Aye, That’s The Rub!

The other day in the supermarket we stumbled upon a really good sale for steaks and so were obliged to bring some home, of course. We fired up the grill and rubbed them with a concoction that a friend of ours had put together and bottled as a gift: dehydrated onion, salt, chili poweder, cumin, and black pepper. They came out wonderfully, medium rare with just enough spice to add flavor but not to overpower the meat itself. To round out the meal we had organic apple sauce and some home-made steak fries. Just one of those meals where everything comes together perfectly. (Sorry – no photos this time!)
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Pasta Pants

Today I realized that I had unofficially adopted a certain pair of pants as ‘pasta pants’. They’re a light grey heathered sweatpant-type of pants. And how did this come about? Because making homemade pasta while you’re wearing dark or black pants is just an invitation to disaster. There’s just way too much flour flying around during the process. Even wearing an apron doesn’t do it 100%. And while my pasta pants may still have flour-y spots all over after the fettucine is done and drying on the rack, I’ll never, ever know for sure. Ignorance IS bliss!

Wild Harvest Hamburger

Just wanted to pop in and mention the delicious organic (grass fed, I think too) hamburger we got (on sale!) the other day, from ‘Wild Harvest’. It came in one of those square vacuum-sealed packages and made the most delicious hamburgers – it’s amazing the difference between regular old grocery store meat and this kind. I’d go on, but really, it was just a really tasty burger – more… er… tasteful… than regular meat too. Anyway – highly recommended. And maybe next time there’s a sale we’ll get a little exotic and try Wild Harvest’s square of ‘bison’ meat. Bison! Go figure.

Maximum Deflection Cereal

I think I might have found the breakfast cereal with the highest amount of liquid deflective capabilities – Safeway Organics Brand Oat Bran Flakes. And by that I mean, when I poured the milk into the bowl of cereal, it went EVERYWHERE, all at once. Not just a singular deflected stream – more like a beam of laser light getting broken into a million rays. *grin*

Whole Wheat Noodles

John and I had some whole wheat flour and decided to try an experiment – making homemade whole wheat noodles. The dough worked up like regular white flour noodles, although in comparison it was more like the texture of a brown paper bag than, say, smooth white printer paper. We boiled them, and then fried them in butter (to eat them with leftover sausages). The noodles that got significantly browned ended up tasting like crackers, and the noodles that were softer, were just as bland, and a bit grainy (although that wasn’t unexpected.) I can safely say we WON’T be making these again, but I feel good that we try to make new things every so often even if they don’t work out. This site is called food FOLLIES for a reason – LOL!

Italian Burritos


I had planned on making a form of Chile’ Verde today using chicken instead of pork. I had picked up two cans of tomatillo sauce which I knew would be somewhat spicy, but upon tasting just a little the world suddenly went dark and small cartoon devils were lighting my eyebrows on fire.

When I came to, I decided that this sauce was a little too spicy for us, so I looked for something to smoothen it a little. We had an open jar of Prego Roasted Garlic & Parmesian and a jar of mild salsa, so I combined them and added about 2 ounces of the Mexican Green Sauce. That was enough to give the mixture a potent kick.

I added the sauce to some chicken thigh meat and onions I had fried earlier and mixed it all together. Next I added a can of black beans for a little more umph. You could taste the distinctive taste of Prego, but overall the combination worked.

We had four large burrito shells so I folded in the mixture burrito style rather than the traditional enchilada roll. Then I slathered the remaining Prego on the burritos as well as on the bottom of the baking pan. I covered the burritos liberally with shredded Monterey Jack and baked it for about 40 minutes.

The final product looked and smelled very Italian, like giant manacotti. Especially since the burritos were buried in sauce and cheese. The insides tasted distinctly Mexican, thanks to the salsa and green sauce.

One of these days I’m going to buy some tomatillos and make my own green sauce. When I do, you can look forward to an official recipe being posted here.

Three Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Sorry that there have been so few posts here recently! Thought I’d make up for it with a short story about luxurious excess! An excess of cheese, that is. Namely, we made three-cheese grilled cheese sandwiches today – Tillamook medium cheddar, Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp White Cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheese, to be specific. These three cheese flavor blended really well and oozed with just the right amount of meltiness (is that a word?).

Speaking of cheese, those of you with a penchant for puns and a love of cheese who haven’t seen the new Wallace & Gromit movie yet should definitely make some time for that soon! *grin*

Spinach Quiche

Last week we got some eggs on sale, 5 dozen eggs that is. That’s a lot of eggs for 2 people to eat. So far we’ve had scrambled, omelets and now one of my favorites: Quiche.

Quiche is one of those versatile foods you can add almost any ingredients too. Bacon, ham or even turkey or chicken can be used, Swiss, Cheddar, Monterey Jack or even Jarlsberg will due, but try to balance the saltiness of your meat to the strength of the cheese. Bland meats should use stronger cheeses and vice versa.

For veggies, I’ve used spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, peppers and carrots, depending what I had on hand. I prefer to have softer vegetables in my quiches, so I’ll usually steam them before adding them to the mix. If you like the crunchy texture though, feel free to add them in raw.

Below is the quiche we had tonight, a basic spinach quiche which came out absolutely perfect. As the weeks go on and we need to use those eggs, don’t be surprised if I post a more adventurous recipe.

Spinach Quiche

6 eggs (5 if eggs are extra large)
1/2 Cup Milk
4oz Spinach Leaves (or 2oz frozen)
1/2 Medium Onion
1/4 lb grated Medium Cheddar
3oz Ham, diced, or bacon crumbled

Pie Crust

1 cup Crisco
2 1/4 Cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Cold Water
(or used pre-made pie crust only need one of them for bottom of quiche.)

Makes 9 inch crust.

Begin pie crust by mixing Crisco, Flour and Salt together until it all looks crumbly, then slowly add water until you’ve got a nice malleable dough. Mold dough into a ball and roll out onto a lightly floured surface. Lay carefully into a pie plate and sculpt edges, the dough should be easy to work with. Set aside.

Next, finely chop onion and add with spinach into a vegetable steamer. (Note, if you like crunchy raw tasting onion you can leave it out of the steamer). Steam veggies for about 10 minutes, until spinach is fully cooked. Remove spinach from steamer and chop. If you’re using frozen spinach, just defrost. Can also saute onions in a pan instead.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and milk until smooth, then add cheese, ham/bacon, onion, and spinach. Mix everything thoroughly and then pour into the pie crust. Place in oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 30-45 minutes. Quiche is done when toothpick comes out of the center dry. Will probably settle a little as it cools.

Paicines BBQ

Deer season started around here a short time ago, and we were invited to a barbecue being held by some of the visiting hunters. We were expecting hotdogs and hamburgers, lots of beer and not much else. I made a macaroni salad and we even wondered if they would have paper plates to serve it on.

I realized how completely wrong we were about two minutes in when one of our hosts asked if we’d like some homemade wine. They grow the grapes themselves and then take them somewhere in Monterey to be processed. We had an excellent Chardonnay, which packed about twice the punch of a regular store bought wine.

The food started off with Kielbasa made from wild boar. Some of the Kielbasa had jalapenos and cheese baked on, which is apparently the way everyone around here likes it.

Next, we had Albacore tuna, freshly caught from Monterey Bay marinated in a chili sauce, and served over a green salad. By this point, I had eaten the equivalent of a normal dinner, which was more than usual lately, in the insane 110 degree heat we had been experiencing most of the summer.

The main courses consisted of Salmon (also freshly caught), Tri Tip steak, chicken, corn on the cob and huge bowls of beans. We left pleasntly stuffed, and I wondered how our hosts would have the strength to get up and go hunting the next morning.

When the weekend was over, they gave us another bottle of homemade wine, which we are saving for a special occasion.

Meatball Heroes

For the first time in several weeks, we finally had a break in the 100+ degree weather out here. Cooking has been out of the question, we’ve been living on sandwiches, salads, hotdogs, and hard boiled eggs.

We decided to celebrate with Meatball Heroes, a delicacy that can be found in any Brooklyn Pizza Parlor, but remains a complete mystery to the denziens of California. So for those of you who have never experienced this bit of meaty, cheesy, deliciousness.

You’ll need:

1 loaf Italian/French bread (good and crusty)
1/2 lb mozzeralla cheese shredded
16oz Marinara sauce
Lots of Meatballs

Basic Italian Meatballs Recipe

2lbs Ground Beef
2 Eggs
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tbsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Thyme

Preheat oven to 350F (You can fry meatballs as well, but I find that searing, which is great for hamburgers, makes meatballs too bitter.)
Place the meat in a mixing bowl and add the eggs and spices, mix thoroughly and then roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter.

Place the meatballs on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 min to 1hr, until they are no longer pink in the center. This is the end of the meatballs recipe, now, back to the ‘Heroes’ part!

Next cut the bread to whatever size you can eat without exploding. Slice the bread most of the way through but keep the bottom edge of the crust together. Cut the meatballs in half and layer them on the sandwich. Next, add sauce, slathering evenly over the meatballs. Sprinkle (ok dump) the mozzarella cheese on top and tightly wrap the entire sandwich in aluminum foil. If you feel like you’re wrestling an alligator then you’re doing it right. 🙂

Bake the sandwiches at 400F for 30 minutes. Then remove carefully, the cheese should be completely melted and the outer edge of the crust should be hot and crispy. (Note: it’s ok to lick cheese off the foil) and dive in! If you have fresh Parmesian or Romano they’ll make an excellent addition as well.

Another good option is to use Italian Sausage. Slice the sausages into coins after cooking them and layer them on the sandwich like you did with the meatballs.

This recipe should make 3 large heroes.