Is it French/Danish/Swiss or Mediteranean, or both, a really yummy sandwich

Hey All,

I had no intention of cooking tonight. It was supposed to be come home, call Domino's, sleep, and be done with it.

Then I remembered I needed to pick up my blood pressure meds at Smith's. I figured I'd look and see if I got inspired. Well, that was a mistake, or not depending on how you look at it. First up were roma tomatoes for $0.69/lb...WTF? Tomatoes are never that cheap....well I guess its a good thing I need some for the mussels and shrimp scampi on Thursday. Next up was alfalfa sprouts on clearance for $0.79. I'll need to eat them by weeks' end, so I guess I'll just have to have a salad or two. Then I found grapes for $0.99/lb. Grapes are always a source of contention in our house, as they always seem very expensive, $0.99/lb is when I give in and let the Husbear have as much as he wants. So, now the brain gets going, it is kinda spring, although the foot of snow outside sure could have fooled me. Hrm, pizza, grapes....ah ha! My favorite grilled chicken pizza. I'll post that one another day when I get a chance. Its basically chicken and onions grilled tossed with halved grapes on an oiled pita with Parmesan over the top.

Well, tee hee, fighting with Parmesan just led me to discover my computer thinks I'm speaking Australian English....not good 'ol hillbilly English...well, I fixed that. So anyway, the rest of the shopping was disappointing. I couldn't find pitas, but I did find these on sale for $2.50:

This actually all reminded me I have a great herbed grilled flat-bread recipe I need to share with ya'll when I get a chance, too. But back to tonight....

So I cut some chicken up, and some onions.

About a tablespoon of olive oil heated in a skillet till it was good and hot. In went the chicken and onions. Salt, pepper, and then the secret to great chicken for this....LOTS of dried thyme. See the picture, see what I mean?

Once that cooked down, I turned off the heat and added about 1/4 cup of the blue cream cheese I started about a week ago. And yes, its turning beautifully. Its only got a single mold spot, but the flavor is OMG! And for good measure a bit of the blue cheese and cranberries I picked up at NPS. It was another ridiculous score, something like $0.99 for the tub.

So stir that up. Its ready to serve now, or you can let it cool. It will thicken back up as it cools and the cheese flavor actually intensifies a bit if you let it cool. Can you imagine this on a croissant on a picnic? I'm getting springy food ideas already.

So the rest is pretty straightforward...oh, the hardest part of this dish, cutting all those damn grapes in half. So here's the pictures of it going together.

So it is a bit lighter....so we did it with chips and probably a snack later. I hope you enjoy!

Dinner for 2, 10 minutes, $3.27, and some leftovers

Hey All,

Another wild update. Earlier today, I found 3/4 cup of couscous in the back of the pantry. While he was out and about (yeah, he's feeling tons better), Husbear found a 6-pack of pork steaks for $4 at Smith's. I guess its some sort of crazy sale. Although if you know how to shop, you can do quite well there too. Watch for clearance....I always score killer on produce this way.

So here we go. We took 2 of the pork steaks, rubbed them with 2 drops of lime essential oil (the usual disclaimer here about cooking with essential oils, know your oils, a little goes a long way, etc) in about 2 Tblsp. of cooking oil. Then a light sprinkle of chili salt that we picked up at Global Supermarket. We always find the yummiest, and most exotic spices there at an excellent price. Needless to say our spice rack is quite full. Apparently its supposed to go on fruit, but it goes really well on pork too! And then a sprinkle of garlic powder. That set for a few minutes.

Couscous is super easy. If you can remember 2 parts water to one part couscous, that's all you need. I always like to play up the flavor of couscous, so I added some old herb mix I've been dragging around in a small container for next to FOREVER, a few splashes of garlic wine vinegar, and a small can of mushrooms (stems and pieces). Couscous, is easy, bring the water (and a good dose of salt, and in this case vinegar) to a full rolling boil. Add the couscous and herbs, give a quick stir, turn off the heat....and WALK AWAY! It'll be ready when you are.

The beans were the usual. Into my trusty pyrex bowl with a lid, press the veggie button on the microwave.

The result: amazing pork...I was going to put some of the chili sauce from the ribs a while back, but I tasted it and said, "Oh heyall, no! I'm eating this as it is!" The couscous was perfect, and well, its hard to screw up the beans when the microwave does all the work for ya.

So, the amazing price point of this dish?

Pork - $4 for 6 steaks, used 2, so $1.33
Can of mushrooms (generic, of course) - $0.69
Green beans from a massive bulk pack from Costco - $0.50 (I do about the same at NPS)
Couscous, bought in bulk for ~$1.20/lb - $0.75
The usual pantry items, so add a couple more pennies.

And there are leftovers of couscous and beans. YAY! I know its silly, but I do love seeing how awesome my food budget it :)

California Roll Omelette, no really....

Hey All,

What the heck is it with craving foods lately at Chez 825? We have been craving just about everything, some of it nice and healthy and reasonably explained that we're needing something, and some of it is downright bad.....I fail to recognize Twinkies or full-fat Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream in huge quantities as healthy. .

Another great thing that has happened in the past while has been my switch to (K)Ubuntu. Even MacroShaft in its infinite wisdom of new OS after new OS has failed to properly support my old CD-Mavica camera in PTP (some fancy proprietary Sony file transfer thingy), but Viola! Ubuntu/Kubuntu does. Fair warning if you decide to switch some of it is pretty intense and requires a bit of CS knowledge. It took me a bit of hunting and coding to get my network functionality right, but hey, I have a fully functional laptop now :) So today, you all get pictures of how I did this :)

This is definitely a variation on yesterdays' natto omelette, sans the stinky weird stuff ;P

First up was the prep. I thawed out some of the prepared seafood salad I picked up at NPS a while back. This one, for as extravagant as it looks, is actually quite budget friendly if the ingredients are shopped for correctly.  I imagine you could use good old imitation crab, or crab stick or the like with good result. Cut up some green onion, and cut some nori (you know, sushi wrapper) into strips. I also prepared some wasabi creme friache. I'm still not sure how to spell that properly, but it was 2 Tblsp. of room temp sour cream with 2 pea sized lumps of wasabi mixed in.

Gently wisk 2 of the eggs just until they start to get big bubbles.  I learned from Ina Garten yesterday that overmixing the eggs, so that they puff, makes for a crummy omelette.  And she was totally right, these turned out great with eggs not mixed too much.


Next, heat some oil, maybe a tablespoon to medium high.  Lay down the nori strips in parallell.  This is kind of important as the nori doesn't cut so well and will make for a very messy plate if there aren't nice lines to cut on.

Now in go the eggs.  I had to rotate the pan just a bit to get all the nori covered.

Now in goes the crab.  Lay it out perpendicular to the nori strips.  Then a bit of the green onion.

Now for the "tricky part" according to many folks.  Fold the eggs over the crab/onion.

Let that cook to warm everything through and get the perfect golden on the omelette.  You may want to flip it once if you are a stickler for perfect color on all surfaces.


Then roll it onto the plate and top with the wasabi cream and a smattering of green onion.

This was the perfect dish this morning for having craved seaweed all weekend.  And it was quick and easy!


So just a quick rundown of how this works on a budget for 2:


Prepared crab salad from NPS:  $0.50 (and I only used half)
4 eggs:  $1.89 for 18.  The advertised estimate is $0.15/egg, so let's call it $0.60.
1 sheet of Nori:  I paid $1.49 for 10 sheets at my favorite Asian market:  $0.15
Green Onion:  I paid $0.20 for the bunch at NPS this week and this is meal #3 coming from them, so let's call it $0.10
The wasabi was actually leftover from the sushi last night, and the sour cream, well, its been in the fridge for a week.  So I'm not going to count that or the oil.


ESTIMATED GRAND TOTAL:  $1.45 for an awesome breakfast for 2!

I think I'm turning Japanese....

Hey All,

So husbear is well recovering from surgery. It went smoothly and he's in a lot less pain than he was before the surgery. YAY! And I'm happy to report my impression of Carpal Tunnel Release surgery is dramatically improved. It was quick, out-patient, and he's going great! We've been gorging on lots of easy, junky food. Today, I'm craving seaweed, so apparently, its time for something a bit healthier. He's craving meat, a sign that he's recovering and needs the protein.

So here's the plan. We're having Evergreen House for lunch. He's also been craving mushroom stem and broccoli, which in turn has me craving sweet and sour soybean. Evergreen's food is just amazing....the mushroom stem is always a big hit, and we always snag a bag to bring home for making stroganoff.

Tonight, I was initially thinking about making natto omelettes. I know many of you are going, "Eww, gross, natto is nasty!" Well, for me, mixing it in a well seasoned rice, or making these omelettes is a great way to get its purported health benefits. Of course, consume what you make, that shit gets stinky gross after it sits for a day or more. I'll be stopping by Global Supermarket to get the furikake seasoning and some nori....I'll be a happy kid tonight!

So we'll do those, some take out from Hayai Zushi, which in case you didn't know, is owned by Peggy of Ichibahn fame. I'm sad to report, I haven't been to Ichibahn since she left. The food quality has gone to hell and the place lost its charm...

Add to that a good petit filet and we've got ourselves an awesome dinner :) This one isn't as budget friendly, the omelettes, yes, but the filets and sushi are not as budget friendly.

And here's how it turned out: I forgot to salt my omelette, whoops, but husbear's was perfect for him. Oh and had some leftover asparagus that I wrapped in foil with a splash of garlic wine vinegar and threw on the grill. Husbear was giving me a bad time that Anne Burrell might be reading, so I best plate well. Its a bit messy, but it still tasted good! So I took a picture. PERFECTION!

A Diversion...I didn't cook tonight, as a matter of face, a cold gyro is waiting for me

So today finds me in an odd place. I found out this morning that my high school science teacher died. He was truly influential in my life. I mean cummon, would I have set myself on a track to be a nuclear physicist had it not been for him?

This also sent me down a path of looking at the people, living and dead, that have influenced my life. I often get so caught up in the fighting and turmoil that is life that I forget to breathe.....and then I have to think. Who really inspired me.

There was, of course, Kell Hamilton, my science teacher. And there is my Grandfather, without them, I doubt I would have pursued a life of science. And then there is my Aunt A. I still hold her in highest regard. I mean the woman is brilliant and knows how to have a good time too boot.

So I look back to that. One person who came up in my look at that was Mrs. Lockyer. She taught us music from the time I was little. Granted, my own jealousy drove me to take up piano, but without that influence, would I enjoy things like Utah Symphony. And Ms. Schwarz/McDonald....she did teach us art at a young age.

Life seems like a blur much after 4th grade.....with little exception beyond food, science, speech and debate, music, and fighting like hell to get ahead.

Today was another crushing reminder that life is precious....and fleeting. It got me thinking about my legacy...what will I leave behind when this mortal coil is shed? My name hasn't been on a marquee, my career leaves me asking more questions than finding answers...... I suspect it will be a weird mishmash of cyber litter, broken hearts, and weird memories. Maybe its not what goes in the books, but how we helped shape what goes into those books.

Its been a long while....and I'm tired, so this is pretty much psycho babble at this point, but I had to get it out there. I had to say something about this wonderful man's passing and the influence he had on my life.

Thank You Mr. Hamilton, and all those unsung heroes.....

Sausage and Peppers

Hey All,

So here's another great one for a busy weeknight. Tonight wasn't so much busy as it was stressed out. It was a miserable afternoon, furnaces trying to melt down, people with poor impulse control saying whatever the fuck they want, and an overwhelming feeling of "Shit, that sure sucked balls, I don't wanna cook!"

So of course, its my boys to the rescue....yes, I've taken to referring to my husbear and bro as "My boys". That's right bitches, they're my boys, I'll only share with their family!

This recipe, or whatever it is, its more of a throw it in a skillet type affair, comes from a long history in husbear's family. The first time I had this, his Dad prepared it for us over spaghetti squash....oh yeah, total yum. We do it over spaghetti here, but the effect is still delicious.

Cut up 6 small peppers of assorted colors. Also 1/2 to 1 sweet onion. I've done it with yellow, but I think white or sweet work better.

So get some oil going in a skillet. Cut up 2 packages of hot links sausage (or good hot Italian sausage) and give them a toss. Next in with the peppers and onions. Add a good dollop of prepared pesto (you know the stuff in the jar) give a stir, and let it all sweat together.

Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash and TA DA! A good crusty bread is a nice touch, but not 100% necessary.

So there you have it. Another easy one for those "fuck this" kind of days.

So its kinda gross, but I'm trying anyway....

Hey All,

So this is not about the normal cooking I do. Its about one of my passions, cheesemaking. Cheesemaking is not for the faint of heart. It has been fraught with challenges and "learning experiences". Curd handling alone took me a good eternity to master. Although these days, I can turn out a good mozarella from gallon of milk to pound of cheese in about an hour :) Yeah, I had to toot my own horn there!

So I'm attempting a blue bondon, or blue cream cheese, I'm not sure which it will be yet, that part will depend on what the next 24 hours bring in the way of keeping the house warm.

Once upon a time, I had a bagle with just butter on it....but I didn't realize it, my butter had molded and was the most delicious treat I'd had in a long time. The thought of a blue molded cream cheese or bondon has me drooling.

I can't find a good link for Bondon as I know it. My experiences with bondon are that it is a very mild cream cheese that melts and spreads more like butter than cream cheese, with a flavor like butter but creamier. Everything I'm reading is talking about molding it like brie and this and the other...my bondon is not that complicated, its just a lower temp cream cheese that doesn't get the acidic bite.

So here's how its done....really it is this easy, so I'm always looking for killer deals on cream ($0.20 per half pint at NPS last week is a case in point). Place 1 qt of heavy cream in a bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup mesophilic cheese culture.....mine has been going for a few years now and smells horrible, but it never fails! Cover and let that sit for 24 hours on the counter. At 24 hours at room temperature, it should be congealed and ready to strain. Strain in cheesecloth...and viola.

For the blued version, I added a few blue cheese crumbled and stirred a bit more than usual to get the mold spores mixed all around. Tomorrow, I'll poke holes in it, and give it another 24 hours before I strain it. I'll see how it looks/tastes/feels....if its super soft, I'll have to put it in the fridge, if it tastes super acidic, it'll go in the fridge. If not, I'll leave it on the counter indefinitely to get the mold going. Occasionally poking holes in it to get good marbling.