Potato Salad

I haven’t been around much this past couple of weeks, largely due to being glued to the tennis at Wimbledon. Needless to say, the token Brit, Andy Murray, got knocked out in the semi-finals. (Sob!) It’s something like 72 years since a British man won the singles at Wimbledon. And the last British woman to win was Virginia Wade back in 1977, which incidentally was also the year of the queen’s silver jubilee. Anyway, better luck next year, Andy.

Also, I want to thank Pam at http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/ for kindly allowing me to use her recipe for Portabella Burgers in my recent article about a mushroom farm. If you’re interested you can find the article and Pam’s recipe here: http://www.ok-living.coop/Feature1.php

This recipe for potato salad features baby red potatoes from our garden, which were absolutely delish – still are in fact, as we haven’t used them all yet. Tragically the plants did die, but we were able to harvest a decent amount of new potatoes before they finally popped their clogs. Fortunately, however, our robust russets are robust and thriving, so many more spuds to come.

Potato Salad

Ingredients:

2 lbs. red potatoes, unpeeled
1 rib celery, sliced
¼ of a red onion, sliced
3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
¼ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Black pepper, to taste
Dash of paprika

Directions:

• Cut potatoes into halves or quarters depending on size, place in a saucepan and bring to boil over a high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and boil gently for 10 – 15 minutes until potatoes are slightly tender. Don’t overcook or you’ll end up with mashed potato salad. Boil eggs while potatoes cook.
  
• Allow eggs to cool in cold water. Drain potatoes, and leave to cool for 10 – 15 minutes.
  
• In a small bowl mix together yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, and black pepper.
  
• Put potatoes in a salad bowl with the celery, onions, and eggs. Add the dressing and toss gently to coat. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
• Before serving sprinkle with a little paprika.
  

Amalfi-Style Shrimp

Many moons ago, I had a fabulous vacation not too far from the Amalfi area of Italy, staying in a lovely place called Sorento. While there I had the opportunity to visit many historic places such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, Monte Casino, and even revisited one of my favorite cities, Rome, for a weekend. I also went to the top of the still active volcano, Vesuvius, and to the island of Capri, so I have many happy memories of this region.

On a less happy note, it’s been sweltering here this week, we’ve been melting in 100°F temperatures, which were further compounded by high humidity. Even at night, temps have been in the low 80’s so it’s been thoroughly unpleasant.

Anyway, it's no use moaning, 'cos I can't do a damn thing about it. Today’s recipe is another one from good old Auntie Beeb and another winner. As usual I changed it up a bit, the recipe said to marinate the shrimp for 1 hour, but I thought that was too long as I felt the mint would completely dominate the flavor of the shrimp, so I only did them for 10 minutes. Personally, I thought that was just right, but by all means marinate them for longer if you like.

I highly recommend this dish, the shrimp were finger-licking good. Also, they only took 5 minutes to cook on the grill, so poor old Mick didn’t have to spend too long sweating over a hot BBQ. Try these, you’ll be glad you did.


Amalfi-Style Shrimp





Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-3 sprigs of mint, (about 15 leaves) finely chopped
Black pepper, to taste
25-30 large uncooked shrimp
¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs

Directions:

• Peel shrimp, but leave tails on.
• In a medium bowl combine the olive oil, garlic, mint, and black pepper, add the shrimp and toss to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
• Pre-heat BBQ to low.
• Thread 5-6 shrimp onto skewers, (I used metal ones, but if you use bamboo you’ll need to soak them in water for a few minutes).
• Place the breadcrumbs on a plate then press the skewered shrimp into the crumbs.
• Brush a piece of heavy-duty foil with olive oil. Place the skewers on the foil and grill for about 2 minutes a side, until shrimp have turned pink, and breadcrumbs are golden.
  Serve with lemon wedges.
  
  
  

Parmesan Chicken

It’s 95°F here today, and as humid and sweaty as an old sock, despite this we are still being battered by severe thunderstorms on a regular basis. Last week we had a particularly bad one with straight-line winds that brought down one of our persimmon trees.

We had a really nice grouping of three of these trees, when they were all in leaf they looked like one magnificent tree. These trees have had an unfortunate year; one was struck by lightning and will have to be cut down – now this.


The remaining one looks totally forlorn without his chums. But on a brighter note, we have had a bit of a tree planting frenzy this spring, and have put in 14 new trees. Admittedly, they are not much more than twigs right now, but one-day. :-)

Anyway, on with the food. We have finally had some luck with some salad greens. Yay! We’ve tried growing lettuce and spinach before with very little success. The weather here in Oklahoma changes from warm to baking hot so rapidly that the plants always bolted before we had a chance to eat them. This year Mick planted some mesclun greens which did very well indeedy, in fact, they grew back almost as fast as we could pick them. Mesclun mixes vary, ours was made up of arugula and dinky little spinach leaves. Although they kept us in salads during the spring, that avenue of pleasure is now closed, as they too have bolted in the heat. Oh hum!

To this mix of salad greens, I added a few baby Swiss rainbow chard leaves from our garden, some chopped tomato, a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar, a dash of cracked pepper, feta cheese. You can also add a few toasted slivered almonds for a little extra crunch. I served this salad with the Parmesan chicken. This chicken is light but full of flavor. We cooked it on the BBQ, but you could do it in the oven at 350F, for about 10-15 minutes.

Parmesan Chicken


Ingredients:

1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Cracked black pepper, to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Directions:

• Pre-heat grill to low, or oven to 350F
• Mix Italian breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and a dash of cracked black pepper on a plate.
• Beat egg in a shallow bowl.
• Slice chicken in half into 2 flat pieces.
• Dip chicken in egg, then into parmesan/breadcrumb mix.
• Place chicken in an ovenproof dish, or if grilling, on a double sheet of heavy-duty foil, greased with olive oil. Grill or bake for 10 – 15 minutes.
  
  
  

Wild Cod in a Tomato, Pepper and Olive Sauce

I’ve been having a bit of a break from writing, and catching up on some gardening (yay!), and housework (yuk!), both of which needed some attention after all my recent bouts of illness. But I still found plenty of time for dossing around (English slang for idling about) enjoying a glass or two of wine on the porch in the evenings, reading, doing crosswords, watching some telly, and of course, cooking.


I usually get my gardening and flower planting done much earlier than this, but the weather this spring has been pretty dire. Lots of storms, rain of biblical proportions, and the odd tornado scare thrown in for good measure. Not that I mind gardening in the rain, if the Brits allowed a little rain to stop them they would never garden. :-) Mick’s veggie garden is coming along great, if you’re interested you can check out his blog here: http://oklahomegrownveg.blogspot.com/


This week, however, has been largely hot and sunny, though we did have one day that was really cloudy and cool, thus a perfect gardening day for me. I loathe laboring in the heat. This type of weather always reminds me of summer days in England, endless gray skies, with the ever-present threat of rain.


Anyway, enough of my drivel, let’s get on with the recipe. As many of you know, I am often bemoaning the fact that I can’t get any decent fresh fish here, and my experiences with frozen fish have not been very good. Anyway, the last time I went to Sam’s Club, I picked up a bag of frozen wild cod that turned out to be surprisingly good. They had a number of other varieties of fish by the same producer, so I will definitely be checking those out next time I go there.


Wild Cod in a Tomato, Pepper and Olive Sauce




Ingredients:


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 14-ounce can whole tomatoes (I used my tomato gloop, recipe here: http://range-warfare.blogspot.com/2008/08/tomato-gloop-2.html) As the gloop already contains peppers and onions I didn’t need to add them, but I did throw in a few chopped spring onions).
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Black pepper
3-4 wild cod fillets
2 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped


Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400°F


• Heat oil in a large skillet over a medium heat, add onions and green pepper and sauté until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, (break them up a little with the spoon), tomato paste, olives, oregano, and black pepper. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes.


• Brush an 11 x 7-inch baking dish with a little olive oil and add cod fillets to dish. Spoon the tomato mixture over the fish and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily.


• To serve, sprinkle with feta cheese and chopped parsley.
  

Pasta Bolognese Bake with Garlic Bread

A few weeks back I mentioned that I had written an article about a local botanical garden for Oklahoma Living Magazine. If you’re interested you can find it here: http://www.ok-living.coop/Feature_3.php

And whilst I’m on the subject of writing, last week, I got my entries back from the Oklahoma Writer’s Federation contest. I won a big fat zero this year, not even so much as a measly honorable mention. Oh hum. On the plus side, I did get some excellent marks from the judges and some very favorable comments, but I guess others just did better. Oh well, you can’t win them all, and there’s always next year.

And continuing the literary theme, a couple of friends from my writer’s group were recently bemoaning the fact that though they like lasagna, they find it a fiddle to make. I told them I had a much easier pasta bake recipe, personally I prefer it to lasagna, and any leftovers freeze beautifully. So this one’s for you Sharon and Margaret.

If you like you can leave out the baking stage and use this as a pasta sauce. Omit the cheeses, and just sprinkle the finished dish with a little shredded Parmesan.

Pasta Bolognese Bake with Garlic Bread
Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 ounces penne pasta
½ tablespoon butter
1 lb. ground sirloin
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 – 3 teaspoons chili powder
1 14½ ounce can whole tomatoes (I used my tomato gloop, you can find that recipe here: http://range-warfare.blogspot.com/2008/08/tomato-gloop-2.html)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
A couple of dashes of Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 level teaspoon sugar
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded (divided)
½ cup sharp cheddar, shredded

Note: Seasonings, spices, and herb quantities are all guesstimates, I just tinker around until it’s how I like it.

Easy Peasy Garlic Bread


Ingredients:

½ a French loaf, cut in half lengthwise
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped – use less if you want, but I like garlic bread that tastes of garlic
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, + about 2 teaspoons butter.

Directions for pasta bake:

• Cook pasta for about 5 minutes, drain and set aside.
• Melt butter in a deep-sided skillet, over a medium-high heat, add ground beef and saute until browned.
• Reduce heat to medium, add onion, and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and chili powder and sauté for a further minute.
• Add canned tomatoes, and break tomatoes in half, bring to a gentle boil. Stir in tomato paste.
• Add Tabasco, Worcestershire sauces, oregano, black pepper, and sugar, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 350F
• Spoon a layer of about a 1/3 of the sauce into an 11x7-inch baking dish and top with ¾ of the mozzarella.
• Stir pasta and mushrooms into remaining sauce, and transfer to baking dish. Top with remaining cheeses and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.

While pasta bakes prepare garlic bread.

• Spread each half of French loaf with approximately 2 teaspoons butter, and place on a baking sheet covered with foil for easy clean up.
• Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add garlic, and sauté for 1 minute.
• Spoon garlic butter evenly over bread, and set aside.
• When pasta is out of the oven, heat broiler to high.
• Place garlic bread under broiler for 2-3 minutes until bread is golden brown. Keep a close eye on it, as it’s easy to burn it.
  
  
  

Mediterranean Potatoes

Thanks to everyone for all your commiserations and good wishes after my recent illness. You are all so kind, and tolerant of my erratic posting and commenting. I’m afraid I’m still playing catch-up as I had an interview to do, and an assignment to write last week for Oklahoma Living. My editor had extended my deadline because of my recent bout of flu, but it was still a bit of a push to get it done in time. Sometimes the writing just refuses to flow. This piece was about a local mushroom farm – a fascinating place to visit – but tricky to write about.

Until I started doing research for this article, I had no idea what a complex process growing mushrooms is. If you’re interested you can take a short video tour of a mushroom farm here: http://www.mushroominfo.com/aboutmushrooms/howmushroomsgrow.html
The site also has lots of information about mushrooms, and some great recipes.

I did include a recipe for portabella burgers with the artcle, but this one was courtesy of Pam at:
http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/ Thanks so much for allowing me to use your recipe, Pam, you’re a brick.

Today’s recipe, however, contains no mushrooms. It’s based on a recipe I saw in the BBC Good Food newsletter for Spanish Potatoes, I changed it up a bit and called it Mediterranean Potatoes. These were super, the leftovers were also good cold, so you could serve them as a potato salad during the summer.

Mediterranean Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon paprika
A few dashes of hot sauce, Franks or Tabasco
2 lbs. russet potatoes, cut into chunks
1 bulb (head) of garlic, leave skin on but top and tail each clove.
Cracked black pepper, to taste
Juice of ½ a lemon
A handful of chopped parsley

Directions:

• Put potatoes in a medium sized saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium high and par-boil for 4 –5 minutes or until potatoes are very slightly softened. Drain and allow to cool.
• Pre-heat oven to 375°F
• When potatoes are cool, mix olive oil, tomato paste, paprika, and hot sauce in a large bowl, add potatoes and stir to coat.
• Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a roasting pan and heat in oven. When oil is hot carefully add potatoes and garlic cloves to pan, and season with cracked pepper.
• Roast for about 40 minutes, turning half way through cooking, or until potatoes are crispy on the outside. Sprinkle over the lemon juice and roast for a further 5 minutes.
• Transfer potatoes to a warm serving dish, sprinkle with parsley and serve.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Vegetable Samosas

The wanderer returns. I think I’m going to have to stop saying, I’m back, as every time I do that something else goes wrong. By now, I’m sure you all must think that I’m a complete hypochondriac. The truth is, ordinarily I am not a sick person, but these past few months it just seems to have been one thing after another. (Sigh!) The latest ailment was the flu, and it was a bad one. Anyway, I’m not going to bore you with the details, suffice it to say, I’m okay now, and hopefully will stay that way for a while.

I now have a lot of catching up to do on both the work and the blog fronts. I’ve really missed everyone, but I will be visiting with y’all over the next day or two.

This is another recipe inspired by Jason at http://jasoncooks.blogspot.com
we obviously share the same love of Indian cuisine. I love veggie samosas, and I have tried making them before using frozen filo pastry. They were a disaster, they just fell to pieces. Jason had the ingenious idea of making samosas using egg roll wrappers, I tried his method and they worked beautifully. I did use my own recipe for the filling though. Also, I have to confess that I deep-fried them in the traditional Indian way, naughty – but ever so nice. Next time I will try baking them, honest. ;-)

Vegetable Samosas


Makes about 10 – 12 samosas

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
3 – 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons red curry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 Russet potatoes, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup vegetable/or chicken stock
1 package egg roll wraps
Sufficient vegetable oil for deep frying

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over a medium heat, add onion and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for a further minute.
• Stir in all spices and sauté for another minute.
• Add potatoes, carrots, and peas and stir until coated.
• Add stock, and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for about 30 minutes until veggies are tender and liquid has almost evaporated.
• Allow mixture to cool, and place in refrigerator until cold.
• Place a tablespoon of the mixture in half of the wrap, dampen edges of wrap with water and fold into a triangle. When folding the triangle leave a little extra pastry at the edges to fold over and seal the triangle.
• In a deep fat fryer or wok heat vegetable oil to 400F, deep-fry samosas in pairs until golden brown, about 3 – 4 minutes.