Category Archives: Food Thoughts

Lamb Steak

Leave a reply
Raw lamb steaks

Raw lamb steaks perfect for grilling. Photo by Deborah Kaplan.

Occasionally in the last couple of years, the local supermarket meat department had lamb steak as a cut, sold as lamb sirloin steak. The typical lamb cut that I have seen for sale on a regular basis has been either a shoulder-blade chop, lollipop rib rack, loin lamb chop or a partial leg roast. I figured out by the look of it that it was a cross-section of a leg of lamb. So, I went to our local butcher to buy a leg of lamb and had him slice it down into steaks at 1/2″ thick. The first ones I bought were amazing, tender and flavorful. The second group I bought was really tough as a hoe and I ended up using the all the steaks over a course of a couple of months in stews and soups. After that,  I went back to the original source and saw that they had two legs of lamb roasts about 10 inches long in the case. Both roasts produced a combo of 10 steaks, plus 6 soup/stew bones and a quart sized resealable bag worth of stewing meat. Of course it came to $50.00 but lamb is not inexpensive and in the long run it was cheaper this way rather than buying just one lamb steak at a time. I prefer doing this as opposed to cooking the whole roast, as with just the two of us, we would be eating lamb everyday for a week. MIL as a rule won’t eat a slice of meat however she will use the stew bones to flavor her soups, plus she likes to eat the marrow. Well, now I have to go get the propane bottle filled so I won’t run out of gas in the middle of grilling these lovely steaks.

Cookie Quest Update

Leave a reply
Yummy Breakfast Cookies with Bacon

Yummy Breakfast Cookies with Bacon. Photo by Deborah Kaplan

I bought the ingredients that I didn’t have on hand and the only miss step was that I purchased low sodium bacon. The cookie recipe produces a crunchy, soft, chewy treat. It reminds me of the cookie flavor I am looking for, however, I will have to make it again with regular bacon to be sure. My review which is attached to the recipe can be seen on the site should the link be followed: http://www.recipezazz.com/recipe/breakfast-cookies-with-bacon-15593 posted by Buzymomof3.

 

He Wants, He Wants, He Wants.

Leave a reply

DH is someone whom is very difficult to buy presents for. If he wants something, he generally will go out and buy it, even if it is the day before his birthday. Some times, it is exasperating, and I often have to rein him back, as I know someone in the family has bought him the very item that he wants to buy. Sometimes he outright tells me what he wants, so I can pass the ideas on to family members. Mostly, I tell them to just him get gift cards. About a month ago, he decided he wanted a toaster oven, but not any run of the mill toaster oven, but one that hangs under the cabinet. I had done an Online search and found that one company makes such an animal. The problem is finding it at a reasonable price. MIL said to me she wanted to give us one for the holidays coming up, and asked me to try to find this elusive toaster oven. After searching the Internet, we finally decided that we would just get a counter top variety regardless of what DH wants. So we devised a plan to clean off one of the counters to accommodate the new proposed toaster oven. The other option is to let him search for the exact oven he wants. After he purchases it then MIL would just give me the money toward paying for it. The Internet is perfect for me as I hate driving from store to store for comparison shopping. Not that I don’t like to get the best price, I just don’t like the means to the end.

Don’t Judge A Hotdog By Its Title

Leave a reply

Have you ever ordered something based off of the title of it? And when you actually get it, it is totally not what you imagined it to be? This post is about the many ways hotdogs can be served. DH, DD#2 and I were traveling through the Hudson Valley in NY and decided to tour West Point Military Academy. After the tour we went to this hotdog joint that had 100 plus different types of hotdog condiment combinations. I think it also had like 6 different types of hotdogs from Kosher to bratwurst varieties. I surveyed the numerous types they had listed and decided upon a waffle hotdog. What I imagined before ordering was a beef hotdog in a bun made from a waffle, so with that vision, I ordered green relish too. I thought about adding cheese as well but decided to skip that. My DD#2 ordered a traditional beef hotdog with mustard, and nacho cheese, and DH ordered one with coleslaw . When we picked up our order and took it to our table the others were very happy with their selections. I on the other hand could only laugh hysterically. Mine might have been delicious, had I not ordered green relish too. It came as a Belgian waffle with hotdog pieces chopped up in the batter and the green relish was mixed in to it too. And to top it off it came with butter and maple syrup. I ate it in its entirety, but it was a meal to remember. It was also no fault of the hotdog joint either. (After all, I’m the goofball who ordered the relish too without knowing what the heck I was ordering). If the line wasn’t so long, I would have tossed it and ordered a more traditional one. Live and learn. Ask what the item is? Don’t assume by the title. Very good advice.

Breakfast Cookie Quest

Leave a reply

Back many years ago when I was in middle school (which was called junior high school back then), I had to take Home Economics. As a tom boy, I really had no interest in any of the subjects taught in home economics. With that said, I have been on a quest to find a recipe for bacon and corn flakes breakfast cookies. I have made numerous recipes looking for the flavor I remember. Back then, we were given a recipe to follow however unlike the other things we made we weren’t allowed to eat the cookies as they were for some teacher’s appreciation breakfast. My group ate one cookie between us all. The teacher collected the recipes afterward so we couldn’t keep them. I guess she didn’t want to have to make new copies for other classes. Anyways I have been, like I said, on a quest to replicate them. I finally came to the conclusion that I have to replicate the taste myself. So, on Recipezazz.com one of the peeps made, reviewed and photographed one of my recipes. After thanking her, I decided to see if she had posted any recipes I might be interested in? I was so excited as she has a bacon and corn flakes breakfast cookie posted! Can’t wait to try it.

R is for Refrigerator

Leave a reply

As we were riding in the car today, MIL had mentioned she was going to buy more lox to share with our older daughter whom is coming to dinner tomorrow night. I asked, if she had finished what was leftover from the last time she bought it? She said that there was a bit left which she was going to try to freeze. As an after thought, she said that things lasted longer if food was on the lower shelf all the way in the back in the fridge. So with that, I started to laugh to myself. I said, “Do you want to hear a funny story about the word fridge? She of course said yes. I am a graphic artist professionally and years ago a house builder came to my studio with blue prints and wanted me to draw floor plans to be placed in a folder for prospective homebuyers. I drew them up and presented him with a proof for him to check to see if everything was correct. He examined them and said they looked great! I asked him if everything was labeled correctly? He looked at it closer and finally asked me what F meant in the kitchen section? I looked at it and said fridge. He said to me, “Where are you from?” Well I had to laugh as it is a common slang terminology for the refrigerator that a lot of people in South Jersey use. I don’t actually know at what point in my life that I began to use that term? Right now, I am trying to remember who I picked it up from? So of course any time I hear the word fridge I think about this story. In the end, the illustrations had the F letter removed and replaced with an R in each floor plan.

A Second Hand Experience

Leave a reply

Once again while at the dentist we were chatting about food… she told me about her trip to France and the amazing experience she and her husband had. Of course while she was talking I really couldn’t say much since I was having a new crown installed. What I remember is she signed up for the cooking lesson in advance, not really knowing what to expect. The French chef was into healthy pure cooking, and there were no written recipes shared. Recipes are not always written or shared by chefs or home-cooks. In fact, writing a recipe is very time-consuming. My dentist, as she worked on my tooth told me about how the French chef cooked everything with a low temperature, slowly roasting the food. The chef par roasted peppers, then placed a pan on top roasting them more. That process caused the skins to easily peel off. The chef also low roasted chicken with numerous vegetables in a clay pot with lid. If I remember right, the chef served it with a tapenade on top. Dessert consisted of a pear drizzled with olive oil and honey roasted on a low temperature along with a herb that I just can’t remember what she said. The final dish was sprinkled with pollen, which my dentist said has antioxidant qualities plus there was a texture to it. It was served with vanilla ice cream. They were very pleased with the whole experience. As she described the food, I could just taste it in my mind. . .

CSA

3 Replies
Fresh Jersey vegetables.

Fresh Jersey vegetables.

Today, I was at the dentist and she asked me who cooked for the holiday Rosh Hashana in our family. I said that I did although, I didn’t create a big elaborate meal since there were only three of us. I told her I made matzo ball soup and charoset. From there I mentioned that I had a food blog. She mentioned that she had bought a share in a CSA. I wasn’t familiar with the acronym, so she explained to me that she gets produce during the whole harvest season from a local farmer that she signs up with, whom she pays ahead of time. She told me it is exciting as she never knows what she will get each week? So when I arrived home I searched for it on the Internet and found out it meant (Community Supported Agriculture), which I found at localharvest.org. After putting my zip code into their search engine, about three farms fairly close to me popped up as options for next season. The funny thing is, I went to sign up for Local Harvest’s newsletter, and to my utter surprise, I was already a member. All I can figure out is, it’s from when I was looking for local canning classes a couple of years ago.

Taking the Leap – About Me

1 Reply

Even though this blog was created in 2012 and the published stamp at the bottom says such, I am writing this post here in the present in August 2014. I have decided to dedicate it to my love of cooking or actually a combination of things. About 10 years ago, I had reached a point in my adult life when cooking was just another chore. Our older daughter J. developed a love for baking which influenced our younger daughter K. to attempt it too with not much success early on. Of course K. was 3 years younger than J. Eventually though, K. became so passionate about cooking that midway through college she decided to not only change majors, but change her direction totally and go to culinary school. Of course this was a complete shock to DH and myself. However, my philosophy when it comes to a job, is you should love what you do. So if one wants to be a classically trained chef, then the family should support that decision, and that is what we did. So after K. switched to culinary school, this was the main influence for me to kick started my new hobby at that time. In 2008, I joined one of the recipe oriented websites at the time, known  affectionately as Zaar. As a result, I met (virtually) a group of food enthusiasts who shared my interests. Thus began my passionate hobby: to make posted recipes, to review them and to photograph the end result.