Who knew we’d still be wearing masks and having to avoid each other. Hopefully everyone who has had to spend more time at home and less in person time has made use of Skype, Zoom, FaceTime and all those other modes of seeing and speaking to each other via the internet. And of course, there’s always the phone. Good books, sewing, cooking and too short a virtual job have kept me busy.
This month I’m not listing recipes in the usual manner, just telling of some moments of good food. I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Sometimes I just want to wing it in the kitchen. I get an idea in my head and develop it as I go along.
Living alone I don’t have to worry about someone making a “ugh face” or spitting it out. So, in a recent light bulb moment, here is what I made.
I had taken some thin pork cutlets (2) out of the freezer and had thought to make an applesauce to go with them. Then I got lazy and decided maybe I’d just sauté the apples in a little butter instead.
Hmm, maybe adding a sliced orange might be nice. My orange was a “Cara Cara” that’s pink inside and has a really nice flavor. I saved two pieces of peel that still had some fruit on it to use for a squeeze of juice.
I heated some butter in a sauté pan, threw in one sliced apple and cooked until softened. Then I added my orange slices (from one orange) and stirred it around. After about a minute or so, I thought to add some apple cider (about a 1/2 cup), then squeezed in the juice from the orange peels. Gave that a minute to blend and moved the fruit to the sides of the pan and placed the pork in the middle. I seasoned them with some smoked pecan salt (bought at a craft fair and SO delicious). After two minutes I turned them over and then wondered how a little sage might taste, so added about a 1/4 teaspoon, stirred everything around and cooked for another minute. Needing a little “green”’ in my meal I covered everything with fresh baby spinach and cooked for another minute so it was still bright green.
At this point I called it done and plated. I cannot begin to tell you how pleased I was with it. Had I taken the time, roasted red potatoes would have been a great accompaniment.
My sister-in-law is a great cook (her cookies, so good!!) and I am always getting new ideas from her.
Most recent was a clever way to get more protein in my diet. As I am a lover of avocado toast, my usual way to prepare it is to just smash some on toast. I have now learned that I can hard boil an egg and make ‘avocado egg salad’. Supremely easy. Take one hard-boiled egg, one avocado, a dash of dill and salt to taste. Mash it all together, spread on a piece of whole grain toast (or bread of your choice) and viola! Very healthy.
I eat a lot of chicken and sometimes get very bored preparing it the same old way. I was Christmas shopping with my sister and came across a jar of Stonewall Kitchen’s Lemon Tarragon Aioli, a delicious mixture of tarragon, garlic and lemons as the name suggests. I had it on roasted chicken and potatoes one night and thought (again, hmm…) it might be interesting to use as a dressing for cold chicken salad.
For lunch one day, I mixed cooked shredded chicken with chopped red pepper, sliced celery and toasted, roughly chopped pecans. I stirred in some of the aioli and served it on a bed of mixed greens. It was yummy – ate some chips along with it!
That’s it for this month – maybe you can write in and tell me of your creations.
Boating season is just around the corner -YEAH!!!
Have a good month and Happy St. Patty’s Day!!