a cooking double header!

The other day i went South,
now in many circles it means something that did not work and had to be discarded,
but for me it means into the southern US for cooking inspiration!
I learned something from my least likable chef on food network, Ann Burell.  I always learn form her even though i do not like her presentation.
In this case it was removing the spine of the chicken - hers was done to butcher a chicken into pieces
Me?  I do not like the little bones from the spine when roasting a chicken.
So i kept the chicken whole and with a SCISSORS removed the entire spine and neck.
Because i do not like to waste i took all of these discards and boiled them down to remove the meat form the bone.
So my first offering:

Chicken Roasted, with biscuits and gravy

(Southern style)

1 whole chicken

1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon bacon fat
1 tablespoon flour

Remove the spine, neck, heart, liver, gizzards and tips of the wings from the chicken and begin boiling them in enough water to keep them covered.

Since the chicken is splayed, lay the cut side down in the roasting pan.
Carefully separate the skin from the meat of the chicken breast.
mix the butter, sage, thyme and salt with 1/2 stick of butter,
slather about half of this mixture between the skin and the meat and on top of the skin.
Begin baking for 1 hour at 250 F.
Raise the temperature to 350 for an additional hour - skin will be crisp and the meat falling off the bone.

For the gravy:

When all the chicken parts are beginning to fall apart, remove them from the heat.
when cool remove all the bones and cartilage.
Blend the meat and remaining liquid with the remaining sage/thyme butter till smooth.
Heat this mixture and add black pepper and bacon fat.
prepare a roux using the remaining butter and the flour.
Add this to the blended mixture just before serving and stir while heating till thick.
Serve gravy over freshly baked biscuits next to the pieces of chicken.

Second offering-the next day i wanted to do a spaghetti and meat sauce, but found i only had ground pork (it was on a sale and you never know and well this was the day!)
This is not Italian as i have been taught, but was recognizable as a good meat sauce, which is a bit thicker than i usually make, but that would be for spaghetti anyway.

Meat Sauce For Spaghetti

(this makes enough gravy for 2 lbs of spaghetti)

 
1 lb ground pork
5 cloves garlic diced
1 long Italian hot pepper, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 32 oz can tomato sauce
1 32 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup basil, chopped
1 tablespoon bacon fat
1 tablespoon salt
enough olive oil to coat the bottom of your sauce pan
1 small can tomato paste
2 cups red wine

 heat olive oil with garlic until just hot and add pork.

brown the pork and work it to a fine ground.
add peppers, salt, bacon fat and basil.
when the mixture begins to simmer again add tomato sauce, rinsing the cans with water.
bring to a simmer and cover until the mixture begins to thicken.
Add wine and when simmering again, add tomato paste.
stir well and when this mixture begins to simmer, serve over al dente spaghetti

Each step...

Each new thing i try,

each new path i take,

whether it is one i have been on before

or not.

Is a cause for celebrating life.

Each breath i draw,

add newness to my spirit

and joy to my soul.

Everyday an adventure,

even if i just stay at home.

every step,

no mater if it causes pain or not,

is one of joy!

a world that is new

There has been much success,
as of late.
Improvements that i was unsure of what to expect.
I drive daily,
except in the worst of weather conditions.
Tho there is still the diplopia,
it seems less.
My thought are still clearer
and my body stronger.
I get tired and winded
and now i sleep 7 to 8 hours,
where before,
before that operation,
i only sleep 4 to 5.
My temperament is much improved
and i have not eye strain.
There are some who wished me to be dependant,
I am not longer so
and they seem to have mostly faded away.
There were those who harbored bitterness and resentment,
when i left work,
but they are of no consequence.
I am in a better place, a bit less than the 2 to 3 months people believed it would take...
I am glad.

back to cooking

Since moving from texas, i have been introduced to other meats, besides beef, that can be BBQed.
All along the East Coast (and particularly the Carolinas) i have tasted some delisious pork.
Well Pork ribs have been on sale recently and i have been getting them and this is what i do.
Since it is just to cold for me to be on the grill (or smoker depending), i am using a wet rub.
If i grill or smoke, i almost always use a dry rub.  i used my javorite pre-made sauce as a base, but add enough extra to make it unrecognizable and orange is something that goes very well with pork!

Pork Rib with wet marinade

1 whole rib, any style, ~ 3 lbs
14 oz (1/2 bottle) Jack Daniels BBQ sauce (others work)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chili peppers, dried and crushed
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoon dried orange zest
1/2 cup spiced rum
2 diced cloves of garlic

mix together all ingredients for the marinade and slather pork rib

let sit in refrigerator at least 3 hours
begin cooking at 250 F for 2 hours.
up the temperature to 400 for 15 minutes
tender and moist!

so much that has gone on

I did not realize...
i had to look it up...
It is 2 years since i last saw my mom.
Okay a bit under,
but this was my last trip to see her...
before,
before she left
and went where i can not go yet.
My time will come.
I wondered why,
I felt the way i did,
I thought 3 years at least,
maybe 4,
but no,
it was 2011 that she passed on.
I guess i hold on to things
and so time becomes meaningless.
I don't forget her
and the memories are very good,
but the book is unfinished.
So i guess i will wait for my time,
so that then we can finish that book together!

NOT a valentines day party

Last night,
a few people came over for a dinner party,
okay, the count was 15 including the young ones,
or was it 17?
My preparations,
both in the food and set up,
were done by myself.
This was a first and even tho i took my time,
it is still quite an accomplishment.
The food first.
some appetizers:
stuffed jalapenos,
tapenade,
home baked corn chips
and another person brought guacamole.
The main course, served buffet style:
my salmon, with an orange juice/maple syrup/salt/hot pepper marinade
Mac and cheese 2 ways - the special one with fried deli ham, Chipolte peppers and cilantro
and the regular creamy one for the kids.
Escarole and white beans - Italian style,
Corn bread to die for.
Others brought potatoes with tomatoes and peppers and
rice and beans - Peurto Rican style.

Desserts:
I made Karidopita
and some one else brought a red velvet, cream cheese frosted cake - wonderful!
Drinks:
A Pointsetta (orange Vodka, champagne and cranberry juice)
White and red wine.
Sangria (made with canned fruit and red wine and rum)

It started somewhere around 6:30,
The last person left about 11.

It WILL happen again!

i was given a flower today

for Valentines day,

but it was not any one who is here

for they used something no person could have done.

a flower bloom,

many times for Christmas

and now once for Valentines day.

I know who did this,

but they are not here,

for me to touch or reach back.

Yet they are here,

always.

i've been missing

and this is not a bad thing...
time flies
from morning to night
and i am extremely busy.
I would not have expected it to be so
and i am left with a question,
an important one.
All the things i am doing are life
and there seems no time for anything that resembles work,
why?
I was always passionate about what i did,
but there seems to be a disconnect.
There are some things that have been waiting a very, very long time to be done.
Now i can.
Finally setting my office a part from my life
and soon i will be painting again.
It takes time,
 time i did not have before.
i do not know how i lived these past 5 years,
are did i?

what i have not left behind

while i have left the job i was employed in for 33 years,
i have not left my passions.
I spoke recently at a committee meeting with the local board of reps on well water.
It and people's health is still part of my passion.

Then there is my new direction and i still find the chemist being very present.
The bottles are some of the spices that i have dried and minced myself.

Thee is one very special thing i have done and it has to do with peels.

citrus peels particularly:

when i juice a lemon, or orange or anything else, i remove the other peel (not the rind) and dry it.
Once dry, i pulverize it, making it into a powder.

Then it goes into a jar and the flavor of the citrus is intense. 

Since the flavor is an oil, drying the peel only intensifies the flavor.  Most have been turned into a fine powder were little bits of the intense flavors are pin pointed with in a dish.

There has to be a morning after

But why did it have to look like this!

The snow very pretty,
but it is too cold
and makes it tough to get around!

Snow, typical for the New England states,
but has been absent for a couble of years.

looks like this storm made up for it!

on the matter of Tofu

No, no one is talking about it,
but it was on sale a shoprite and i went for it.
I do not hide tofu as some meat substitute,
it is what it is, but i do add flavor to it.
So tonight was meatless night.
I do this...because...

Fried Tofu

1 package Extra firm tofu, cut into quarter inch slabs
sesame seed oil, to cover the frying pan
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1/2 of a long red ripe Italian hot pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon salt, kosher

heat the oil gently and add the ginger and peppers and mix
add sesame seeds and when they just begin to turn golden,
 remove the peppers (and many of the seeds and some of the ginger will also be removed) and save.
add the tofu and gently salt.
Gently flip after a couple of minutes and turn up the heat to medium and salt again.
Flip after 5 minutes and remove after another 2 minutes (the Tofu may have a bit of color to it.
Serve each piece of tofu with the pepper and ginger over it.

moving on

news that was not medical

and was not surprising,

still took its toll.

Anger tried to wheal up,

but i put it down.

News had reached me of what i expected,

the person spoke so poorly about others when backs were turned.

Why would i be any different.

The bitterness of this persons soul does not allow a healing touch,

but i will not add to that,

nor will i take the bait that is swung in front of my face.

i take a different way

and i speak of the trouble only to acknowledge

that i face the anger anyway,but i do not let it control me.

Forgive and let go,

they are not part of my life,

but as long as they hold on,

i will be a part of theirs

and that is sad.

God bless them is all i can say

and then i...

walk away.

again

This morning  face the noisy MRI, again.
The doctors want to keep on top of things,
i think they are nervous.
I do not like this machine.
It is noisy and it confines me for too long,
but it is necessary to discover if things are okay.
While i might not like the path i must take,
i recognize that it is okay!
Even the bad can be turned into good,
even losses define us in a way...
that we can help understand
and comfort others.
My life is never wasted.
Every second,
every action
can turn to the good.
My place?
to let it.
And so off to the noisy, clanging machine that i do not like!

patterns

I don't have it right , yet...
but it is coming along,
slowly,
establishing normal patterns or routines for me to follow.
Morning is good.
There are a few glitches, but basic morning things are working.
This is important because it set the tone for the day.
General, meds, exercise.
I get interrupted at times, but i can get back to it,
there is no rush.
Still it is important.
Something new - i find my self well enough to drive some.
This is important as my eyesight was to strained when i worked.
It is not a lot, but i can go places.
Walking, when the weather permits.
It is too cold or icy often in the latter part of January and this first part of February.
a project - something to catch up on for the five years things held there own, maybe.
Bills paper work,
Oh how i would like to forget them.
a new project or 2,
things that have been in the works,
but have not been able to take shape during my recovery while working.
Cooking - not yet a gourmet, but the taste is there!.
Rest - yes, i get to.
I find i will push myself, to as many limits as i can
and then i rest and feels good.
Keeping in contact with others.
Very important - some happens on my walks,
some in the neighborhood.
Dinner parties with guests,
email,
facebooks,
blogging,
all are important to my health.
I am getting there!