Hot and humid weather cooking -

I don't think this insane heatwave is ever going to go away.

For a while there - no rain. Then we had horrendous rain, thunder, lightning, hail, and instead of it breaking the humidity - it became worse.


I even dread boiling water for tea!


We still have to eat - and I've cheated quite a bit with one skillet meals, sammies and salads.



Thursday I made -


FRIED BOLOGNA WITH ONIONS


Just heat some oil in a skillet, when hot - add sliced onions and season with Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. And don't forget the GARLIC! When the onion starts to soften a bit - add your bologna - either slices or strips (cut the slices in 1-inch wide strips.)

Served on toasted hearty bread and served with a nice selection of pickles and side salad.

For something a bit different, slather on the mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese of choice!



Yesterday being Friday was a no-meat day in our home.


TUNA HOAGIES

Tuna fish, drained
Chopped celery
Chopped onion
Sweet relish
Fresh ground black pepper
Mayonnaise/salad dressing to desired consistency

Toast hoagie rolls (using my George Forman grill), fill with tuna salad and top with additional sliced onion, lettuce and tomato. For a "sloppier" sammie, slather additional mayo/dressing on your roll.

If you don't like mayo/dressing for this - try using a zesty Italian vinaigrette and some chopped carrot! Very good!



I had a package of pork riblets in the freezer and I know I have to cook something (we can't go without a cooked meal around here regardless of the heat and humidity), so last night I popped them in the refrigerator to thaw a bit.



Today they were fried in olive oil (heat the skillet, then add the oil, heat the oil and then add the pork) and seasoned with garlic, parsley, Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and onion powder.



I made a loaded macaroni salad -

1 lb. cut ziti
5 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
chipped carrot
chopped celery
frozen peas, thawed
sweet pickle relish
chopped onion
Salad dressing - to consistency
Paprika for garnish


And I made some stuffed eggs -

Combining the yolks with salad dressing, sweet relish, and a smidge of chopped celery and onion.



Served with applesauce for dipping the pork.



Now for tomorrow - I've got plenty of pork left over which I am going to re-heat in BBQ sauce and serve with baked beans! Cheater beans that is -

Canned baked beans
Ketchup
Mustard
Brown sugar

and if I am not too lazy and can take the heat - crisp fried bacon.

I just cannot take this weather (heat/humidity) anymore!


Right now - I am wishing for snow! I'm dying for homemade bread but it's way too humid to even attempt making it at 4 AM.

Sunday - Spaghettini in Meat Sauce with Italian Sausage

Regardless of the heat and humidity - I HAVE to make a meal today. No more one-skillet meals to "cheat" in this weather.

While it is too hot for baking, I left quite early to get to the market and I picked up two loaves of Italian bread to go with our meal today. I would have loved to bake bread today - but I just can't do it in this heat.

Promises of rain from the weatherman are just that - promises - and no rains.


Since I have to cook - I am going to make enough for two days and of course, there is a method to my madness - if I can get a third meal somehow with something - by George, I'm gonna do it.


I took some rope-style Italian Sausage out of the freezer before I ran to the market, and it was almost thawed out in that short time I was gone (less than 20 minutes!)



I cut the sausage into links, and skillet-fried in a bit of olive oil.



Once fried, I added my ground chuck - seasoned with Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, fennel, garlic, onion powder, parsley.



When the ground chuck was fried, I added:
1 can (29 oz.) tomato puree
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (29 oz.) water (almost full)

Seasoned with Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, onion powder, chili powder, marjoram, basil, garlic, parsley, pinch Italian seasoning, fresh grated Pecorino Romano and a pinch of sugar - all to taste.

Covered and let simmer while I was waiting for my water to boil for my spagettini #9.

Once the water boiled, I added my Kosher salt, waited for the water to return to a full boil, and cooked my spaghettini al dente.



While the spaghettini was cooking, I assembled a quick salad of lettuce, tomato, and sliced pepperoncini peppers in my homemade vinaigrette.



A platter full of spaghettini in meat sauce - and enough Italian sausage so that we can have Italian sausage on Italian bread sammies later.



Topped with a bit of fresh grated Pecorino Romano.

And I've got more than a quart of homemade meat sauce that I have cooling in the refrigerator, and I will bottle that up tomorrow and I'll have it for another meal that I'll be able to put together in no time! And I have more than enough spaghettini for tomorrow's dinner! Later on - Italian sausage bombers with grated cheese! No complaints from anyone with this meal today!

I told you there was a method to my madness!

THE FOOD NETWORK AND ANNE BURRELL

THE FOOD NETWORK AND ANNE BURRELL


I know that many of us have watched The Food Network throughout the years. And I also know hundreds of “ex-fans” that have expressed the disappointment that The Food Network Channel has presented in the past couple years.

Due to that - I, too, have been turned off by many of the programs on The Food Network. There are classics - such as Emeril - that are holding that network together. Without them, The Food Network would be off the air.

And after what I saw today on ANNE BURRELL - SECRETS OF A RESTAURANT CHEF - 3:30 pm EST SHOW - made me actually sick to my stomach.

First let me start with ANNE BURRELL when she first hit the airways. SALT, SALT, SALT by the ton in everything made.

Trying to be original (I think) - this “person” (you see - I am addressing it as a person - man or woman???) has done everything someone can do that is wrong.

The “growling” when speaking is a turn-off. Trying to be a man or a woman with a problem?

The “terminology” used disgusts me to no end.

BROWN FOOD.

CRAP.

Well excuse me ANNE BURRELL - I was brought up to RESPECT FOOD. Apparently you weren’t.

We don’t address food as CRAP in our home.

We don’t serve S.H.I.T. or eat S.H.I.T. in my home - and we don’t address foods as such.

There are other things about ANNE BURRELL that actually piss off everyone.

BUT TODAY’S SHOW - TOOK THE CAKE!

AT LEAST TWICE TODAY - ANNE BURRELL - REFERRED TO FOODS TO BE “TREATED LIKE A STEP-CHILD” - AND WHEN “IT” PUT A COVERED POT IN THE OVEN AND STATED TO “TREAT IT LIKE A STEP-CHILD” - IT WAS THE LAST THING I WANTED TO HEAR.

Does ANNE BURRELL have a problem with step-children. I don’t think a child in the world wants to be known as “the step-child” and then “IT” had the audacity to place a covered pot in the oven and say - “TREAT IT LIKE A STEP-CHILD”!!!!!

Is that what “IT” believes in - gassing children in an oven?

Wasn’t there enough done to innocent children in the concentration camps that were gassed for no reason????

Is this what ANNE BURRELL and THE FOOD NETWORK believe in?

Don’t tell me that the Food Network doesn’t preview these shows before they put them on the air.

NO CHILD SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE THIS ANNE BURRELL - YOU DON’T BELONG ON THE AIR - AND YOU DON’T BELONG IN A RESTAURANT - YOU WOULD PROBABLY TREAT CUSTOMERS AS A “STEP-CHILD” AND POISON THEM!

TO THE FOOD NETWORK - BURN ALL SHOWS AND GET RID OF EVERY EPISODE OR EVERY SHOW THAT DISCRIMINATORY PIECE OF BROWN CRAP IS IN!!!!

I will post this everywhere!

Oh and BTW - YES, I did send a “comment” to The Food Network - but of course - they will never respond!

just another one-skillet meal

Who said you can't enjoy comfort foods when it's too darn hot to cook?

I still cannot take this heat - yesterday was another one of those days and I made a one-skillet meal, so today I'm doing the same thing.

Yesterday was Sausage, Tater and Onion Skillet - http://www.oldfashionedhomecooking.net/2010/07/its-still-too-hot-to-cook.html

Today was Zucchini, Onion and Ham sammies on French bread with bean/beet/onion salad.


Normally, it would have been pancetta in place of ham - but when you haven't got an ingredient - you substitute. And we are zucchini lovers - fixing it so many different ways.


Speaking of ham - I purchased a 2-pound package of Sugardale Sliced Ham - nicely shaped deli ham slices that would be nice to make sammies with. SURPRISE - this ham was SALTY! A total turn-off!


So today I figured I could use up a few slices if I boiled the salt out - so I placed 4 ham slices in a pot of water and brought to a boil; boiled for less than a minute, removed the ham from the pan, emptied the water and rinsed the pan thoroughly, and boiled it again for less than a minute. Boiling it for too long would boil the salt right back into it - this was just right.




Meanwhile, I assembled my salad -

1 29-oz. can cut green beans, drained
1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans, drained (chickpeas)
1/2 large Vidalia onion, sliced
1 15-oz. can sliced beets, sliced

A simple vinaigrette of olive oil, vinegar, Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper.



I washed and peeled my zucchini - 3 smaller ones and added to my hot skillet that had olive oil in it. In went the remaining half Vidalia onion and one cooking onion. Seasoned with Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, garlic, parsley, and onion powder. When the ham was "done", I just cut it into strips and added to the pan and fried until done.



I served this on split French bread with a nice helping of salad.

Crockpot Stew

Well Hello -

It seems like I haven't been here in forever - but with that wicked heat spell we had, I just couldn't hold myself together. With my mom not well, taking care of the babies (their mom is a school bus aide and working for the summer - Bruiser is in summer school and Princess needs to be watched till mom comes home), trying to still help our friend for the past couple months - and I think it all just caught up with me.

I am not a heat person. As a matter of fact - most of my family is olive complected and do well in the heat/sun - meanwhile, I am like my mom and her mom - blonde and white - can't take the heat and can't take the sun. We look like we don't belong to the rest of the family! And dad was a red-head.........

It's still hot - but the humidity has dropped and I am functioning a bit better. I'm up at 3 AM - and I am at the babies by 5:15 AM - their mom goes to work and since it is summer schedule - they keep her between runs and she doesn't get home till 12:45. By that time the little guy is getting off the bus and they can enjoy a nice lunch together. So I spend my mornings giving baths (with this heat I want them comfortable), making breakfast, cleaning up her kitchen, taking him to school, then watching Princess and making lunch for them.

I get home by 1:30 and then I am cooking for us and finishing any housework or laundry I did not get to before I left the house.

With that heat spell for 5 days - in my house it was basically salads, sandwiches, and some "quick frys" such as sausage, hot ham sammies, etc. Whatever I could "cook" in 5 minutes or less. By the last day of the heat I thought I was going to pass out - pizzeria pizza was dinner that day.

After eating like that for 5 days - I was wishing for something good - a comfort food of some sort.

And to think that when I was young - we had no crockpots - and very few appliances. No matter what the temperature and humidity - we cooked and baked.



I had a chuck steak in the freezer that kept staring at me - and I really was wishing for stew. Crockpot to the rescue.



Of course, being frozen solid, I had to do something so that I could cut it up so I placed it in a hot skillet and seared it quite quickly so I could cut off any unwanted fat and cut into bite-sized pieces. I seasoned it well with Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, parsley, garlic, and onion powder.



Meanwhile, I prepped my veggies - a couple ribs of celery - sliced, one onion - diced, 4 carrots - cleaned and cut into chunks, 5 potatoes - peeled and cut into chunks. Placed in 6 1/2-quart crockpot and seasoned the same as the meat. Set on HIGH.



When the meat was browned and basically "thawed" so I could work with it, I removed it from the skillet and cut off the unwanted fat and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.



Added that to the pot with a 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes and 3 beef bouillon cubes. Stirred it up and continued to cook on HIGH.

After cooking for 3 1/2 hours, I added frozen peas and continued to cook another 15 to 20 minutes.



Served with a salad and some rye bread - comfort food - made in the heat - without overheating the kitchen - and done in 4 hours!

A new bread recipe -

It was dang cold last night - needed blankets on the beds! The weatherman said we may hit the 30's during the night - fine by me - I wanted to bake bread today. Just wanted to try out a new recipe for a no-knead bread that I came up with - very simple!



I large bowl, dissolve:
1 envelope dry yeast (I buy the bulk packages so I used about 2 teaspoons - eyeballing again)
2 1/2 cups warm water (110 - 115* F.)



Add:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt (scant)



Beat on low with an electric mixer to blend well -

Then, stir in:
3 cups flour (additional/approximately)



Cover and place in a warm place for one hour.

After an hour, I greased (vegetable shortening) 2 pie tins, but you can use loaf pans or a baking sheet - but my preference today was the have 2 loaves of bread that were rounded.



"Spoon" into your prepared pans.

Of course it doesn't have that nice look like kneaded bread.

Cover and let rise another 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 - 375* F.

My oven was preheated from my pie crust so the bread was done in 25 to 30 minutes - but it depends on you pans, oven, etc.



Remove from oven, spread top with butter while still hot.

Enjoy!

It was nice because after I covered my bread to rise the first time, I started my sausage soup. After I "spooned" my raw dough into my prepared pans, I made my pie crust. The crust was done and the bread went in! Easy!!!

By the time the soup was done, the bread was done - nice and hot and fresh - with a nice texture. And my pie crust was filled and in the refrigerator waiting to be devoured later.

Would you like the recipes and would you like to see the pictures? Go to:
http://www.oldfashionedhomecooking.net/2010/06/sausage-soup-no-knead-bread-lemon-pie.html

Vermicelli in garlic and oil with Italian sausage

Today was a perfect "kitchen" day - meaning - a day to rip the kitchen apart and clean everything in sight! with the heat and humidity that we've had, I still cleaned - but the humidity doesn't let the floors dry and you work up quite a sweat doing cupboards, etc.

So our meal was a "Quickie"

Vermicelli with Garlic and Oil



I took some rope Italian sausage out of the freezer and skillet fried in olive oil and garlic. while that was frying, I put my pot of water on to boil; brought to a full boil, added my salt, when the water returned to a full boil I added my vermicelli - which cooked in 6 minutes!

Meanwhile, I assembled a salad of lettuce, Vidalia onion, cucumbers, and toasted bread cubes; made my vinaigrette.

Drained my macaroni and returned to the same pot with olive oil, garlic, Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and parsley. Tossed to coat well.





Served with the sausage, bread salad (http://www.thefamiliakitchen.net/2010/01/just-cooking-baking-during-snowstorms.html), my cucumber salad (http://www.thefamiliakitchen.net/2010/06/im-better-than-mc-donalds.html), and pepperoncini.

And it was all done in less than 20 minutes!!!