Bawlmerese for Enjoy Your Meal
Here’s what I like about pickling, it’s a pretty simple process that doesn’t require a whole lot of work. Once you get your brine mixed up and add whatever it is you’re pickling, time does the work for you. And don’t think that vegetables are the only things you can pickle. That would be a terrible mistake. Continue reading “Pickled Shrimp”
As I said in my interview with The Baltimore Guide, I take pictures because I enjoy it; I photograph what I see around me. I don’t do it with the notion of awards in mind and I don’t go looking for a shot for the sole purpose of being praised. However, if someone is so inclined to single out a piece of my work and say that it is worthy of mention, I’m not going to argue. Continue reading “Honorable Mention”
Here’s as much as I can recall learning about genetics in science class. Some genes, like the ones for brown eyes, are dominant and occur more often. Others, like the ones for blue eyes, are recessive and occur less frequently. That’s about it. I know there’s more to it than that, like traits that skip generations, but all that’s lost on me. Except to say that I know that genetically I drew the short straw on some things. Continue reading “Genetics”
I can’t decide if I like this recipe or not. Maybe it needs a different cheese because the smoked Gouda seemed to overwhelm everthing else. Other than a cheese substitution, would you make any other changes?
Ziti Baked with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Smoked Gouda
Cooking Light Pasta
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.
Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add spinach to pan and cook 30 seconds or until spinach wilts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
Add pasta and 3/4 cup cheese to tomato mixture. Toss well to combine.
Spoon pasta mixture in 5 individual, or 1 large, casserole dish lightly coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown.
I’ve been making an effort to go through my old recipes, the ones that I’ve already tried out and decided are keepers, and post them. My goal is to turn my home files into a printed record of what you see here at BAH. Today’s tidbit is from the pages of Cooking Light.
Sauteed Tilapia with Lemon Peppercorn Pan Sauce
Cooking Light
BAH Note: I didn’t have Tilapia on hand that last time I made this so I used Orange Roughy. Any firm, white fish would probably work. Just make sure that it’s a thin fillet. I find that the pan sauce is a little piquant even with rinsing the capers, which I used instead of brined peppercorns. When you add the butter into the pan sauce, remember that even softened solids going into liquids will cause a splash. I didn’t, and ended up with sauce everywhere.
Combine broth, lemon juice, and peppercorns (or capers) in a small bowl.
Melt 1 teaspoon butter with vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. While butter melts, sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge fillets in flour and shake off excess.
Increase heat to medium-high until butter begins to turn golden brown. Add fillets to pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove fish from the pan and cover to keep warm.
Add broth mixture to pan, scraping up any loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil cook about 3 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat and stir in last 2 teaspoons butter with a whisk.
Spoon sauce over fillets and garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.
***The following post is from the archive at Exit 51***
A good amount of the disk space on our Tivo gets taken up with cooking shows. Food Network, PBS, I like to mix it all up. When I watch them, I frequently experience kitchen envy. Seriously, have you seen Paula Deen’s or Ina Garten’s kitchen? Dreamy. Multiple cooktops, deep fryers, and refrigerator drawers. Best of all are those professional stoves. 48 to 60 inches of high btu muscle with double ovens. They are the kitchen equivalent of the Ford Mustang in Steve McQueen’s Bullitt. High revving, rubber burning, wild horses. I so wish I could have one of those. My kitchen, in comparison, is more like a Honda Accord. It’s reliable for getting you where you need to go but would never win in a drag race.
Not that having fancy, expensive equipment means anything when it comes to serving up good food. Deb, who I heart, from Smitten Kitchen turns out the best food from a teeny, tiny New York City apartment kitchen. Think your kitchen is small? Try working in a 24 square foot space. That’s smaller than my closet. And yet, without the aid of fancy equipment, she turns out all sorts of baked, fried, and roasted goodness.
Like anything else, your equipment is a tool that either you know how to use or you don’t. That 48 inch Viking isn’t going to magically transform a bad dish into a good one. So work with what you have, find its muscle, and make it work for you. Your kitchen may not burn rubber like Steve McQueen’s Mustang, but it won’t need new tires as quickly either.
Oven Roasted Salmon
Cook’s Illustrated
I added paprika and chili powder, not original to the CI recipe.
Place a sheet pan on an oven rack in the lowest position and heat oven to 500 degrees. If your salmon has skin, make 4 or 5 shallow slashes about an inch apart along the skin side of each piece. Do not cut into the flesh.
Dry salmon with a paper towel, rub with oil and season with salt, paprika, and chili powder. Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees and remove the HOT baking sheet. Carefully place salmon (skin side down) on your sheet pan. Roast until salmon is still translucent in the thickest part of fillets when cut into with paring knife or when an instant read thermometer inserted in thickest part of the fillets registers 125 degrees, 9 to 13 minutes. Transfer fillets to individual plates or platter.
Pineapple Avocado Salsa
The Washington Post
Combine the pineapple, avocado, scallion, salt, and lime juice in a mixing bowl. Toss to combine.
In the kitchen, timing is everything. Food is done when it’s done. You get a little wiggle room with some dishes. Others are not so forgiving. Worst of all is when you’ve unknowingly overcooked something. Like that time I made baked eggs. I was expecting something along the lines of maybe a soft boiled or poached egg. What I got was tough and rubbery. Seriously, my fork kept bouncing off the whites as I tried to cut into them. Continue reading “Timing”
Bon Appetit Hon by Wendi Mosteiko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Bon Appetit Hon 