original version of this recipe at Epicurious.  I changed the recipe slightly (but you know me already, I always do :) ).  It does not really need a long bath in the marinade, so you can come home from work and toss everything in a freezer bag (you will be tempted to use a food storage bag, but they tend to be thinner and more likely to spring a leak from when you accidentally jab it with a sharp bone edge).  The time it takes for you to change into something more sloppy comfortable is enough.

Start up the rice, preheat the broiler, then (TIP ALERT!) rip off some aluminum foil about 1 1/2 times the length of your rimmed baking sheet.  Wad up the foil loosely, then carefully unwad, leaving all those hills and valleys for the grease to collect in, then lay the meat gently (don't wanna squash those hills!) on the baking sheet.  Check out the photos on the top and bottom of this post.  See all the yucky burnt marinade?  You'll thank me later when you don't have to s…

Today was a very nice cool day.  I am most appreciative of that fact, because the previous days were mad hot here, no breezes, and of course my air conditioner was broken.  As in "that part that costs almost as much as a whole new unit" broke.  So we are in the process of interviewing installers and comparing apples and oranges to see what central air product will be installed by which pro.  Hopefully a decision will be made soon and mucho dollars will be shoveled into the installer's truck transferred over in exchange for cool dry air.

But just in case the temperature starts to rise again, I need a nice cool recipe to make and share.  This particular nice cool recipe is from Fast & Festive meals for the Jewish Holidays by Marlene Sorosky (1997).   It comes together relatively quickly (of course, duh, otherwise it would have been in a book called Slow Ungapatch Meals).  Warning:  this recipe makes a ton, so it is a great item for large families or a Hadassah Paid-Up …

So I didn't get to make the Spinach Sauce that I promised myself  I was gonna make.  It seems that -- silly me -- I forgot to buy the creamed spinach when I headed over to the local Try 'N Save to fill my cart with all the stuff I used up prior to Passover.

But I did find a wayward can of of diced tomatoes hiding out in the basement.  Since it was 150F in my house due to the air conditioner that didn't (for a change I'm not even pregnant like I used to be every time the durned thing would go, don't ask), I streamlined the recipe a bit by omitting the garlic saute as well as the onions completely.  It turned out to be very good.  Even youngerSon who, when we ran out before he could have seconds, opened a jar of readymade, tasted it and decided that the home-made stuff was better.  But to be fair (and humble), pretty much any homemade sauce is better than the best jarred stuff.

To speed up the process even further, instead of pulling off leaves from the tiny basil pl…

Tuesday evening marks the end of Passover.  That calls for a chometz recipe!

I hinted at this recipe in a previous post about Pancakes, of all things.   It's also from Whole Foods for the Whole Family (1981), where it is known as "Green Spaghetti."  I used to really depend alot on this cookbook.  Each recipe was provided by La Leche League moms, and most of them (the recipes, not the moms) can be whipped up in no time at all while holding a baby or toddler on your hip.  That was quite important when my kids were little.  I had to carry them around so much I thought they'd never learn to walk.  But I digress ...

Anyway, the name given in The Book is rather a misnomer:  it's not the spaghetti itself that's green, but the sauce dumped upon it.  Which is why I present it here under a more accurate and descriptive title.

My 3 kids grew up on the stuff.  I guess if you start 'em early, they'll eat anything.  They still request it today, and two of them are …

We are coming to what feels like day 147 of Passover, and so I really needed to make something that didn't have matzoh anywhere near the ingredients list.  This recipe is courtesy of my mother-in-law, who got this recipe courtesy of Divine Kosher Cuisine: Catering to Family and Friends (1996).  There is no chometz, so it can be served during Passover as well as all year round, although for all year round I might consider adding some ditalini or elbow macaroni.

Except for all the chopping, it's a quick parve and vegan recipe.   I started with the chopping around 5pm (well planning here), and served it around 6:15pm.  Someone with more chopping expertise could definitely shave a good 15 minutes off the prep time.















See those lids in the photo?  My MIL bought me a set of Kosher Keepers, which consists of about 1 million containers in about a thousand different sizes, 1/3 labeled meat, 1/3 dairy and 1/3 parve.  Since my 33 year-old KP Tupperware is a bit knocked-around, this gift is…