Pantry Raiding

Once again, I followed some of the advice that my grandma instilled in me. "When you are going away from home for more than a few days, make sure you empty the fridge and leave the home clean. That way when you get back, it all seems new." I went away for a few days so before I left, I made sure I didn't have any food in the fridge that would spoil, and I cleaned up the apartment.

After a 9 hour drive to get back, it was extremely comforting to hit the garage door opener, pull in, and enter a clean apartment, especially with Dozer. What I DIDN'T have on the day I got back, was a plan on what I would have for dinner. So, I engaged yet another thing that grandma instilled in me, "Always have a stock of food on hand, and use it to make a potluck meal." So, I raided the pantry.


As you can see, I took some frozen vegetables and steamed them. I took a can of tomato sauce, added a bunch of Italian herbs, and made a sauce. I made some noodles (grandma made me repeat the saying "I will ALWAYS have noodles in the pantry"). I also had a bag of frozen shrimp that I didn't use in my last making of jambalaya, so I sauteed them in my cast iron skillet.

Then, when they were all done cooking...I drained the noodles, and combined all of the ingredients in a bowl, and dove in. It was AMAZING!!!

This is a recipe that I will make more in the future, but on purpose...not just because I had to raid the pantry. My lesson about all of this is simple...keep the place clean if you are going to be away for a while (you will enjoy coming back again)...keep some stable items in your pantry, and don't be afraid to combine several of them all together into a potluck meal. There are several other pantry raid recipes on the Food & Stuff page above.

Yeah, grandma would be proud...

Cooking Oils

Image via Wikipedia

If you follow this blog, you will notice that I have made several entries about cooking and recipes (click to view them). But, it was to my dismay a few months ago, when my 2 decade old large cast iron skillet cracked and I had to get rid of it. I went out and replaced it with another one, and have begun again to properly season it. I had the first one just about "PERFECT" because my grandma taught me how to season cast iron skillets.

This entry is about doing some research about the oils used to cook or to season a cast iron skillet (or Dutch oven).  My grandma always instructed me to use peanut oil to season the cast iron before using it, and to apply a light layer to it after I had used, cleaned and was bout to store it, to keep it seasoned. She instructed me to keep olive oil and vegetable oil handy for use when cooking. Because I had to start the seasoning process with my new skillet, I got to thinking about how different cooking oils actually are. I found out a LOT about them...

To start with, I've always only used peanut oil to season my cast iron, never to cook in. I use olive oil for light frying or browning meat, and I use vegetable oil for heavier frying in a skillet or a touch of it in the wok. Oh, but when I make fried or scrambled eggs, I only use Olivio spread because it is butter made out of olive oil, so it combines two of my favorite things. I have only done that, because that is what grandma told me to do. But in looking at some data about oils, I might change my perspective about what I use.

Image via Wikipedia

The reason grandma always told me to use peanut oil to season my cast iron, is because as best summarized in what is shared by Wikipedia shares about Peanut Oil:

Peanut oil, also known as groundnut oil, is a mild tasting vegetable oil derived from peanuts.

Peanut oil is a common oil for frying foods, due to the high smoke point. The oil is used at Five Guys to cook their french fries.^[4] Chick-Fil-A also uses peanut oil, for frying chicken.^[5]

Using a mild tasting oil with a high smoke point means that "extra flavors" will not be added into what I'm cooking, but also it takes higher temps to get it to start smoking. Smoke point is the temperature that the oil reaches, before it starts to break down and emit a slight bluish smoke from your skillet or pot. And what causes that darn smoke detector to go off (how to silence that smoke detector when cooking is another blog entry). Now, back to the oil.

A chart borrowed from Wikipedia explains Smoke Point very well. I am going to restrict it to only include the oils I use. Soybean oil is predominately used to make what is labeled as "vegetable oil" (yeah, go read your label on your vegetable oil bottle).

Olive oil	Virgin	391°F	199°C[6]
Peanut oil	Refined	450°F	232°C[1]
Soybean oil	Semirefined	350°F	177°C

So, it made a lot more sense to me what grandma was always saying, what happened in the kitchen when she used different oils. Seasoning the skillet with peanut oil means that there isn't any transfer of flavor to what you are cooking, but it is requires a higher temperature to smoke than any of the other oils you might use when cooking.

Okay, one more point that needs to be explained here, is "what temperature on the stove knob should I use when cooking with oils?" Some more research online, and some physical testing with some oil and thermometers are based on MY electric stove knobs, that have the 10 settings shown at right. Gas stoves might be slightly different. To keep in mind, is that electric stove top burners are designed to heat between 200°F and 500°F. To calculate the settings for YOUR stove, remember that there are 300 degrees between 200 and 500. Count the number of marks you have on your knob, subtract 1, and divide 300 by that number. That will tell you how many degrees exist between the steps. Start with 200 on the LOW and calculate up from there. Since I have 10 settings on my knob, I subtract 1 to get 9 steps, and divide 300 by 9. So, starting at LOW on my knob as 200°F, I step up approximately 34 degrees (but I round to 35 just to keep the math easy in my mind), the following is an indicator about what the settings are on MY stove. I did the Celsius conversions for my chart by using this formula (°F - 32) x ⁵/₉ = °C (rounded to the nearest whole number).

LOW	200°F	93°C
SIMMER	235°F	113°C
2	270°F	132°C
3	305°F	152°C
4	340°F	171°C
MEDIUM	375°F	191°C
6	410°F	210°C
7	445°F	229°C
8	480°F	249°C
HIGH	500°F	260°C

Now, remember, they are APPROXIMATE. These are the kinds of things that you keep in your mind as mental references, they are NOT specific to your kitchen. Only YOU can figure out what your settings are by using oil in a pot, with a thermometer and writing the degrees next to your knob. Yes, you can also put your knob midway between two settings, but you'll have to figure out the approximate temp on your own (mine are approximately 17 degrees by doing that).

SO, WTF does that have to do with oil? Ummmm.... in case you didn't figure it out yet, look at the smoke point of each oil, and the setting of the knob that falls just short of making your skillet or pot smoke. While it is tempting to heat up that skillet fast, using too high of a temperature will set off your smoke alarm...trust me...I know what I am talking about, which is why I did this research. Keep the knob setting where it needs to be based on the oil that you are using, and slowly heat up the skillet for better success at cooking. If you need it fast, use an oil with a HIGHER smoke point or simply use the microwave.

I'm not going to go into the nutritional factors in comparing those oils, that may be ANOTHER blog entry (become a follower to be notified when it appears). But, as I mentioned earlier, I am reconsidering what oils I use for what. I will always use the peanut oil to season my skillets, but I might switch over to using it to cook in because of the smoke point and the nutritional factors that make it appealing. The only reason why I use vegetable/soybean oil is because it is cheaper. So, I guess it has it's own place in the kitchen, I just will buy smaller sizes of bottles of it.

Good luck...and happy skilletting...cook on...

Unstuffed Cabbage Soup

I can't say that I ever had stuffed cabbage rolls...if I did, I don't remember because my family never really used cabbage, except to make coleslaw, and we always had sauerkraut on New Years. But, I have heard a LOT of people talk about it, and they seemed to like it. So, when I came across a recipe on allrecipes.com, I decided to at least try it and make a pot full of what would taste like stuffed cabbage, but be a warm soup.

The recipe below was typed as I made it but I actually cut the amounts in half because I was making it for just me, like my grandmother always taught me, "recipes are nothing more than a good guideline...make it what you want, and with what you have..."

(cabbage boiled for 15 mins, patties about to be dropped in)

Unstuffed Cabbage
1/2 of a large head of cabbage
1 (12 oz) bottle chili sauce + 12 oz of water 
1 liter Schweppes Black Cherry ginger ale
1 lbs ground mild Italian sausage
Various herbs & spices (explained below)
1 egg

Salt and pepper to taste. Cut cabbage into 1-inch wide strips and put in a 5 quart stock pot or Dutch oven. Add ginger ale and chili sauce, cover, and bring to a boil. Cook 15 minutes.


Meanwhile, add Italian seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, and garlic pepper into meat. Amount depends on what you want it to taste like. Mix well with egg. Form into patties and add to the pot.

Simmer, covered 2 hours. Taste for seasoning and serve. Makes 8 servings.

It made the apartment smell FANTASTIC all afternoon while it simmered. I occasionally stirred it, and added some ground black pepper. And yes, I did use my instant thermometer to make sure that the patties reached 170F. So, overall, I liked it. I have enough of it left that I'll probably be eating it for a few days. A couple of neighbors caught the aroma when they were walking by and I had opened my door for a second, so they begged me to give them some of it.

I'm glad I used my Italian cooking background on seasoning this recipe, because I love the tastes...and I always keep grandma's quote in mind. So, I used what I had on hand. Hence the black cherry ginger ale, ground sausage, and herbs.

The only other thing that I think I'll do next time, is make them into small meatballs instead of patties. Though, the patties make a good sandwich if you use a slotted spoon to take them out of the pot, and wrap them in a tortilla, with a slice of muenster cheese....

Easy Peasy Soup

3 ingredients, 3 steps, 3 tips... similar to Easy Peasy Casserole for 3 because it has "PEAS" in it...

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup macaroni noodles (all I had left in the pantry)
• 1 boiled chicken breast cut to bite size cubes (from the fridge)
• 1 cup frozen peas

 Directions:

1. Bring 4 cups of water to boil, including a vegetable bouillon cube
2. Add chicken breast and peas to simmer for 20 minutes
3. Add macaroni to simmer for another 15 minutes

 Tips:
      ✔ If you pre-boil several chicken breasts (for 20 minutes), refer to these other recipes too: 
          Homemade Chicken Helper Casserole 
          Scrabble Soup
          Mish-Mash Casserole (thank you Elektra Q-Tion for the name)
          Apartment Style Chicken Breast.
      ✔ Gently stir the mixture once or twice during the simmering
      ✔ Serves 3 if you provide a side of fruit, a beverage, and dessert

Percolated Coffee

I'm a hippie in spirit, learned a LOT from my grandparents, and still make coffee the way they taught me. I use a percolator on the stove, and not a coffee maker like most people today do. Yeah, it takes a little longer to make, but it makes my apartment smell amazingly like grandma's kitchen did in the early hours of the morning, and the coffee tastes better, IMHO.

Percolated Coffee

I use a camping coffee pot, by Coleman. I started using the filters available at the local grocery store, but have discarded them and no longer use them, the ground container works better without a filter. I use cold tap water to fill the pot, and a store brand coffee for the flavor. Yeah, I could buy the fancy grinds of coffee, but I'm more about the taste & caffeine than about the "savoring" of a large mug of coffee. In my experience, I can get a better flavor of the coffee because I percolate it than I ever got by using a drip coffee maker. And it does put a smile on my face when I see the brown liquid in the little glass nipple on the top of the pot.

I don't use an egg white in the water, like my grandmother did. Though, I'm sure that would enhance the flavor even more. My tendency when making coffee in the morning, and cracking an egg, is to fry the egg up as part of breakfast. But, she always added the egg white into the pot while making coffee. I do still add a quarter cup of ice cold water to the pot when I take it off the burner, to settle the grounds, like she taught me.

Most often, I pour my mug and let it sit for about 15 minutes so it is just the right temperature to drink. I worked construction and got used to drinking room temperature coffee because we would often set our cup down, get to work, and get back to the cup when we could. So "hot" coffee isn't as enjoyable to me. Sometimes I'll just drop a couple of ice cubes into the cup so it reaches my preferred temp quicker.

Since I've been drinking coffee for nearly 30 years, my body "needs" the drug of caffeine. I get headaches if I don't have some each day. I don't drink as much as I used to, but I still need some each day. Doesn't matter if it is morning, afternoon, or evening. In fact, after a good dinner, I'd rather have coffee as a dessert than a piece of cake or pie.

Anyway...go have a cup o' Joe...

Scrabble Soup

I am hungry, but it is winter, so I want soup. I raided my pantry and the fridge and threw together this. I'll keep it simple to read, but it was awesome.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups water
• 1 Knorr's Vegetable Bouillon Cube
• 1/3 cup Nishiki Brown Rice
• 1 boneless, already cooked chicken breast, chopped to bite size
• 1 can mixed vegetables (drained, rinsed)

Directions:

1. Put all of the water, the bouillon cube, and rice in a 2 quart saucepan.
2. Bring to a soft boil, and then simmer for 40 minutes.
3. Add chicken bites, and simmer for 10 more minutes.
4. Add drained & rinsed can of mixed vegetables, and simmer another 10 minutes.
5. Put in a bowl, grab a spoon and enjoy.

It was actually filling, warm, and made my day...easy too...

WTF Chili Stew

Okay...so here's yet another post about a recipe I came up with by simply opening up the pantry door and the fridge, and looking at what I had available to "throw together" for some meals. I named it WTF Chili Stew because of how I chose the ingredients, and that it turned out to be like a "Stew" because of how liquid it was, but was more along the lines of a "Chili."

This picture shows you the ingredients that I had to use. I downsized the portions since I was only really cooking for one. But, that gave me enough WTF Chili Stew for two meals. So, it could be for two people as well. Just make sure you add a side of fruit, and a nutritious beverage.


INGREDIENTS:

Image via Wikipedia

• 1/4 cup brown rice
• Small can of Pork N Beans
• 10.5 can stewed tomatoes (undrained)
• 1/2 "log" of ground sausage (like the Bob Evans one)
• Old Bay Seasoning
• Italian Spices
• Bag of tortilla chips

 DIRECTIONS:

1. First, start the brown rice. That takes 50 minutes for the brand I use.
2. Place the Pork N Beans and stewed tomatoes in a 2 quart saucepan and simmer.
3. Slice sausage log into 1/4 slices and brown. Cut into bite sized pieces after browning.
4. Add sausage to the bean pot.
5. Sprinkle bean pot with Old Bay Seasoning and Italian Spices. Stir well and occasionally.
6. When rice is done, add it to the bean pot.
7. Add a little more Old Bay Seasoning, and stir well.
8. Let simmer another 15 minutes. 

While that was finishing the simmering, I had enough time to wash all of the other pans and utensils that I used, so that made nearly all of the dishes done before dinner was enjoyed. When the final simmering was done, I spooned it into a bowl, grab the last of the tortilla chips I had, and sat down to enjoy by scooping my "chili stew" with the chips...

All I can say, IMHO, is MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!! It was good...and I'll make it again...