As I was growing up, my mom worked at Western Union from 11am to 9pm. She’d cook dinner each morning and leave me with instructions to heat it up when I got home from school.  Sunday mornings my dad would make french toast but that was the extent of his cooking.  Then we began raising rabbits and he got into the cooking of it.  It made me a little sad at first but he explained about circle of life. He said not only were the animals happy to fulfill their destiny, the onions and carrots and wheat and all plants were as well. They lived on through us as they gave their life so ours could continue.  That was the reason we prayed before eating.  Many relatives and friends passed during my childhood.  One way my dad dealt with his grief was by cooking.  He said cooking and eating reminds us we are alive even though we feel a piece of us is gone. His grandmother passed when I was in my teens, and he embarked upon a quest to duplicate Kentucky Fried Chicken’s original recipe. We had a new version every single night for weeks, months while he experimented. That was fine with 4 hungry teenagers and boy, could my brothers scarf food down. When my youngest brother bobby passed in 1976, my dad began making sourdough rolls. By hand, no bread machine. Hundreds of them, maybe thousands. By giving them away to friends and family, he was sharing his son with everyone.     Continue reading →

Spinach and Cheese Quiche

This is a modification of a cheese-less quiche that I’ve spiced up a little. Once you have the ingredients, it takes just 10 minutes to throw together. Stick in the oven for an hour. Let sit for 10 minutes to let the custardy center settle, then enjoy.  I’ve made this without the crust, I’ve made this with all sorts of different vegetables and meats. It’s a great way to fancy up leftovers.  You can make it Mexican by adding ground beef, cheddar cheese and sour cream. You can make it Italian by adding ricotta and topping with marinara and mozzarella.   Continue reading →

ANDREA’S MULTI-DIMENSIONAL 4 WAY WRAP

This is an easy, almost endless variety of sandwich ideas. Simply:

Step 1. PICK A WRAP (TORTILLA)
There are so many good wraps in the market now, I like the spinach wrap and the sun dried tomato flavors.

Step 2 PICK A SAUCE:
Recipes below
Hummus
Guacamole
Gaucamole Sauce
Tahini Sauce    Continue reading →

This is my favorite homemade pho recipe and it’s from Jaden Hair’s Steamy Kitchen. Jaden writes, It’s no secret that good Pho broth requires a gazillion hours of simmering time. Time that I just don’t have. Tony, a boyfriend from a lifetime ago, told me his Dad used to simmer giant vats of pho broth overnight for his little pho restaurant in Houston. So, one day, I thought it would be really genius to do the same. Dump a bunch of beefy, tendony, knuckley, marrowey bones into the largest stockpot that I have and let it simmer away while I slept.

It didn’t quite work out as I had intended:   Continue reading →

So today I slow cooked 2 smoked turkey legs in the electric skillet at about 200 degrees for 5 hours until they fell off the bone. I cooled the cooked liquid and put it in a large metal bowl in the refrigerator to let the fat rise to the top. I skimmed the top layer of fat off and cooked collard greens in the defatted liquid for an hour until tender, then added the smoked turkey meat I removed from the bones. I remember my family just throwing collard greens right in the same water with all the fat and while it had good flavor that’s way too greasy for me to want to eat these days.

This stew works best with chicken thighs (more fat adds more flavor) but you can use chicken breast if you prefer to keep it leaner.  This stew has high flavor.  When I make it with chicken thighs, I make it a day ahead of time, so I can refrigerate overnight and let any fat rise to the top so I can skim it off.    Continue reading →

This stew works best with a firm white fish, such as halibut or cod. You could also use red snapper or tilapia. Stay away from delicate fish such as sole for this stew, or oily fish such as tuna. If you like, you can add shrimp, clams and/or scallops to the stew as well. I carmelize the onions before I add the tomatoes. Before adding the fish, I let the sauce simmer about 30 minutes to blend flavors. This stew has high flavor.   Continue reading →

I like a hearty brown stew when the weather turns cool. That used to mean pot roasts and beef stews but these days I enjoy lighter fare.  The secret to this dish is letting roasted veggies and herbs cook down into a thick gravy, then add fresh chopped veggies the last 10 minutes — I like cooked veggies to have a light crunch.  Earlier I’d roasted some veggies, so I added a cup each of roasted carrots and celery and onions to a 2 quart saucepan, then added two 1-quart cartons of low sodium chicken broth. I chopped 2 large russet potatoes very finely diced, and 16 oz of white mushrooms.  I added a teaspoon each of turmeric, salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried basil, dried tarragon, crushed fennel seeds, paprika and 1 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary and chili powder. I added 2 dried bay leaves, left the pot slightly uncovered and brought it to a simmer for 40 minutes.    Continue reading →

When I made the meatballs for yesterday’s Low Fat Semi-Homemade Turkey Meatball Veggie Soup, I didn’t follow the recipe and added a shake of red pepper flakes as well as too much jerk seasoning. It made them a little too hot and a little too herby. I knew I could add potato and mushroom to the soup to draw some of the flavor out of the meatballs, and I could season the soup only lightly, since it would draw spice from the meatballs. It was so easy and turned out so well I wanted to share it with you.   Continue reading →