A Saturday Quickie

This was a quick Saturday lunch.
I used fat free mayonnaise.






EGG SALAD SANDWICH FILLING
2 hard cooked eggs
1 1/2 tbsp Miracle Whip
1 tbsp Thousand Island dressing
1/2 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp salt

In a small bowl, crush egg yokes with a fork and mix with last 5 ingredients. Chop egg whites and add to mixture. Use lettuce leaves and make 2 open faced sandwiches.

That's Italian!

I liked how fresh this tasted. The added peppers and onions really made this recipe standout.I used fresh tomatoes from the garden to make this recipe. I skinned the tomatoes by boiling them for 45 seconds and then putting them in ice water. This worked extremely well. The recipe says chopped tomatoes. I wouldn't cut them too, small.

I wasn’t sure what Mom and Dad meant by Italian style tomato sauce. I used Delgresso Traditional Italian Recipe. Next time I’d sauté the celery, pepper and onion for no more than four minutes.



MARINARA SAUCE
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 can (28 oz) plum tomatoes, chopped
1 can (15 oz) Italian style tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 pkgs G Washington Golden
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

In a 4 quart saucepan sauté the celery in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and continue for another 5 minutes, and finally add the onion and continue sautéing for a final 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered for 1 hour. Serve over your favorite pasta. Makes about 4 cups.

We served this with four cheese ravioli.

Give Peas A Chance

I’m not big fan of peas but, in this case I’ll make an exception. Dad notes in this recipe not to overcook the scallops. Bay scallops are very small and they will cook quickly.



BAY SCALLOPS NEWBURG





1/2 lb bay scallops
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp chopped red pepper (optional)
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
Pinch pepper
1 cup milk
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup frozen peas

Sauté onions and red pepper in butter in an 8 inch frying pan about 4 minutes or until tender. Mix flour, salt and pepper and add to pan and stir to mix with butter. Keep stirring and cook for a minute until bubbly. While stirring, add milk and cook until bubbly and thick. Stir in wine and lemon juice. Add peas and scallops and return to a low boil. Simmer for 2 minutes or until scallops are opaque. DO NOT OVER COOK. Serve over toast points or in pastry cups. Serves 2.

I used a Pillsbury dough mix to make the pastry cups. Next time I’ll use puff pastry.
I used a mild dry sherry because that's what I had. I'd use a much drier sherry next time.

Batter up!

This was my first attempt at a baking recipe from Mom and Dad's recipe book. I had to enlist the assistance of my highly paid consultant(Wife) to give me some much needed guidance. I used a tip from Betty Groff to mix the batter. I took my rings off and put my hands in the bowl and mixed well.


BUTTER BALLS
3/4 cup butter
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla (or Amaretto or rum brandy)
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts for this recipe.)



Cream butter, add sugar and continue to beat until light. Stir in vanilla. Add sifted flour and mix well; fold in chopped nuts. Shape about a tablespoon of dough into balls on an un-greased baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven 15 to 18 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar while hot. Makes about 4 dozen balls.




The folks in the office liked the result.

Baking Terms vs Cooking Terms

Baking terms make me tired. Whip the butter. Beat the eggs. Fold in the flour. Cream the cheese. Dash of salt.

Cooking has a more relaxing vocabulary. Sauté the onions. Deglaze the pan. Eggs over easy.

This One's Easy!

I love the simplicity of this recipe. The combination of the vinegar, soy sauce and garlic make your mouth water as you prepare it.

I used ½ inch chops because that’s what I had in the freezer.

CORA'S PORK CHOPS
2 thin pork chops
1 1/2 tbsp vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
Pepper

In a non-stick frying pan with a cover, add vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. Add peppered pork chops, cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Continue cooking while turning chops until liquid is evaporated.








Turn heat to low, remove cover, add oil and fry pork chops until lightly browned.



It tasted great. I served it with apple sauce.

Are You Ready For Some Football!

Labor Day weekend was great. We went to Wake Forest with good friends and watched the Demon Deacons take on the Baylor Bears.


We’re off to a Labor Day picnic today.

Here’s another quick recipe to use all those tomatoes from your garden.

BROILED TOMATO SLICES
8 slices of tomato, 1/2 inch
1 tbsp olive oil
8 drops sesame oil
1/4 tsp basil leaves
1/8 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp oregano
1 tbsp seasoned bread crumbs
Salt

Mix olive and sesame oil, then separately mix the dry herbs. Place the tomato slices on a broiler pan and lightly salt. Drizzle the oil mixture over the tomato slices and sprinkle with the herbs. Broil 3 or 4 inches from the element for about 3 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and continue broiling for another 1 or 2 minutes. Watch that the breadcrumbs do not burn.





I really liked the aroma of the sesame oil with the olive oil.
Dad notes in this recipe to watch that you don’t burn the bread crumbs.
Don’t try to do any other tasks after you add the bread crumbs. I set the timer for two minutes and rotated the broiling pan about every 30 seconds.
I covered the broiling pan with aluminum foil. It made clean up easy.