Granny's Garden Vegetable Saute

Granny's Garden Vegetable Saute

This recipe is one my beloved Granny, Arretta Beard used to make. It isn't so much of an actual recipe, as it is a way to use the bits and pieces of garden produce that you just don't have enough of to make a dish of alone. This is what I had last night: 

A huge zucchini that had been over looked at least a couple of days... coupled with over 2" of rain! Some ripe tomatoes that needed used ASAP. Onion. Yellow squash, (red) bell pepper, mushrooms, green beans, and okra. (I cooked  and served the okra separately, but it is fine in this dish, if you like.) I had a baggie of leftover crudites from Mr C's lunch... celery, baby carrots.
The key ingredients in Granny's dish always were squash, tomatoes and onions. 

So, whack up the veggies. (This zucchini was so big, I scooped the seeds out and chopped up the flesh of it. I actually had enough raw veggies cut up that I sealed half in a freezer bag and froze it for another day.)

 Get your skillet going, and add a touch of cooking oil of your choice. 

(If you choose to have meat in this dish, this is a good time to brown it up and set aside.  Saves dirtying up another skillet! Granny liked "Little Smokies" in hers. I usually use a summer sausage. This time I used *Three Cheese Chicken Sausage Links* from Aldi. I have made it with Italian sausage. I have made it with leftover chopped chicken. But it is just as good without meat.)

I seasoned this one with salt, pepper, and some smoked paprika. Other choices- whatever herbs you have on hand! Basil is wonderful. Maybe a couple sprigs of rosemary some time. Summer Savory is good.

Add the chopped veggies to the oil in the hot skillet. You really need very little oil, just enough to coat the skillet so the vegetables don't stick. Allow to cook, stirring from time to time to keep the vegetables cooking more evenly. You may want to cover this as it cooks.

Cook until your veggies are tender. I had a lid over this part of the time, so the captured heat and steam could cook things through without evaporating too much juice.  Add the cooked meat back in, if you wish.

 I served this over "Dirty Rice" (from a box.)  I usually just use plain cooked rice. If you have leftover rice from some other meal, just toss it in as the vegetables cook. Could be served over noodles, or sauteed shredded cabbage.

Thai Basil Chicken (Spicy!)

Thai Basil Chicken

!SPICY!

Chicken breast (or) Ground chicken

Thai Basil

Thai peppers

Oyster sauce

Fish sauce

Coconut sugar

Cooked rice, hot and ready to serve

Fried eggs

This easy dish was my first taste of Thai food, prepared by my son Stephen on a visit to my house after his stay in Thailand.

Prep work is easy, the cooking is easier!

Use ground chicken, or dice chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Set aside until time to cook.

Chop some Thai peppers. The amount you use depends entirely on how much heat you want. When Stephen prepared this for us, he used about half a cup of peppers... I use less. MUCH LESS.

Roll fresh Thai basil into bundles and chop.
Set aside until time to cook.

In a small bowl, mix equal parts of coconut sugar, fish sauce, and oyster sauce. This is the glaze. Set aside until time to cook. (I used about 2 tablespoons of each here.)

OK! When you are ready to cook.... Get your skillet or wok "Screaming Hot."

Add a small amount of cooking oil of your choice. I happened to use sunflower oil this time.

Add the chicken and stir it around.

When the chicken is almost, but not quite "done", add  the peppers. Stir them around. The skillet should stay as HOT as you can keep it.

Next, pour your glaze over the chicken and peppers.  Allow the chicken to finish cooking, which shouldn't take long at all. (Half a minute?)

OK. Turn off the heat. Take your nice pile of  chopped basil, and throw it over the top of the chicken. 

Put a lid over it and let it wilt while you fry some eggs. (You may want to heat the pan for the eggs when you are starting to cook the chicken.)  

Time to plate!

 Put down a bed of rice. Give the basil chicken a good stir, then put a serving over the rice. Top with a fried egg. I was told it is traditional to leave the yolk runny, but if you prefer the yolks cooked hard, that is your choice!

From the time you start cooking until you sit down to eat this is less than 10 minutes.

The amount of chicken I used was two split, boneless, skinless breasts. I used three or four green cayenne peppers, as I didn't have Thai peppers. I have Thai basil growing in my garden. The flavor is slightly different than your regular basil, but any fresh basil would work in this.  I used a good sized handful, the amount is up to your tastes. (I don't think you can add too much!)
You can find Oyster sauce, Fish sauce, Thai peppers, and Thai basil at pretty much any Asian market. Even Walmart carries the sauces... but it is less pricey at the Asian market... at least around here!

This is one food that just makes you want to have it again and again. It is so easy to make, and delicious you may be finding yourself making it every day!

Spiral Fries Surprise! (Zucchini)

My sweet Mom knows how much I have been wanting a spiralizer for vegetables. She gave me one on my recent trip to her house. Today was my first attempt at using it. I had visions of spaghetti, all low carb and saucy. But my first idea upon seeing these fun mounds of zucchini was "I bet these would make awesome fries." (And they DO!)

Zucchini Spiral Fries

(Gluten Free)

Zucchini Squash, Spiralized

(May be purchased or made with your favorite vegetable spiralizing device)

1/2 to 1 cup EACH Tapioca flour and Coconut flour

1/2  tsp. salt (I used pink salt)

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. paprika

Hot oil for frying.

I mixed the dry ingredients in a gallon zipper style bag.  Shake the squash spirals in the seasoned flour. Fry a few at a time in the hot oil, until golden. Drain in absorbent material, such as a paper towel or clean dish cloth.  Sprinkle with  more salt, if desired . Try with grated Parmesan cheese!

Howdy! How about a fresh post? (Grilled radishes and Zucchini with Peppers)

Our meals tend to get repetitive- almost everything we cook is (WAS!!) already on here.
Seems that the twins and Tommy (Stephen!) turned into more serious Foodies than I could of ever imagined, growing up.
I am hoping Stephen (Tommy!) will post a few more of the recipes he has been making. In the last six months, he has introduced us to Filipeno Chicken Adobo, and to Thai Basil Chicken. My Mom (Rose) made a dish called Ropa Vieja. She had seen the recipe in a magazine. The twins tried it at her house, and asked me to make it sometime. Mom told me just to use Google to search for a recipe for it. My recipe and her recipe for Ropa Vieja were PLANETS apart .
Ropa Vieja (Called the National Dish of Cuba)  is translated to mean "old clothes", as the finished dish looks like a pile of rags.
(I use the recipe I found on The Daring Gourmet. Then made it my own.)
It's about a tie flavor wise in my opinion between this and and my regular recipe for Roast Beast.
In the coming posts, I intend to share recipes for Chicken Adobo, Basil Chicken, and Ropa Vieja.

We are in the beginnings of garden season. About all we have harvested so far this year are our radishes. I have learned you can COOK radishes! Who knew? Total game changer for me. They were never a vegetable I cared much for. Cooking them totally alters their flavor. (Last night we had them grilled.)

(Slice zucchini,  spread on paper towels (or a clean dish cloth) sprinkle with salt, and let it sweat for a couple of hours. Wash and slice radishes. Trim some larger green onion scallions to about 3", split lengthwise. Chop a fresh pepper or three. I had Thai peppers on hand from Tommy's recipe a couple days ago. Combine in a grill safe pan (I used cast iron, but a disposable aluminum works too.) with some oil (I used avocado oil) Grill until as done as you like! Add more salt and black pepper if desired.

We served this with some BBQ boneless beef "country ribs". (Mr Stubbs Sweet Heat BBQ sauce is pretty happening!)

 In coming posts, we will be adding some more ways we use our garden produce. This garden season, we have about 40 tomato plants (in five varieties), at least ten squash plants (in three varieties.... and that's not counting the volunteers taking over the side of the compost heap!), two kinds of okra, jalapenos, Tabasco, cayenne, ghost peppers; beans, onions, tomatillos (in two varieties), cucumber, turnips, beets, potatoes, and herbs. Last year we made a dried pepper blend that already has a waiting list for more this year. My pickled beets were a hit as well. I have a busy canning season ahead.
Thanks for stopping by!

Stuffed Pork Chops

Tom and I found some "extra thick" pork chops on markdown the other day. (What can I say? I am so cheap frugal that I almost never buy meat unless it is on markdown.)

They went into the freezer with no specific plan in mind. I pulled them out yesterday to thaw- forgetting I already had thawed hamburger in the fridge! So the chops went into the fridge for a good, slow thaw overnight.

Today I wondered just how I was going to cook said chops. I decided to try stuffing them.
I set my cast iron skillet on high, with a dash of olive oil in it. While it heated, I cut deep slits into the sides of the chops, opening a pocket to put the stuffing in. I then tossed them into the hot skillet, and seared each side.

While the chops seared, I mixed together one  apple (chopped and peeled), a half a cup of chopped onion, 1/2 cup of (whole wheat) panko bread crumbs, and 1/2 cup of chopped butternut squash (I had some uncooked in the freezer from a couple weeks ago), and one egg. I seasoned it with sage, garlic, salt, and red pepper.

I carefully opened up the slits and poked the pork chops full of the stuffing, leaving the chops right there in the hot skillet. What stuffing didn't fit inside of the chops I sprinkled over the top.

Bake until done- about 45 minutes, to an hour at 325*
Be sure you get the pork cooked completely through! It takes longer to cook with the stuffing in them. (Meat thermometer should read 160* in the thickest portion.)

Will these be a hit? We shall see!

Pho-king hot noodles

Serves 2

Ingredients-

- 1/4 Red Onion
- 3-4 Baby Portabello Mushrooms
- 1 Habenero Pepper
- Fresh Cilantro
- 2 Green Onions
- 1 Chicken Breast -  Sliced
- 1/2  a bag of Rice Noodles
- 1 Tbsp. Goat Cheese
- 1 Roma Tomato
- 1/4 cup milk

- Spices:
- Turmeric -1 Tsp
- Paprika   - 1/2 Tsp
- Ground Cloves 1/4 Tsp
- Garlic  1/2 Tsp
- Salt
- Soy Sauce  to taste
- Chili Paste   1 Tsp

Directions:
Coarse chop red onion and mushrooms, and saute in butter on medium heat.
Dice as finely as possible Habenero, add to sauteing pan.
Add goat cheese, and milk, simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Add spices ( except chili paste)

Boil rice noodles as directed on bag, drain.
Add saute mixture to noodles, and continue to let simmer.

Use pan that mixture was in to cook chicken in. Add the chili paste to chicken, so that it coats the outside.  It should take about 3-4 minutes to cook.

Chop cilantro and green onion, and slice tomato to garnish with.

Plating:
 Layer noodles down, stack chicken diagonally on one side, Roma tomato slices on the other side.
Sprinkle in tight formations on separate spots  green onion and cilantro.
Display with chopsticks.

This dish is an Indian/Oriental flavoring perfect for spicing up your palate.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Earlier this week, I was trying to decide on what to cook over the next few days. Daniel suggested we have some of the Stuffed Acorn Squash that we had several times back in the fall. So I bought a couple of Acorn squash.
I wish I could convey how much I love this dish. I have been snacking on the cooling stuffing mixture (prior to adding the eggs) while the squash bakes.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Acorn Squash (1 squash serves 2 people)

Mild Italian sausage links, casings removed (I used one per person)

Apple, chopped (with or without peel) (I had gala that needed to be used, but this is also fantastic with Granny Smith) (1/2 apple per squash)

Onion, chopped (1/2 sweet or yellow  small onion per squash)

Celery, chopped (1/2 to 1 rib per squash)

minced garlic (I used jarred for easiness)

Butter  1 teaspoon more or less per squash

sage (I used dried rubbed sage)

corn flakes or Panko bread crumbs about 1/3 cup per squash (I combined and used both) 

Parmesan cheese, grated (About 1/2 cup, or to taste)

Eggs, one per squash

Preheat oven to 350*

Wash the squash skin (rind) well. It often has a waxy coating. Since the peel is not consumed, you just really need any dirt/ contaminants off them.

Split the squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds. (Discard, or roast and eat seeds!)

Melt the butter, and add some garlic and sage to the melted butter.

Brush the squash well with the melted butter.

Place the seasoned squash cut side down in a greased baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven approximately 25 minutes, until the squash is just becoming tender.

While the squash is baking,  cook and crumble the Italian sausage in a heavy skillet. (Actually, I did the stuffing step first, and reused the skillet to bake the squash, allowing the stuffing mix to cool a bit in a bowl before adding the eggs)

Remove sausage to a large bowl, and reuse the skillet to cook the apple, celery, and onion. I added a bit more minced garlic here, as well as my leftover butter/ sage mixture. Maybe a bit more sage to taste.

When the onion mixture is soft (onions will be semi-transparent), remove mixture to the bowl with the sausage.

Add the crumbs and Parmesan cheese, mix well. Just let it sit without the eggs in it, until the squash is ready. 

Remove the squash from the oven, and turn over, so the cavities are facing up, ready to be filled.

Add the eggs to the stuffing mixture, and combine well.

Scoop the stuffing into the squash cavities, mounding as needed.

Carefully return stuffed squash to oven. Bake another 20 minutes, until stuffing is turning golden.