Keep cool this summer by stocking your freezer with make ahead ice cubes

Here is a recipe roundup for make-ahead ice cubes to keep your summer chill. Save time and refrigerator space by making flavored ice cubes to add to recipes, drinks and more.

Kerekes Bake Deco has Silicon Ice Cream Molds that are on sale for 20% off, which would make these DIY flavored ice cubes a fun project.

Green blocks of goodness

Make "Meatless Monday" even easier with Amanda Cohen’s Secret-Weapon Stir-Fry Sauce. This sauce is made with cilantro, parsley, Thai basil, garlic and ginger - or what ever is in your veggie drawer!

Kitchn's freezer friendly tips for making stock

Get cooking lessons from Kitchn - who shows you how to make basic chicken stock and vegetable stock; which you can keep in your freezer to use later.

Infused ice cube ideas

Martha Stewart infuses ice cubes with fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers to enhance your water and help keep you hydrated throughout the summer.  Here are recipes for Cucumber-Basil Puree, Orange-Lime Mix and Lemonade-Raspberry Cubes.

The Right Cup is a company that is selling flavored cups, really! This goal is to help people drink more water and stay hydrated. The Right Cup™ was founded in May 2015 by a small group of people who came together with one common goal: to create and distribute an innovative product that could truly make a difference in people’s lives throughout the world.  Interesting, check them out.

From freezer to table

Fine Cooking shows you how to make pesto ice cubes and offers ideas on how to use them from tossing with hot pasta to using as a topping for grilled meats.

Here is another tip from Martha

Most recipes use only a small portion of tomato paste and the rest goes to waste. Martha shows you how to freeze and then slice up the paste into smaller portions, brilliant!

Instant cocktail cubes (just add booze)

Supercall keeps making drinks easy! Here are great recipes to for make ahead flavored ice cubes to add to White Russians, Sazerac or Negroni for (almost) instant deconstructed cocktails.

Have fun this summer and stay cool.  Send me your ideas on how to make flavored ice cubes to save time and money.

Here is a fun site to check out:
Make something that means something at Craftsy.com

I inherited cast-iron skillets, what do I do now?

Hello dear readers!

Well, it was my birthday last week and my mother sent me two of her beautiful cast-iron pans that have been in our family for years.  This gift was pre-arranged and discussed (I mentioned that I wanted them).  I patiently waited to see what this "surprise" would be.  Would the cast-iron skillets need to be restored? Will I ruin them?  What meals do I remember my mom making in them?  What should I make in them?

I was so excited that I must have mentioned that I was getting these pans to everyone I met. 

And the people I talked to had stories to tell: from having them ruined by helpful guests who zealously cleaned the pans with soap, to just forgetting about them - only to find them later rusty and ruined, to searching for pans in vintage stores to try and restore them back to their former beauty.

The pans that my mom sent me are beautifully seasoned.  Their patina are perfectly black.  I suspect, knowing my mom, that she probably dressed them up a bit prior to sending them to me, but perhaps not.

Given that my mom was a busy working woman her whole life, I somewhat expected a disaster to arrive in the mail. I expected to need to restore them and not be able to use them right away. Since these are in such good condition the restoration project has been diverted.  Thanks, Mom!

They arrived perfectly seasoned and ready to go.  Now what?  A bit of fear ran through my body.  Most of my cooking experience is with using woks, sheet pans and my Le Creuset Dutch ovens. What do I do now?

I texted my mom - so what do I make with these?  She quickly texted me back several ideas.  I have to admit, I am a little nervous having these heirlooms.

There are online-only classes you can take from Craftsy to teach you cooking tips and more, please take a look at Craftsy. 

Part of the fun of receiving an heirloom cast-iron skillet is to try and look up its history and learn where it might be from. 

Most likely my mom’s skillet on the right was made in the 1960’s or shortly thereafter.  It clearly shows that it was made in the USA. The 1960s was about the time when the there were new trade requirements for manufacturers to identify the country of origin on their pieces.

According to this article, if a pan has one or more notches in the heat ring, it is likely a vintage Lodge.

My kitchen is small and my townhouse has an open loft style.  The smoke alarm is too close to where my stove is and our exhaust system is just what is attached to the microwave hung above the range.  

I have been begging my husband to just remove the microwave (we never use it) so we can put in a hood exhaust system; because when I cook, I like to get things hot and sometimes smoke happens. 

My husband has made some comments about these pans: "So should we expect the smoke alarm to be going off when you use those skillets?" or "Should I be ready and waiting to shut the alarms off?" (Just ignore him! He means well and supports my numerous projects!)

So what to cook? 

Epicurious warns what not to cook, which is pretty much anything with acid.  No tomatoes, no vinegar, nothing sweet (although one of the ladies I discussed skillets with told me she that has two: one for sweet recipes and one for savory, which I thought was a pretty good idea) and nothing too delicate, like a flaky white fish.

There is nothing delicate about these pans!  They are heavy.  When I was asking people about their stories and memories about cast-iron pans and skillets, I heard many colorful, funny and sometimes alarming examples of what not to do with these pans.  Some of these stories didn't involve cooking!

My first attempt to cook with these pans will be simple pan-seared filet mignon, with a side dish using my mini Le Creuset cocottes.  I will toss a salad in my new wooden salad bowl that I bought for my birthday last weekend while we were in Sonoma, Ca.

These days, I am cooking for just two, but one of my daughters will be home soon from college for the summer.  I think she has some meals on her wish list. 

If you are interested in shopping for your next heirloom cast-iron pans to pass on you your future generations, try Milo or  Kerekes kitchen & Restaurant Supplies. 

I will update this blog with the results! Stay tuned and please share your family stories with me. 

One-Pot-Meal: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a simple meat and rice dish from Louisiana.  

Earlier this month, my husband and I flew to New Orleans for the weekend.  We happened to catch the beginning of the Carnival season that officially started on January 6 and continues through Fat Tuesday - marking the last day of the season.

New Orleans is a pleasure-loving city with famed common dishes that are heavily influenced by Spanish and French cuisines.  To put you in the mood for Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), I am sharing my modified version of the classic dish: Jambalaya.

To keep this dish easy, you can use store bought stock.  Since it was the weekend, and I had some extra time, I used a technique I learned from Chef Paul Prudhomme's book "Fork In the Road." 

This cookbook is one of the books I inherited from my mother, and was originally published in 1993.

Chef Prudhomme is a Lousiana chef - known for using fresh ingredients and serving upscale Cajun and Creole dishes.

I used Chef Prudhomme's technique to defat stock by capturing the fat solids with ice. 

I had some frozen stock that I made from our smoked Thanksgiving turkey.  I defrosted my stock in the refrigerator the night before and then I packed a mesh strainer with ice and carefully poured the stock over the ice.

This technique removed a lot of the extra fat and solids from my stock and made my stock rich and clear.

I concentrated my stock by slow cooking it on high heat to reduce it down to about a third of its original size.

The stock made from my smoked turkey gave me the smoky taste I wanted.

Next, I chopped up my vegetables, which included the "holy trinity" - a combination of onion, celery and bell pepper.  This mixture is considered to be a building block for many dishes from Louisiana.

The "holy trinity" is the Cajun and Louisiana Creole version of mirepoix.  Traditional mirepoix is onions, carrots and celery.  The "holy trinity" replaces the carrots with green bell pepper.

Along with my green vegetables, I added some red bell pepper to give my dish more color.

One ingredient that you may notice is missing from my recipe is tomatoes.  I chose to go with more of a Cajun-style version of Jambalaya.

The difference between Cajun Jambalaya and Creole Jambalaya are said to be the use of tomatoes.

Since Creoles tend to be more from the city and Cajuns are more from the country - the thought is that Cajuns might not have had access to tomatoes, making their version of the dish is more brown than red.

If you want to add tomatoes - you may want to reduce the amount of stock or add a few minutes to the cooking time for the rice.

The package of Cajun spice that I bought in New Orleans was approximately 3 tablespoons - the perfect size for this recipe.

While we were in New Orleans, I picked up a Cajun Spice Blend package from The Spice & Tea Exchange on Saint Louis Street.

You could mix your own spice blend by making Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning recipe.

If you do mix your own - be sure to save some to make Jean's Healthy Seafood Soup.  Jean lived in New Orleans for many years, and her recipe is very tasty and healthy and captures the soul of Louisiana cooking.

Zatarain's company is based in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

In New Orleans, there are many cooking shops - where I was able to buy some Zatarain's long grain rice.  This size bag is approximately 3 cups - which is what you need for this recipe.

Cured meats add a smokey flavor to the dish.

In my local grocery store, the pre-cooked meats are found in the freezer section next to the beer.  I was able to find some cajun style andouille from Aidells; along with some linguisa (Portuguese style) sausage.

To make this dish more healthy, you could replace the cured meats with shrimp.

If you have a good quality Dutch Oven - you will be pleased to see how the enamel releases the burned spots.

Another technique I read from Chef Prudhomme's book is the scrape and clear technique.  This technique requires you to push your tolerance for what you may think is near burning to what is actually caramelizing in the pan.  

The idea is that divide up your ingredients (two thirds of your chopped onions and bell peppers and a half of your spice blend and cured meats) and cook them to difference levels of "doneness" to vary the taste and texture to create more flavor out of the same ingredients.

You can use this technique while still using one pot.  For about 10-12 minutes, just brown your divided ingredients until the crust seems in danger of burning and then scrape the bottom of the pan to clear all the brown bits and repeat.

Cooking in one pot is easy and there is less to clean up.

After you are done browning your first batch of ingredients, you throw your remaining ingredients into the pot to create a layered look. Then the pot goes directly into your pre-heated oven with equal parts of rice and broth. 

Cook till the rice is done and the liquid is absorbed. 

Finish the rice in the oven. This also reduces the temptation to peek and let the steam out! 

Yield: 8-10 main-dish servingsAuthor: Tara Verburg

Tara's One-Pot-Meal: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

prep time: 15 MINScook time: 1 hour and 30 MINStotal time: 1 hours and 45 mins

This one-pot-meal is tasty enough for a Sunday family dinner and simple enough to make on a weeknight - putting "The Big Easy" New Orleans lifestyle right in your own kitchen.

ingredients:

• 12 oz. smoked fully cooked sausage (such as linguiça), halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick semi-circles
• 12 oz. andouille sausages, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 large celery stalks, chopped
• 1 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup green bell pepper, diced
• 6-8 large skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 cups turkey broth
• 3 cups (19 to 20 ounces) long-grain white rice
• 8 green onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
• Chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 3 tablespoon of Cajun spice blend

instructions:

1. Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat oven to 350°F so your Dutch Oven or heavy pan can be placed inside to finish cooking the rice. 
2. Heat Dutch Oven over medium high heat on your stovetop. 
3. Add 2/3 of your chopped onion and bell peppers, celery and 3 bay leaves to the pan.
4. Add 1/2 of your Cajun spice blend and 1/2 of your cured meats to your pan.
5. Heat and scrape the bottom of the pot every couple minutes (using Chef Paul Prodhommes technique and until the crust seems in danger of burning) for approximately 10-12 minutes.
6. Stir in one cup of stock, scrape the bottom of the pot to clear it of all the brown bits and cook for 10 minutes more. 
7. Add the chicken and green onions
8. Add the remaining andouille, seasoning mix, white onions and peppers and stock.
9. Cook until outside of chicken turns white, stirring often, 5-6 minutes.
10. Mix in rice and bring jambalaya to boil. 
11. Cover pot. Place in oven and bake until rice is tender and liquids are absorbed, approximately 45 to 48 minutes.
12. Uncover pot. Mix chopped green onions into jambalaya; sprinkle jambalaya with chopped parsley and serve.
13. Add your favorite hot sauce - if desired.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Thanksgiving Make Ahead Recipe: Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

Thanksgiving is coming! I am up early on the Sunday morning before Thanksgiving. My philosophy and strategy regarding Thanksgiving is that it is fun when done in small doses. I try and make as much as I can ahead of time.


This morning, I am making Roasted Acorn Squash Soup.  My plan is to freeze the soup and then defrost it the night before Thanksgiving. The day of, I will throw it in a crockpot, which will allow me to have one more easy vegan dish, to make my vegan and health-conscious guests happy.

Yesterday, my mixed doubles tennis partner said: "If you live in Seattle, you have to know how to cook for vegans."  Another great option in Seattle is to order a vegan take-out for Thanksgiving dinner; which is what he and his wife are doing this year.

Since pureed soup is vegan, it is good soup to freeze and I may save some for myself to bring to work for lunch.

I sliced the acorn squash in half, using a serrated knife.  Then I added olive oil, Kosher salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

You can save the acorn squash seeds for a nutritious snack for your Thanksgiving guests. 

While the acorn squash was cooking, I rough chopped carrots, shallots, yellow and red onions and a granny smith apple. If you are in a rush, take the time to cut the carrots into smaller pieces.

I took all the scraps from the apples, carrots and onions and threw them into a stock pan to make basic vegetable broth. Since this is a Thanksgiving make ahead dish, I have time to make the broth while the acorns are roasting and cooling off.

Thanksgiving is a great time to make stock. I raided the refrigerator and gathered celery bottoms, leaves, more onion peels, and garlic peels.  I peeled extra carrots and prepped vegetables that have for other dishes I need to make this week.  I threw this "waste" in the stock pan to make vegetable broth.

For the soup, I sautéed the rough chopped items in dutch oven with some olive oil.  After everything was starting to look translucent, I added my spices and gave them extra time to toast.  It is starting to smell like Thanksgiving!

Since I don't have the broth ready yet, I added about a quarter cup of water to simmer on low for
about 5 mins and then covered the pan and turned off the heat.

After the squash has cooled and the broth was strained, I scooped out the flesh of the squash and added 3 1/2 cups broth to the dutch oven pot.

I let this cook for 20 minutes and then pureed the ingredients using my immersion blender. I skipped the step to add salt and pepper, because I will season this on Thanksgiving while this is being heated up in a crock pot.

Since the ingredients were mostly cool, I poured them in containers and put them in the freezer to be ready to go for Thanksgiving day.

Making this soup ahead of Thanksgiving is easy.  I modified this Roasted Acorn Squash Soup recipe from Lacey Baier's blog.

OMG! Take a breath! Ohm! Since writing this blog post on Sunday morning, my oven died - just 3 days before Thanksgiving.  At least the burners work!  I cannot bake or roast and we have guest coming.  The repair man is set to come out today.  I am so glad that I got one recipe done. Stay tuned and see how I adjust my plan for Thanksgiving to handle this - or if my oven can be repaired!

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My blog is about living in the Pacific Northwest.  Here is photo of my view this morning.

Laurie's Quick and Easy Spicy Stir-Fry Udon Noodles

My dear friend Laurie shared her stir-fry recipe for thick, chewy, satisfying and slurp-worthy Spicy Stir-Fry Udon Noodles. This is a versatile recipe that can be made for busy weeknights. The sauce is so easy to make, and you can use a variety of vegetables or meat in this stir-fry.

Where to buy Udon Noodles?
Most Asian specialty stores and health food stores sell Udon noodles.  If you live in an area that does not have as many options, you can purchase dried Udon noodles from Amazon.

We are lucky to live in the Seattle area, where we have many Asian and health food grocery stores to choose from.  The largest Asian grocery store in the Pacific Northwest, Uwajimaya, is a landmark here.

Uwajimaya opened in the Seattle area in 1928.  This store is a place for all things Asian and their mission is to educate customers on all aspects of Asian culture.  If you are visiting Seattle, this is a must go to place. Simply put: Uwajimaya is amazing.

There are oodles of noodle choices available at Uwajimaya.

Most of the ingredients were already in my pantry.  I use low sodium soy sauce and pre-chopped up garlic.  You can find Sambal Oelek in most Asian specialty stores.  It is a popular Indonesian sauce that was incorporated into many Dutch recipes, after the Dutch colonized Indonesia.

Soaking frozen udon noodles is a nice trick to keep them from sticking together.

If you are in a hurry, you could buy pre-chopped up vegetables.  I just quickly chopped my own.

Peanut oil has a high smoke point, which means it is less likely to burn while the temperature is turned up high.  It also adds a slight nutty taste.

Just stir-fry all your ingredients in a wok or a pan that you have.

This is such a great meal to be able to make.  Thank you Laurie for sharing.  Udon did it! Here is her recipes and let me know if you like it.

Yield: 4 ServingsAuthor: Laurie L.

Laurie's Quick and Easy Spicy Stir-Fry Udon Noodles

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 20 MINStotal time: 30 mins

This versatile recipe for thick, chewy, satisfying and slurp-worthy spicy udon noodles is a great weeknight choice that you can make with a variety of vegetables or proteins.

ingredients:

Stir-Fry

• 1 Tbsp olive, peanut or vegetable oil
• 4 chicken thighs, cubed (meat optional) or ¾ lb of ground pork
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced (match-sticked)
• 1 cup green onion
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 2 packages of fresh or frozen udon noodles. Note: If you are using frozen noodles, bring water to a boil and cook the noodle while you stir fry meat and veggies.
  

Sauce

• 1-2 tsp Sambal Oelek (or Asian Chili Garlic Sauce or Sriracha)
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
•  2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced

Garnish

• Sesame seeds 
• Additional sliced green onion
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro

instructions:

1. Prepare your vegetables and set aside. Mix up the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. If you like, you can fill a large bowl with hot tap water and add udon noodles to the bowl to soak, so they can be separated before adding to the wok. This isn't necessary though, as you can add fresh udon noodles directly from the package to the wok, if you prefer to skip this step.
2. In a large frying pan or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Cook the meat and then set aside while you cook veggies.  Add carrots and cook, stirring for a minute or so. Add onions and cook, stirring, until onions are soft and carrots are tender. Add green onion and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or so.
3. If soaking udon noodles, gently stir to loosen udon noodles and separate, then drain. Add drained noodles (or unsoaked fresh noodle to the wok and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or so. Add sauce and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring to combine well. Scatter baby spinach over the top and cook, stirring constantly, until the spinach is wilted.
4. Move stir fry to a bowl or plate and garnish with sesame seeds, additional sliced green onion and parsley or cilantro.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Quick and Easy Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetta alla Carbonara's origins does not come without controversy.

Spaghetti Carbonara is a simple dish that is quick and easy to make. It is working person's go-to dish. This is a dish that busy people have in their arsenal. This dish makes people happy.

It does not surprise me that my friend Cindy sent me this recipe. Cindy is a busy woman that knows how to get things done!

In a previous blog post, I asked my friends to send me recipes that meet the following criteria:

1. Tastes good 
2. Easy to make 
3. Approved by person who LOVES to cook

This recipe certainly follows the above criteria. Thank you, Cindy, for sharing.

Umami! That is why I think this simple dish tastes so good. Spaghetti Carbonara has a lot of umami, think: Parmesan cheese and bacon.  A few dashes of Tabasco adds another layer of umami. If you have not yet discovered umami, you can learn about the science behind umami here.

Wait, the bacon!

Did I mention this has bacon in it? That may be why you can't go wrong with this dish.

For busy folks who are short on time, you can put your oven on double-duty to roast the bacon while your pasta water is heating up. Grab a sheet pan with a silicon liner and add the bacon. Place the pan on the middle rack in the oven at 400 degrees and roast for about 18 mins - depending on how crispy you like your bacon.

The silicon liner is a must, if you don't want messy clean up.

Speak now, or forever hold your peas!

Whoops, Cindy's recipe does not call for peas! She certainly does not call for frozen peas! There is a heated discussion on Serious Eats, should there be peas in carbonara?

If you want to add peas, just blanch them in the hot water; before throwing in the pasta.

Sometimes, I am not good at following directions. I am not sure why I threw peas in this dish. Real carbonara aficionados would just not do this. Maybe I felt like I had to sneak in a vegetable? Or I like the contrast of the bright green color against the creamy noodles and bacon? Do I regret this? Maybe just a little.  Readers, please leave comments to let me know what you think.

Peas out, people!

Thank you, Cindy, for sending me this recipe.

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Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara plated with parsley on top.

Prep 10 ∙ Cook 15 ∙ Makes 4 ∙ Difficulty Easy

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb spaghetti
• 8 oz bacon, cooked and chopped into 1" slices
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup parmesan
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 or more dashes of Tabasco

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta to al dente according to package instructions
2. Whisk together eggs, cheese, cream and Tabasco
3. Drain pasta, leaving some water clinging
4. Working quickly, add egg mix and stir as hot pasta cooks egg
5. Add bacon, salt and pepper to taste

Jean's Healthy Seafood Soup

Last Friday, we woke up to snow! The chilly weather reminded me that my friend Jean sent me a recipe she made up called "Healthy Seafood Soup". She made this for her daughter, when she decided to become a pescetarian.

I made Jean's Healthy Seafood Soup.  Her recipe was easy to follow!

This chilly weather also affected our plans to visit the Walla Walla Wine Country for the Fall Release.  We wanted to enjoy some newly released wines and spend some time with friends.

Snow in early November? I am hoping my winter planter boxes hold up for a while!

According to Komo News, our local news channel, Mike Ehl, Director of Operations at Sea-Tac Airport said an unusual north wind blew out of the Fraser River Valley and made its way down to the Puget Sound region - which caused enough havoc at the Sea-Tac Airport to impact nearly 360 flights and cancel ours. This wind direction is typical on warm summer days, but not this time of year.

It was disappointing to have our weekend plans changed and not be able to get out of Seattle for a few days to enjoy the fall colors and visit our friends, Sarah and Jim, who had a great weekend planned for us.

What is with this weather?

Since Jean's recipe calls for a white fish, I checked The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® to see which fish I should use. This guide helps consumers and businesses choose seafood that is fished or farmed in ways that have less impact to our environment.

Alaska cod is listed as a "Best Choice".  The Seafood Watch is updated twice a year.  I read that our state's local fishing fleets may be affected by "The Blob", a large body of warm water that may be taking a toll on Alaska cod. I hope Alaska cod stays a best choice as it is tasty fish and very healthy.

With all this weird weather in the Pacific Northwest, it can be difficult to keep up with what is healthy to eat and what is healthy for our environment.

I called Gemini Fish Market - our local fish shop in Issaquah, Washington, and asked them if they had Alaskan Black Cod and what shrimp I should buy.  Not only did they made some great recommendations, they impressed me with their continued focus on sustainable seafood stocks that contribute both to healthier people and healthier oceans.

I made Jean's recipe with Alaska Black Cod and Louisiana White Gulf Shrimp.  Her recipe is very easy to follow.  I chopped up the onion and celery and made Emeril's Creole Seasoning Spice Mix. To make things easy, I used chopped garlic from a jar.

Everything is chopped up and ready to go!

This recipe was just for my husband and me, so I only used one Chinese Eggplant and divided the recipe in half.  The recipe calls for Japanese Eggplant, but Chinese Eggplant was in stock at the store - and I am not sure I know the difference.

If you do not currently use silicon baking mats, I highly recommend them. Below are before and after photos of the silicon sheet pan liners.  You can see how easy they are to clean up and you hardly have to wash the bulky sheet pan.  These liners make baking cookies, roasting vegetables or making a one sheet meal very easy.  After baking the eggplant, the skin was easily removed. I did a quick chop and moved them to a glass pan.

Here is a "before" photo of the silicon baking liner.

Here is an "after" photo, very little mess!

Jean's timing for how long to cook the shrimp and fish was spot on for the size of shrimp and fish that I had.  Her technique to keep the shrimp and fish under foil allowed the proteins to "rest" while I moved on to make the vegetable broth and orzo.

Let's talk about fish bones.  There were a lot of bones in the Alaskan Black Cod.  The important thing it to make sure you get them all out.  I tried to remove them before cooking the fish with pliers, but I would have really mangled up the fish.  What I did was remove the bones after the fish was cooked and before I dished it up for the soup. There is probably a better technique to remove fish bones - readers please do comment if you know one!

Cooking the shrimp and fish separately, allowed me to monitor the cooking times.

I grabbed my dutch oven, turned the stove on medium heat and added olive oil to the pan. I added the chopped celery and onion. Waiting to add garlic till after the celery and onions were soft, was a good trick and helped keep me from burning the garlic. I poured in the vegetable broth and started to make the orzo in a separate small soup pan.  The orzo could have easily been just cooked in the vegetable broth - as it is a pasta and cooks pretty fast.  If you are planning to have leftovers, I would keep the orzo separate so it doesn't get mushy the next day.

After the vegetable broth simmered, I ladled the broth in a bowl and piled on the shrimp, fish, eggplant, a handful spinach and topped it with cooked orzo and some diced scallions.

I definitely recommend this recipe as it tastes great! It was super easy to make and approved by a person who loves to cook!

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I liked just piling on the shrimp, fish, orzo, and spinach.  I also added some chopped scallions.

JEAN'S HEALTHY SEAFOOD SOUP

Note: This takes about 1 hour to complete, and according to Jean tastes even better the next day.

1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 small Japanese eggplants, cut in half
1/2 pound of halibut or other mild white fish, without skin
1 pound of wild American shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 T Cajun seasoning, such as Emeril's, recipe to follow
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2 stalks celery, 1/4" dice
1/2 red onion, 1/2" dice
2 T garlic, minced
1/2 bunch fresh spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place eggplant cut side down on baking sheet. Coat lightly with olive oil. Bake until skin is lightly charred, approximately 15 minutes. Cover with foil for 10 minutes, then peel and cut into 1/2" cubes. Place in glass dish.

Meantime, lightly oil both sides of fish and coat with Cajun seasoning. Heat 2 T olive oil in heavy saucepan. Add shrimp and cook until pink, turning once, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove to dish with eggplant and cover with foil to keep warm. Add 2 T olive oil and heat. Add fish and cook about 2 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. Remove and place in the dish with the shrimp and eggplant.

Add 4 T olive oil and heat. Add celery and onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes, taking care not to brown. Add vegetable broth and scrape bottom of pan to incorporate seasoning. Bring to low boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add shrimp, fish, eggplant and spinach, along with salt and pepper.

May serve alone or over orzo. If using orzo, add 1/2 cup orzo to simmering broth before adding shrimp, etc. cooking for 8 minutes.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning): 

2 1/2 T paprika
2 T salt
2 T garlic powder
1 T freshly ground black pepper
1 T onion powder
1 T cayenne pepper
1 T dried oregano
1 1/2 T dried thyme

Combine. Shake to mix. This can be kept in a jar and stored in the pantry.

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Friends, please send me your favorite recipes that:

1. Tastes good
2. Are easy to make
3. Approved by a person who loves to cook

Thank you, Jean, for sending me this recipe!


FYI, Since my last post, I have learned how to turn on comments! So please add comments and I will respond to them.

The Truth Is, I Love To Cook

For me, I like having fewer belongings and not having to clean up a bunch of stuff. My mother is just beginning to explore minimalism.

My mother spent her career working as nurse. She was a pretty busy lady who didn't have much time to cook. Now that my mother is retired, she is trying to simplify her life and hopes to downsize. Or at least get a handle on her belongings.

Through this process of trying to downsize, my mom keeps offering me her belongings. Sometimes this feels more like a threat, she says, "I am going to send you my Great Books of the Western World!"

My fear is coming home to a moving van ready to deliver The Great Books and a bunch of furniture that would take six hunky men to move. (Mom, if you are reading this - I don't want The Great Books -the men can stay! John, if you are reading this I am just joking!). Mom, please send the "The Great Books", A.K.A “The Great Conversation”, A.K.A. “A Bunch of Books” to Ethan!

Ethan is my college-aged nephew. I am sure Ethan's dorm mate in college would really appreciate (sarcasm) being able to stay in the comfort of their dorm (now filled with bulky books), and not having to take that walk uphill in the snow to the school library to read about Marxism and more.

How can we not appreciate our previous generation’s belongings? In order to avoid inheriting a bunch of heavy furniture and stuff that my mom should have gotten rid of a long time ago and to avoid hurting her feelings - I suggested that she send me some of her favorite cookbooks that she doesn't want anymore.

A few days later, UPS alerts me that they delivered a package to my doorstep. Several more days later, I finally get around to opening up the box.

One of the first books I pulled out of the box was The I Hate to Cook Book, written in 1960 by Peg Bracken. You can buy a used one on Amazon.

Instantly, I had memories of some not so fond of dinners that my mother made. For example: Tuna Noodle Casserole, a dish my sister still loves and makes it for her kids. Is this the book that taught her how to cook?

While glancing through another cookbook The Spice Cookbook, by Avennelle Day and Lillie Stuckey (1964), I found a note from mother's foster brother Jon. He had given her a cookbook for Christmas in 1964. He asked her if she was still planning to move to California.

My mother was living in a small midwest town, just graduated and was about  move to California. I started to fill with emotion and begun to understand how much history can be found in old family cookbooks and just how much about my mother's story was being told. I will have to explore that cookbook more later - as I heard the Coq au Vin recipe is really good. This time fond memories of my mother’s cooking were kindled. I loved her stir fry, and looked forward to it every time she made it.

In the introduction to The I Hate to Cook Book, Bracken says this book is not for women who like to cook. Her book focuses on recipes that are easy to make. In fact she says, "This book is for those of us who want to fold our big dishwater hands around a dry Martini instead of a white flounder, come the end of a long day."

Peg Bracken moved from Saint Louis, Missouri to Portland, Oregon to be a copywriter around the same time my mother moved from Missouri to California.

The New York Times reported that Peg Bracken had a passionate dislike of traditional womanly duty. They reported that in 2007 she died in her home in Portland, Oregon at 89. She was a northwest gal like me. RIP, Peg.

I can imagine Bracken lunching with the ladies, smoking cigarettes - and bitching about cooking and other housewife duties. This sounds a lot like my post-tennis practice gatherings where my friends whine over wine. During lunch, and likely a few too many daytime Martinis, Bracken suggested to her friends that they share their easy-to-make recipes. This eventually led to her writing her first cookbook.

In her cookbook, there are 30 recipes that her friends gave her - with the idea they would have about a month's worth of ideas for dinner.

Now, my friends, I am asking you to send me a recipe that follows almost the same criteria in Bracken's I Hate to Cook Book. I will publish the first thirty in this blog. This will prove the following:
That I have friends
That my friends care about me
That my friends are willing to share

Please send me your favorite recipes that meet the following criteria:
They all taste good
They are easy to make
Each has been approved by representative women person who hates LOVES to cook

Note: I modified Bracken's #3 criteria - since most my friends love to cook and I think our feelings around cooking has changed a lot for both men and women since the feminist era of the 60s and 70s.

The truth is, I love to cook - especially when I have time. In the meantime, I am going to wrap my hands around a dry Martini from "Famous New Orleans Drinks and how to mix 'em" (1957) and wait and see if anyone reads this blog, posts their favorite recipe, or just stops in to say "hi."