Food, Glorious Food

I love to cook. It helps me to reach a state of peace* that I can't find other ways.** I'd stopped cooking very much since my surgeries this summer, but every time I did cook, I'd say "Ah! Why am I not doing this more?"

During some deep husband-wife conversations on our Thanksgiving drive, I told Husband that I wanted to cook more again, but that in order to do so, he needed to get home for dinner.*** He's not a big leftovers guy, even if he loved the meal the first time, so it's important that he be there for the actual meal. Let's just say that his side of things is still a work in progress, but I started my effort to cook more last week. I made something new Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday! Thursday was a leftover night and, honestly, on Friday I just scrounged through the fridge. But having cooked, I was in such a good mood those three days. Even the anticipation of cooking helped, I think.

I am aware of a couple of things in my favor here:

1) Husband has become open to trying new foods and preparations - he likes it when I'm a bit adventurous with dinner!

2) There are no little tykes clamoring for my attention or complaining as I grocery shop, cook, or eat. The whole situation would change drastically if I did, without a doubt.

Husband will sometimes brag to people that I'm a good cook, but my Pop-Pop likes to say "Any idiot can cook. All you have to do is read and follow directions." Yeah, Pop-Pop really has a way with words! :D

Last week's dinners were:

Monday: Salmon-Cakes with Orange-Fennel Slaw
When I had this as leftovers at lunch, a co-worker at my lunch table recounted how her mom used to make salmon-cakes for six people from canned salmon every Friday. She was very intrigued by my use of fresh fish (it was kind of sad to do that to a salmon fillet, I'll be honest) and by the slaw, which was maybe the second time I've ever used fennel.

Tuesday: Pan-fried Pork Loin Strips with Mushrooms, Mashed Turnips, and Green Beans
There was a "value pack" of pork loin at the store, score! My dad grew turnips in his garden for the first time this year, so I took three home with me from Thanksgiving. I don't know that I've eaten turnips before, so it was kind of fun, even though this is when the vegetable peeler accident took place. Mashed turnips are more watery than mashed potatoes, but a little sweeter. About the green beans, I'll just say frozen veggies = a gift from God. Oh, and I was able to steam them over the pot where I was boiling the turnips. I am aware that home cooks have probably done that sort of thing for millenia, making double use of one flame and pot of water, but it was a first for me, and I was psyched!

Wednesday: Pork Stir-fry with Bok Choy
This was the meal that disappointed me a little bit, but I suppose that it was exactly what its name says it will be. I used a fun grain mix instead of rice, because why not, right?


The main recipes for all of these meals came from two of my favorite cookbooks, Healthy in a Hurry: Simple, Wholesome Recipes for Every Meal of the Day and Cooking for Two: Efficient and Delicious Meals, the latter of which is tragically out of print (so let me know if you want the pan-fried pork loin with mushrooms recipe, or any of the others for that matter). For the mashed turnips, I used a recipe from AllRecipes.com.

I am very excited for this week's meals. There will be several new adventures in cooking, because Dad also sent me home with pumpkins that his neighbor at the farm grew. Savory stuffed pumpkins and pumpkin soup, what?!

-January

*Exceptions would be when I cut myself, as I did with the vegetable peeler this week.

**Praying the rosary is the only other thing that comes to mind. Maybe its that with both cooking and praying the rosary, there is a prescribed formula that you must follow, and it takes enough time that it really clears your head.

***We both work an hour from home, and our commutes are horrendous if you leave before 6pm, so dinner is usually pretty late.

The Recipe I Should Have Shared!

Look at that! My last post was supposed to be about my MIL’s birthday weekend, and instead, I started whining. I am going to do my best to stop that, friends. First, by sharing the awesome recipe that impressed everyone at the birthday dinner. It’s so easy, and it makes you look brilliant.

What you need:
Chicken breasts (I cut min in half long ways, so the portion size was a little more delicate)
Salt
Pepper
Phyllo dough
Melted butter or cooking spray (like Pam)
Spreadable herbed goat cheese (I used the 4oz. Chavrie logs)

It was originally a recipe that called for puff pastry, but I bought phyllo dough instead. You take chicken breast halves, season well with salt and pepper, and brown on both sides in a sauté pan. Put those in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before you’re ready to cook with them. I did this part the day before and it saved a lot of time on the big night. The chicken will cook the rest of the way in the oven, so you don’t want them to be cooked through just yet.

Set your oven to 400 degrees. Take out the defrosted phyllo dough. Put down one sheet and brush with a little bit of melted butter or spritz with a tiny bit of non-stick spray. Put down a second sheet of phyllo on top of that. Take a pat of the goat cheese and smear it down the middle of the phyllo. I used my fingers, and sort of mushed bits of it down where I wanted it, because the phyllo tore pretty easily. Put a chicken breast half over the goat cheese, then roll up the phyllo. I brushed another little bit ofmelted butter on the ends to help them stay folded under the chicken breast.

Put all the chicken packets on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil and bake in the oven for about 35-40 min! Serve and impress the socks off your in-laws, including the one who thought she wouldn’t like goat cheese.

Disclaimer: this is the version of the recipe that I ended up cooking, but you can find the original on allrecipes dot com. It's called herbed chicken in pastry.

-January

The Season of Soup

Fall has finally arrived, and while I’ll miss summer, as soon as the temperature dropped, I knew what I was excited about: soup! I love making soup. Last year was the first time I ever made soup. Crazy, right? It’s so easy. But soup is one of those things that had never occurred to me to make. My mom is a wonderful cook, and all of the soup in our house came from cans. I really had no idea that it was so easy to do, but now that I’ve started making homemade soup, I can’t go back. When I have soup from a can these days, the saltiness is overwhelming. And how long has that soup actually been in that can? I shudder to think.

Last weekend, I went to my local cookbook store (that’s right, my nearest bookstore is solely dedicated to cookbooks—it’s a dangerous place for me), and selected a book of soups and sides to take me through this winter. The first soup I made was Butternut Squash Roasted Pear with a Chocolate Drizzle; the side was Chocolate Biscotti. What?! you say. You read that right, chocolate. How could I say no to an adventure like that?

It turns out that the soup itself was pretty easy, and the biscotti were the hard part. And I know you’re wondering what it tasted like. Well, I won’t say that chocolate is what butternut squash soup has been missing all my life, but it was pretty good! And the melted swirls of chocolate in the orange soup were pretty, so I’ll probably make it again, maybe for a dinner party. The biscotti may or may not be invited.

—January