Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Chopped Pork Sandwiches for Senior Lunch.

I want to start off with thanking all the great volunteers who help me out every week.  From the prep to the final clean up, they are awesome, fantastic and very much appreciated. 

We made some Chopped Pork Sandwiches with Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes and Coleslaw for the meal this past week. 

We also set out plates with pickles and onions so our guests could 'doctor' up their own sandwiches. 

It wasn't a fancy meal by any means, but it did taste good.     

I have to confess something here. 

I love having a huge kitchen to cook in.  There is nothing like miles of counter space to clutter up with all my prep work.

And to be honest, by the time my volunteers showed up, I had already rinsed and washed most of the dishes.  

But I did leave them some work to do.    There were the desserts to portion out. 
And on the menu for this week...

Turkey, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.    And I think there might even be a quick pickle in there as well. 


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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Corned Beef for Senior Lunch

I do love cooking for a crowd.

OK, I know it's a little warped.   And I probably don't know enough to be scared of cooking for a bunch of people.

What I do know is, I can take my own home recipes, and make them so they taste good even when I make a lot.

I made some Corned Beef and Cabbage in honor of St. Paddy's Day a couple of weeks ago and people really liked it.

Most had never tried Corned Beef my way before and were very happy to eat it.

First off...

I simmered the Corned Beef for a couple of hours in some water with the pickling spices.  I pulled the beef out, (all 50 pounds), placed them in two deep pans, slathered them with some of my 'special sauce'.  I also put a little of the corned liquid in with them, covered with foil, and baked for another couple of hours.  I then removed the foil and let them brown a little so that the 'special sauce' glazed a little.


We chopped up 8 heads of cabbage.  
Beef in the pan, ready to be glazed with sauce. 




 Special Sauce.   Equal amounts of brown sugar and yellow mustard.   









We did cook the potatoes, carrots and cabbage in the reserved liquid.  But because I was doing so much, I was able to cook each of the veggies separately.
And of course  I had to make some Soda Bread.
We also had lots of dessert.
All in all,  a great meal.

Ummm, did I mention I started cooking this meal at 5 am?   I did.   Only way to get the Corned Beef tender and flavourful in time to eat at noon. 

I did go home and take a nap BTW when I was done.    And as usual, had some great volunteers helping along the way, along with a very generous donation of strawberries and pineapple bites for the dessert table.




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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Asian Meatballs


Asian Style Meatballs
I just never know exactly what I'm going to make for Tapas most months.   I'll pick up random items at the grocery store, think, hmm, this looks interesting, I wonder what if?  And then I'll promptly forget the what if?.

I did that a couple of weeks ago.  I picked up a pound of ground pork, more or less because it's hard to find plain ground pork and decided I would make some kind of meatballs with it.   Actually I was going to make my fall back Frikadeller.

I mean, I can make those blind folded and in my sleep.

Maybe not in my sleep, I have enough trouble navigating the stove when I'm awake sometimes.

So...

Where am I meandering with this?  

And then I thought I'd do something fun with the ground pork, and decided that maybe Albondigas would be fun to make and a little different.  I knew no reason they couldn't be made with ground pork.

Then it happened.   I was given a bottle of Satay Sauce as prize while playing Trivia at a local restaurant.
I had to make something that would showcase the sauce.  I love Satay sauce, just don't care for the chicken skewers it's usually served with.

I decided to make an Asian style meatball and found a recipe here.   And then promptly changed it up a little

Recipe:   Asian Style Meatballs                            Yield about 36 meatballs

1 1/4 lb. ground pork
1/2 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup water
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 medium carrot, finely grated
1 small onion, finely minced
1 egg

    
Sorry, had to take the picture of my sprouting garlic.

Time to plant some outside I guess.   I have uses for those green shoots when they get a little bit bigger.
Once they grow up some, they're called Scapes and are totally delicious. 
In the food blender, add the oats, garlic and cilantro, process until the oats are broken up and almost meal-like.

Add the carrot, onion, breadcrumbs and meat and using the mixer attachment on the food process, process just til combined.  Add the egg and water and pulse together a half dozen times, just until combined. 
Then take a scoop and make little meatballs.

Place them on a parchment covered baking sheet and place in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes.


Then forget to take a picture of them on the sheet pan after they're all nicely baked.

Although next time I make these, I will turn them over halfway through the cooking time.  Just cause I like them to be browned all around. 
Asian Style Meatballs

Serve with some Satay Sauce and stand back while your guests (or you) devour them.











I was pleasantly surprised by just how light and tender these meatballs were.   
Ingredients
500g trim mince – pork, chicken or beef
1/2 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
½ cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
1 medium carrot, grated
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon curry powder or red curry paste
To garnish:  fresh coriander, chopped - See more at: http://eatlosewin.com/2012/06/thai-meat-balls-with-satay-sauce/#sthash.zRp1OAS2.dpuf
500g trim mince – pork, chicken or beef
1/2 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
½ cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
1 medium carrot, grated
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon curry powder or red curry paste
To garnish:  fresh coriander, chopped - See more at: http://eatlosewin.com/2012/06/thai-meat-balls-with-satay-sauce/#sthash.zRp1OAS2.dpuf
500g trim mince – pork, chicken or beef
1/2 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
½ cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
1 medium carrot, grated
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon curry powder or red curry paste
To garnish:  fresh coriander, chopped - See more at: http://eatlosewin.com/2012/06/thai-meat-balls-with-satay-sauce/#sthash.zRp1OAS2.dpuf

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Sunday, March 22, 2015

Tapas for March

I'm trying to determine if I need breakfast today.    I sampled so many of the dishes last night, I'm still full this morning.  

I tasted them all, OK!

There was so much food last night and as usual, it was all good.

BTW, it  was our monthly Tapas get-together and while there wasn't as much of a crowd as usual, the food was topnotch.

Of course it usually is.   We have some incredible cooks in this area and they are more than generous with their offerings.

A lovely snacking quartet.  Hummus, tuna, various Corn chips and some nice crispy celery and cucumbers.  
 Pasta Salad.   I'm such a sucker for them. 

I don't make Pasta Salad for myself, cause I would eat the whole thing, and not even be sorry.

Until I stepped on the scale the next day....
 Baked Brie in a bread ring.   Doesn't it look lovely?  And it tasted so good.   There were actually two of them, and they were enjoyed. 
 Home made Lox.   Or as we say in Danish, gravlax.    I don't know if I should admit this or not, but I sampled several.   Leon makes some fun dishes.

Don't tell anyone, K?
 Yummy baked Chicken Drumsticks.   Next to wings, my favourite part of the chicken.  And these were delectably tender. 
 I love seeing what Harriet comes up with.   These were Corn fritters with bean and guacamole topping.  Really good.   And suitable for our vegetarian guests as well.
Kathleen brought a yummy asparagus carrot bake.   She also brought her pineapple which I neglected to get a picture of.   
These were really good.
 And then there was this bowl of guacamole.  
It was tasty as well.
 And some baked Sea Bass.  Which was tasty.
 I love dilly beans...

Lovely, spicy dilly beans. 

Did you know you can coat them in batter, deep fry them and they're even better?

I'm wicked, I know.
 Tempeh in Barbeque Sauce.  I hadn't had any for a long time, not one of the items that is sold in our local store.  Had forgotten how much I like it.











I'm not a food snob, I can go from a healthy tasty dish right to something a little more decadent like Bacon Wrapped Duck.    

That's not a problem for me at all. 

We had some last month as well, and OMG these were just as good.
 I made some Pita Crisps with Za'atar  and served them along with a commercial hummus dip.    I've made these before for NPA, but will also make them for myself for a light lunch from time to time as well. 










I also put together some Asian Style Meatballs and served them with some Satay Sauce.     I will share the recipe for them later on.   Cause they are something I will make again and again.
 I made some of my No-Knead bread cause it's usually a popular item.

Our guests ate it all. 

Good thing I made two loaves and kept one aside for us. 

Otherwise we wouldn't have had a chance to taste it.
Just for fun, I put out some grapes, cheese and crackers. 

You never can tell, some people just want to nosh.











And now for the desserts...


Donna made Cream Puffs, and it didn't take long for them to disappear.  

I managed to snag one.  

I'm told some people had one for an appetizer and then one for a dessert.

But I'm not naming names...
 Chocolate Cream Pie,
 Luscious Chocolate Cake.
 Home Made Chocolate Chip Cookies.  

I noticed they were popular as well.
Brownies...













Wait a minute, with the exception of the Cream Puffs, it was a chocolate kind of night.  


Well, that's it for me, I need to go wash some wine glasses, ponder on the wonderful conversations I had with our guests and then take a long, long, long walk.
I need to walk off some calories...

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Boat Club for March

If you read this blog regularly, you may have noticed I didn't post anything about our monthly Boat Club potluck last week.

I had a good excuse, I had family visiting and we didn't attend.   

But...

A good friend did go and was gracious enough to say 'Sure, I'll take pictures of the food for you" and then proceeded to do so. 

So, here they are. 

I was also told that the food was as usual, outstanding and fun.

 Meatballs in Gravy...

 This looked like a Quinoa salad
 Cabbage
 Casserole
 Deviled Eggs
 Sauteed veggies
 Corn succotash
 Dip with crackers













Okra
 And now for the desserts...
















Looks like I missed another great Potluck... 
But Tapas is coming up and I'm almost ready for it.

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