Something From Nothing ~ Week 17

If you love something.....RIP IT OUT OF THE GROUND, AND EAT IT!  Seriously though, my lovely arugula lettuce simply cannot take the heat, and is bolting and going to seed rapidly, see?

I have been enjoying it's nutty, unique flavor in salads all Spring long...but, alas....it is past it's useful production time frame. What to use all this arugula in? Snap! Pesto! So, in the house it comes in a giant bowl...

And many, many washings and rinsings later...here it is, ready to use.

I did want to add some basil of course, so I asked my lovely Kitchen Angels to help me pick some from the kitchen window plant...

They were happy to help.  I also got out the rest of a bag of walnuts, about a quarter cup of olive oil, salt and pepper, and three cloves of garlic...

Into the processor with everything but the olive oil....

A few quick pulses to turn it into a paste......

Then, I taste-tested it, and it needed more basil, and even more salt...

After blending with the olive oil, I scraped the mixture into a bowl...

And this, my friends, was when things first began to go horribly wrong.  I forgot the Parmesan!  No problem, I quickly grated some on top, and mixed it into the pesto....

Now was my chance to use a new, whole-grain pasta that I was dying to try.

When the pasta was cooked, I mixed it with about 4 Tablespoons of the pesto, a little of the starchy cooking water from the pasta, and about a half Tablespoon of butter, just to give the sauce some body, and mellow out the assertive nature of the arugula.  The results?

It.........was.......HORRIBLE! Yes, that's right - I'm admitting a dish of mine turned out badly.  Why? Well, because cooking is an experiment in flavor, and when something does not turn out right, you must find out why, to better your skills for the next time! The arugula was simply too bitter for pesto....next time I'm sticking with spinach or basil pesto.  Seriously, it was so bad I threw the whole batch out, and rinsed the pasta to be rescued, and used in something else.

What to do?  Well, obviously from the great pesto disaster, I was in need of some comfort. I cannot even remember the last time I made something "unworthy"! Then, it struck me, every kids' favorite comfort food - Mac and cheese!  After all, I had all of this in the house....

I had a bunch of tail-ends of cheddar, that were rapidly approaching their demise (corners getting hard, darker, you know the sort of thing), and the rest is simply butter, flour, salt & pepper, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, and milk. The two-two-two rule is in effect, so I melted 2 Tablespoons butter, and whisked in 2 Tablespoons flour....

Then when it became all incorporated.....I whisked in the two cups of milk..

I shredded all that glorious cheddar thusly...

Then got out some turkey bacon....(we are trying to eat healthier, here...have you SEEN what pork fat does to arteries?)...

Take your kitchen shears, and snip three slices in half...then sizzle away in a skillet with a little vegetable oil, as turkey bacon is very lean....and needs a little something to get it going...

Your milk mixture should be thickened by now, so whisk in your cheddar, about 1/4 teaspoon each cayenne pepper and dry mustard, and salt & pepper to taste....

 

 

You really cannot taste the cayenne and dry mustard in the final product....it's more of a background note.  Voila! You have a cheese sauce...

 

 

Now, as much as I advocate for less processed, more wholesome food, I am also a realist.....and have also had children. So yes, if you want to add a few drops of red food coloring to approximate the color of that horrendous mac and cheese in a box...go for it. I did it this time, only for this post. I will also state, just for the record, that I did not add the food coloring to my mac and cheese when my children were growing up....however, they had not gotten used to the unnatural glow of the macaroni and cheese from a box, either. Here is the sauce with approximately 3 drops of red food coloring added...

 

 

It definitely looks a little more orange....now, we assemble the dish. I placed the rescued pasta (from the un-tasty arugula pesto) into a bowl, and topped with some frozen peas. If your children are dead set against anything green, go ahead and leave them out. However, some kids actually do love the little "pop" of the frozen peas, and you are getting a vegetable in them! And of course, you can use elbow macaroni, or wagon wheels, or any other shape your children like...I just had to use the lovely whole grain spaghetti, so that it would not go to waste...

 

 

Then, break up your bacon-of-choice into manageable chunks, and toss it in there..

 

 

Now, pour over enough sauce to thoroughly mix in with the dish, and enjoy! My results?

 

 

Really, really good! AND I felt better about the whole arugula pesto disaster. So you see, that even expert-level, or gourmet cooks DO have the occasional dish that comes out all kinds of wrong....it can be turned into something quite good!

 

A note about the garden here in Pixie-land.  I cannot talk about my desire to grow corn without mentioning this story.....when Lovely Daughter S was a toddler, I would occasionally play a movie of combined cartoon features, to let her relax, and enable Mom to collapse in a corner um, prepare supper or do chores....and we happened to love this "Silly Symphony" from Disney in particular....click here to see what I mean...

 

I know, but it's just quirky enough to make us giggle still, all these years later. Of course, the morality lesson in the cartoon, is that you should be unselfish and giving of your time and energy....and not just when it is time to eat the corn! So, as I love fresh corn with a passion, I set aside two large blocks in the Pixie-Patch for planting.  The first block was planted a few weeks ago.....and this is what I got.

 

 

A few, ....very few corn seedlings. I think the seed I used was dated, and no longer viable...so, armed with a new, larger (more dangerous....since now I will plant the stuff everywhere) packet...

 

 

It was time for me to re-address the problem.  I made new furrows in the soil, carefully trying to avoid the corn that did sprout....

 

 

And painstakingly placed the seeds a good four inches apart....

 

 

Then, I covered each row with two inches of good, organic bagged soil....

 

 

 

We're going to be singing "Can you help me eat my corn" before you know it! I WILL conquer the corn patches this year! Oh, and in case you think it is all doom and gloom in Pixie-land today....get a load of how healthy the broccoli plants are...

 

 

What failure in the kitchen or garden did you turn into a victory?

 

Eat well, my friends, and stay tuned for a new "Something From Nothing" post....and, what I am clearly going to have to call....THE CORN REPORT! Love and kindness to all,

 

Pixie

ROAD TRIP!

Yes, even Pixies take vacations! I know, hard to believe....but true.  We had an amazing nine-day journey, during which we were able to visit FIVE different family groups....one of them TWICE! That would be Dear Daughter S - who had more than enough reason for the double visit. My girl is engaged! We had a great time with everyone, and are very glad to be home safely. The South was hot, humid, and....in my case, tasty.  First, a little visit to a certain "Queen of Southern Cooking". That's right, you'll never guess where we stopped for supper in quaint and charming Savannah, Georgia.

Yes, The Lady and Sons. Now, you know how I feel about certain "celebrity" restaurants.  The food is usually overpriced, the adjoining gift shops selling equally overpriced cookware, etc. It's just not my "thing" as it were.....I am all about one thing......the food.  Just for fun, though....here's Paula hawking radishes through the window...

Here's Paula and I before supper.....

Here's Bobby and Jaime having a quick pick-up game with Dear Husband and I...

And here are some shots from inside the restaurant...

Le menu...

And along one hallway...

OK, this is all tongue-in-cheek. The cardboard cutouts of Ms. Deen, and the mural of the basketball-playing sons are not fooling anyone, I'm sure. Let's get to the important stuff....the food. I ordered the Tilapia with crab butter, which came with jasmine rice, and a saute of asparagus and mushrooms...

It was very good. The crab butter made the dish. I do think the 17- dollar price tag was a little much, considering rice is inexpensive, as is tilapia, and the food cost for approximately 7 spears of asparagus and a few mushrooms were not enough to justify it, but hey, it's a "food celebrity" restaurant.  On to Dear Husbands' dish...the classic Southern specialty...Shrimp and Grits.

Now, if he had not ordered it....I was going to! The grits were creamy and done perfectly, the shrimp were tender and plentiful, the Tasso ham absolutely made the dish, and the sauce was good, too. They too, were pricey - costing more than my dish.....but in this case, quite worth the splurge.  I should mention that each meal came with a Southern style cornmeal hoe-cake with syrup, and a garlic/butter type biscuit.  All in all, a successful dining experience.  Other highlights included a lovely chicken arugula salad with lemon truffle vinaigrette - courtesy of the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale....I apologize for the picture quality...cel phones can be unreliable...

After such a long time of travel, eating more fast food, and concentrated foods than normal, I was totally craving something healthy on our way back up the East coast.  Thanks to the wonderful quickie mart on Shaw Air Force Base, in beautiful Sumter, South Carolina....I found THIS!

I know what you may be thinking.....it just cannot be that good! I mean, it's pre-packaged! Well, carefully unwrapped, and eaten with an Atlas as a place mat, I must tell you, it sure beat the tar out of any fast food place one could eat at while travelling!

It was delightful. 

What surprising and healthy food did you discover while travelling?

It was a wonderful journey filled with laughter and tears (all of them happy ones), good times and good tastes, but, I am very happy to be back in Pixie-Land because.......

That's right! The Pixie-Patch of plenty of pulchritudinous produce is, well, producing! Eat well, my friends, and stay tuned for some kid friendly recipes, a Something From Nothing involving prior pronounced Pixie-Patch, and a visit from those wonderful, weird gals, the Kitchen Angels.

Love and kindness to all,

Pixie

Something From Nothing ~ Week 16

While trying to use up what I had here in Pixie-land one day, I decided that grilling would be a wonderful way to do so.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas.....

This was our little April 23rd surprise! I was NOT amused. Now, faced with wanting something hearty, instead of a Spring barbecue - looked at the following beautiful bunch of collards from the fridge...

I knew I must use them soon....before they turned into a wilted mess, but what to make?  Well, if you remember when the Pixie kitchen was located in a certain, frigid locale (which I won't mention - to tell you the truth, I think I've blocked it), I was looking for something hearty, but healthy to make my Vegan friend, Happy Aly. I was looking at the lovely Susan V's vegan site, and decided to make these.  Now, back then, I just showed a picture of the final product. Today, I'll show you how simple, and easy this dish is to make!

First, we assemble our ingredients, of course....surprisingly, this dish calls for less than a dozen ingredients!  I know, I tend to overdo it, but I promise....I've got simpler, more kid-friendly recipes coming! On to the dish.

From far left - celery, the collard greens, rice, kidney beans, thyme, pepper, salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, grape tomatoes, garlic, onion, and bell pepper.

First, I set one cup of rice and two cups of water a-steaming, and forgot about it....easy enough, right?

Then, I prepped the leaves by cutting off some of the tough stem, and blanching them for a few minutes in some salted, boiling water. I deviate from the recipe here, because I don't blanch them one at a time, I just put them all into the boiling water, and let them go for about three minutes....like so,

Now, a little prep...oh, and I have been remiss....I also include a little liquid smoke, since I was using fresh grape tomatoes, vs. canned "fire roasted" ones, and some hot sauce, because, well, you know that's how I roll. :)

Clockwise, from left, about a half an onion, diced, chopped grape tomatoes, hot sauce, kidney beans, liquid smoke, the herbs & spices, the garlic, celery and bell pepper, all chopped. We lay out our blanched collard leaves, and begin to make the dish.

We saute' the onion in a little olive oil on med-low heat, until tender...

Then, get our chopped tomatoes into a bowl, to mix with some of the onion mixture....

When the onions have softened, and become translucent, we add our bell pepper and celery....after about ten minutes. Saute' this mixture for another five minutes...

Then, add in the chopped garlic. You want to add the garlic last, so that it does not burn and become bitter while you are cooking the rest of the vegetables...

Then, you take a few Tablespoons of this mixture, and toss it with your lovely chopped tomatoes.

Now, the fun part. We mix our rice (which has cooked by now, and is awaiting use), with the onion mixture and the kidney beans, in our skillet...

Now we build our little bundles of yum...we coat a baking dish with a little olive oil, and put some of the tomato mixture on the bottom...a little "raft" to support the rolls, if you will...

Then, we begin building our rolls. Spoon the rice mixture on to the leaves like so...

Roll in the sides....and roll up from the bottom..

Place in your baking dish, and continue until all your leaves are used up.  Feel free to snack, um..."quality control" on any extra rice mixture....I did.

Spoon the rest of the tomato mixture over the top, cover, and bake just until everything is nicely warmed through, and the tomatoes are starting to soften....thirty to forty minutes at 350.  Here's mine about to go into the oven.

Now, I took some liberties with the recipe, since I used white basmati rice, did not have "smoked" paprika (hence the liquid smoke), and tweaked it in a few other, minor ways. But......the results? I sprinkled a little cayenne and parsley over the top for looks, and a little zing.....

Quite tasty, indeed! I bet they freeze well, too! Not that I have ever had any left to freeze! I thought I would be good, and eat just the one....but NO. The second one, cut in half, and with a little lemon squeezed over it, was even better! My only regret, is that I have not previously squeezed the lemon over them before - it brightens up all the flavors! It is not in the original recipe, but from now on, it is going to be in my version of it! Just delicious, and I did not miss having any meat, that's for sure!

I went to ask the Kitchen Angels what they thought - and what do you think those fun-loving gals were up to? 

That's right, enjoying our little "Spring Surprise" - meanwhile, as you can see in the background, this Pixie has been running around desperately trying to cover her newly-planted tomatoes! Those girls are sometimes no.....help....at....all!

What surprising dish did you cook up this Spring?

Eat well, my friends and stay tuned for more interesting eats on the road...and what could potentially be the biggest announcement of the year from Pixie-Land!

Love and kindness to all,

Pixie