Fast & Easy Archives - Page 14 of 14

December 23, 2012 Amy

Hello, Dear Readers:

Well, it’s the holiday season and, honestly, I haven’t had much foodie adventure since The Tuscan Turkey got turned into soup a few weeks ago. But it’s OK, everyone loved it, and I just have some cut up Tuscan turkey meat left in the freezer. Well, OK, enough to keep me happy for a while, and make The Soup of Enlightenment if I really want to, but I don’t, since I had it at Thanksgiving, skipping over the big meal to that part.

I will tell you that I was just in Cost Plus World Market, using a $10 coupon to get stocked up on the fantastic Typhoo Decaf Tea from the UK and got me some microwavable steamed puddings–the real British stuff, produced in New Zealand. Really. I guess the Brits like it, but I never asked–but I’m having steamed pudding for Christmas!! (I’ll let you know.) Convenient, and just a little bit, enough to try it once. If I wanted to, I could use Nigella Lawson’s recipes out of her Christmas book, but really, I’m giving myself the gift of peace and quiet this year, and lots of sewing. Not to mention the Doctor Who Christmas Special on Tuesday thanks to a very nice neighbor who is out of town. I did offer to do a carpet cleaning for her while she was out, but she declined. Maybe I’ll just clean her windows before she gets home.

BTW, if you join their World Market Explorer program, you get those $10 off $30 purchase coupons regularly, including one for your birthday.

Oh, and while I was there, nibbling on the sample cookies, I talked to a lady who was going to get ingredients for a cranberry sauce. One of Paula Deen’s recipes from FoodNetwork.com. I love you, Paula, but fifteen ingredients, including Grand Marnier! I was shocked when I read that. She didn’t know what Grand Marnier was, either. I told her that she would have to get it at a liquor store, which are closed on Sunday in Texas, and that it would probably run $35 or $40 a bottle. She had no idea. . .so I told her to forget this one and go look up the recipe for my favorite Cranberry Ginger Relish and make that. Four ingredients, fifteen minutes, and make it three days in advance. Easy, and it’s sweet and warm at the same time. “Can I get all the ingredients at Kroger?” she asked. Absolutely, including sherry vinegar. It sidles up to you all nice and sweet, then POW! Hits you right in the kisser. Everybody loves it, including me, and I always get requests for the recipe when I make it.

Now I want some, too.

Rest assured that some kind of diet will commence after January 1, and I will ease my way into it over the next week. Might go to a potluck next Saturday, we’ll see, and I’ll bring something good, if I go. Exercise too, Pilates is my preference, with some yoga thrown in for good measure, since walking will be impossible soon. More on that later.

So anyway. . . .

Last week I had my third interview in a different department at a major medical center here in Houston. I’m not going to say which one, but it’s big, well known, and they have great benefits. The interview started about 3:20 pm, and I left the facility at 5:30 pm, escorted by a Texas Medical Center (TMC) police officer. (I rode in the FRONT seat, OK?) I was lost, and he offered. . .hey, I can trust a guy with a pistol on his hip! Especially since I had on my suit and a crisp white collared shirt, not to mention sky-high heels. No t-shirt and jeans on this day–I needed to look sharp, and I did.

I believe I will be hired on soon, which means bus rides and walking around a lot. No way I’m driving to work every day.

My TMC copper got me back to the building where my vehicle was, and I checked out–at nearly 6:00 pm! I was very HUNGRY at this point, and decided to get a bite in town since it was high traffic and driving home was a bit of a nightmare. It was also the Friday before Christmas, and everyone is not only getting off work but heading to shop. (Bay Area Boulevard was a parking lot at 1:30 pm.)

As I drove up Holcombe towards Buffalo Speedway, I was trying to remember where I could find a good dinner around there. Hmmm. . .Burger King. No. Some kind of wing shop–no. Taco Bell (which required a left U-turn in heavy traffic)–bookmark for later. Spec’s Liquor Warehouse–no. Some little sushi place–absolutely not. I knew I could get to Rice Village if I turned right on Kirby, but having been there a week before and had much trouble parking, I kept driving.

Then I remembered a little place that used to be there when I worked for Baylor all those years ago. Would it still be there? I started thinking. . .it was by a grocery store, but which one? I knew it was on the left. . .I saw Rice Epicurean Market, but no little place. I kept going, and saw the Randall’s Flagship about a mile or so up the road, along with a Barnes & Noble in the same strip mall. Then my eyes saw what I was seeking–their name on the marquee. It was still there, after all these years, in a city where permanence is fleeting. It was a sight for sore eyes that day.

Prayers get answered one at a time. Gifts do not always come in a box wrapped in paper and ribbon. Trust me on that.

This little place is called Yapa Kitchen-Fresh Take Away. When I worked at Baylor, we used Yapa’s catering for our activities, and everyone loved the sandwiches and lunch boxes they brought us. There was one occasion that for some reason, we had to use a different catering company. (I think someone higher up told us to.) We were very disappointed and made sure we called Yapa after that.

Once in a while I’d go get a sandwich over there if I was driving around or running office errands. Their sandwiches were delicious, unbelievable cookies, and great chef-prepared food in the case. The store is actually quite small, and hasn’t changed since the last time I was there–maybe 2001? I held the wheel tightly and kept thinking about what I could vagely remember from my days working in the VA Hospital (as a Baylor employee.)

It came flooding back when I walked in the front door. It was pretty much the same as I remember it. Some of the cookbooks look old now.

I gazed in the case and saw all kinds of delicious things. I was thinking about a crab cake, since it wasn’t too expensive (not ready for $25 a pound pepper crusted tenderloin yet, but will celebrate when I get my new job.) I asked if there was anything else to look at. “Well,” the young bloke said, “we have a few sandwiches over here.” There were four. I saw two chicken salad sandwiches, one turkey with cranberry, and a roast beef.

THAT’S WHAT I WANT.

I grabbed the last roast beef, and asked about dessert. They still had that little case on the side, and I remembered having their delicious creme brulee once. But their cookies were in big jars on the counter, and I got a chocolate chip and a white chocolate/macadamia nut cookie. He asked me if I’d like some horseradish sauce; I declined. There was some already on the sandwich, and it was just enough and just perfect.

That, dear readers, is what hit the spot and scratched the itch on Friday, December 21st at about 6:15 in the evening.

The sandwich, on a really great whole-grain bread, was just as good as I remembered it. Ditto the cookies. Next time I get two of those slightly soft and chunky white chocolate/macadamia nut cookies. Both were good, but I liked that one better.

To the observer (or the guys working the counter that night), it was just a sandwich and cookies to have while I sat at a table and flipped through my magazine. To me, it was like finding an old friend again. No, I didn’t go in all the time when I was there, just once in a while, and it was a nice little refuge, even though they were quite busy during the day. The food was good, the people were nice, and it was just up the street. You can get a delicious lunch or dinner to eat in or take home with you. I once bought three of their cookies and brought them to someone in the hospital, because I knew they were the best to be had that day, plus they were on the way to the hospital.

And it’s still like that. For this, I was, and am, very grateful.

Yapa is quite a distance for me to go now, since I’ve been in the suburbs since 2002, I’m in town about once or twice a month, and to be honest, I don’t go into TMC unless I have to, as I have for the past 3 Fridays. Should I find myself working back at TMC, I might have the opportunity to visit more often; we’ll see.

If you’re in Houston and find yourself in the Medical Center area for whatever reason, consider having lunch at Yapa; their menus are online, so see what they have and find what you like before you get there. They are located at the corner of Holcombe and Buffalo Speedway in the little building close to the corner. The address is 3173 W Holcombe Boulevard (77025) and you can call them at 713-664-9272.

Warning: While Yapa is a little place worth visiting, it’s not in the big building with Randall’s. Yapa is in the small one-off building in the parking lot. You know the type of building I mean, an auxiliary building. You can see it here–Yapa is in that building on the right, close to the big building.

Thanks for still being there, and feeding this hungry feline when she really needed it.

Happy dining!

Considered opinions,Fast & Easy,Restaurant Review,Special Occasions,What's for Dinner? Dinner,Restaurant review,take away

Quinoa–have you tried it?

December 6, 2012 Amy

First, a little blog news: I’ve started, but not yet working much on, another blog, but this one on sewing. Yes, yet another sewing blog on the web. Let’s see how many stories about cutting my fingers with scissors, sticking needles and other sharp items in my fingers and hands and pins in my feet I dare to publish on the web for your amusement. Yes, I’ve bled on many, many textiles. But not the fabulous 1996 wedding dress, thank heavens (blood is a bear to get out of raw silk.)

I’ve bled in the kitchen, too, never in food and have never stuck a knife through my metacarpals. There *is* the matter of the air conditioner motor mount through the bottom of one of my feet, barely missing my metatarsals, but I was about 8 or 9, I think. I can still find the little scar on the bottom of my foot. (Never mind which one.)

I’ve had a LOT of tetanus shots in my life. But I’ve never broken a bone. Yet.

Back to the food discussion while I nibble on the leftover dried cherries from the delicious sausage and acorn squash thing last week. . .I need to get more, I want to make it again. Dried cherries. . .YUM. . . .

One of those things I absolutely love is quinoa. It’s a pebbly grain-like stuff that’s cooked like rice and has long been a staple of health food stores and the veggie crowd. But why would Amy like it? It’s healthy! It’s gluten free! It’s complete protein! It’s a cure for cancer and high blood pressure!

I’m kidding about that last part. BUT–it really is healthy and a complete protein. I love this stuff, and I don’t even care if it’s healthy. I’d put it up there with chocolate for deliciousness.

Well, almost.

There are a number of jokes about being a native New Orlenian; one of them goes, “you know you’re from New Orleans when you start a pot of rice and you have no idea what’s for dinner.” I quit eating rice, especially white rice, many years ago. If you are looking for something to substitute for rice, keep reading.

I discovered quinoa when I made a fancy stuffed poblano pepper dinner for my “new husband” in 1996 or 1997 when it appeared in a Martha Stewart Living issue. (I had to hunt it down at one of the small, far-flung health food stores in New Orleans–they were few and far between.) It had quinoa and walnuts and goat cheese and I can’t remember what else. I’d never bought poblanos in my life, so it was a big deal for me to make it. It was SO fancy, and I when I served it to King of the Road and went to explain it, he said, “don’t tell me what’s in it. Just let me eat it.” I never made it again, and after four years, I stopped cooking for him (we split), but I did remember the quinoa.

A few years ago a couple of recipes showed up in Suzanne Somers cookbook Slim & Sexy Forever. And that’s how I started eating the stuff again (and no husband around to complain about it, either.)

I tell people about quinoa frequently, but a lot of folks have never heard of it or have no idea what it is, even if they are “into healthy things.” Shame–it’s really tasty when prepared properly, and it’s as easy as that boil-in-the-bag white rice stuff, not to mention healthier.

So, what is it and why should you consider buying some to try? Well, it’s not actually a grain, it’s the SEED of the grain, but it’s sold that way, both in boxes and in some grocery stores in their bulk sections (like my local HEB.) Let’s let Purdue explain it a bit better than I can:

Quinoa or quinua (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is native to the Andes Mountains of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. This crop (pronounced KEEN-WAH), has been called 41 vegetable caviar” or Inca rice, and has been eaten continuously for 5,000 years by people who live on the mountain plateaus and in the valleys of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile. Quinua means “mother grain” in the Inca language. This crop was a staple food of the Inca people and remains an important food crop for their descendants, the Quechua and Aymara peoples who live in rural regions.

This annual species is in the goosefoot family and is related to the weed, common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.), canahua (C. pallidicaule Aellen), and wormseed (C. ambrosiodes L. anthelminticum). Possible hybrids between quinoa and common lambsquarters have been observed in Colorado. Quinoa is also in the same botanical family as sugarbeet, table beet, and spinach, and it is susceptible to many of the same insect and disease problems as these crops. Quinoa is sometimes referred to as a “pseudocereal” because it is a broadleaf non-legume that is grown for grain unlike most cereal grains which are grassy plants. It is similar in this respect to the pseudocereals buckwheat and amaranth.

Have you got that? Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? Now what?

It’s like this: quinoa is lower on the glycemic index than white rice, and takes a lot less time to cook than the more flavorful brown rice. Watch out, though–if you turn your back on it, the stuff *will* burn on the bottom of the pot, and you’ll have to a) soak it and b) use a liberal amount of Brillo to get the pot clean again. (Never mind how I know that. Brillo is my friend.)

If you have someone in your household who is on any number of diets we have in the US, quinoa may be a part of it (check the diet’s guidelines and, if necessary, your physician to be sure.) Since it’s gluten free, folks with sensitivities may be able to have it. It’s plant-based, so vegetarians and vegans love it. Ancient Harvest has a page with more nutritional information on quinoa.

No, I am not a vegan, vegetarian, or lacto-ovo anything. If you ask me what I like about the holidays, expect me to say TURKEY. Don’t even think of suggesting that other fake-me-out stuff.

Warning: quinoa is, as you might imagine, more expensive than rice, since it’s more of a specialty item. At my local HEB, and on occasions when I go to Central Market, a bulk pound of it is about $3.99; that’s also for organic. (I’ve never bought it boxed.) I don’t eat it every day, but when I buy it, I’m in the bulk section buying huge bags of it. Since it’s dried, it keeps for quite a while. I have a big glass jar that I use *just* for storing my quinoa supply. I also try to keep it full, so I can have it whenever I want some.

Yes, I want it all the time–but I don’t eat it all the time, honest. Even though I could.

There is also a red quinoa, and I bought a small amount of it at Central Market just to try it. Red quinoa is something like $7 or $8 a pound, and not knowing how I’d like it, I just bought about a half cup or so of it. British cookbook author Nigella Lawson posted on Facebook a picture of something she had in LA with fresh spinach, red quinoa and an egg on top, and boasted how she thought the red tasted better. OK, Nigella says it’s good, I gotta try it, so I did. But I can’t say I share the same sentiment. Maybe I didn’t cook it long enough, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll try it again one day after doing a little more research.

Now I’m going to tell you what to do with it. The basic cooking directions are here, but what I’ve been doing is one part quinoa, two parts water, and a chicken bullion cube for ever cup of water used. Oh, YEAH! Boil the water, rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve, toss the cube(s) in the boiling water, then add the quinoa. Cover, turn down the heat to medium, and cook until the water is absorbed.

Do NOT walk away from it, or you will have a mess–and no tasty quinoa to eat.

Giada de Laurentiis’ new book, Weeknights with Giada, has a couple of recipes for quinoa, including one for, no kidding, canned salmon. I can make that one anytime, because. . .I keep buying cans of salmon for emergencies. No garlic, believe it or not, and it’s a bit unusual and quite good.

I also made this Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash last year for Thanksgiving. And for the office luncheon. And for myself. It’s REALLY good, but does fall apart a little when you cut it into slices.

The original Suzanne Somers’ recipe that got me started eating it is called Sauteed Herb Quinoa, and it goes like this:

1 cup dry quinoa

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 shallots, finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh flat-leave parsley

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the quinoa according to package directions (or see directions above.)

While the quinoa is cooking, place a saute pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and shallots; saute for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the cooked quinoa and the parsley and stir to combine. Season with sea salt and pepper and serve immediately.

If you’re feeling adventurous this weekend, get a small bag of quinoa, or a small box, and give it a try (just don’t BURN it.) You’ll be in for a nice surprise, because it really is tasty and good for you, as well as pretty easy to make.

Happy Dining!

Considered opinions,Fast & Easy,Ingredients,What's for Dinner?

Au revoir, Everyday Food (part 2)

November 29, 2012 Amy

Well, the last issue of Everyday Food is now out on the street, and this is the letter that came with it:

EverydayFoodFinalLetter

There are, as usual, some delicious looking things, including the Peppermint-Meringue Brownie Cake on page 92. (I’d like to try this one: now to find an occasion to make it for.) This month’s Everyday Food Loves column is about phyllo dough, and a nice recipe for an almond-pear tart that also looks good. But because I had some leftover sage from Thanksgiving, so I decided to make the recipe on page 85, Sausages with Acorn Squash and Onions:

SausagewithAcornOnions

The section is called Sheet Pan Suppers,where you literally throw everything on a sheet pan and bake it in the oven. This particular recipe looked good, and in addition to the leftover sage, I haven’t had acorn squash in a really long time. (Here’s the EDF article on squash, including acorn.)

I *used* to have my own sage plant, where I could just pick some, but with everything that happened this summer, it sort of dried up. I’ll get another one again one day. I like fresh sage.

Oh, I’ll be making this again. More than once, I tell ya. Probably in the toaster oven, if I can figure out how to make it come out the same way.

It’s as easy as they say it is, and it’s definitely worth it. This is what it looked like when I took it out of the oven the first time to sprinkle the cheese and sage on:

The first time it comes out of the oven. At this point, you turn up the oven to “broil.”

Then you toss on the sage and cheese, it goes back in the oven, and when it comes out, toss on those chopped dried cherries.

Yeah, it’s good. It’s not beef bourignon, it’s not trout almondine, it’s not poached salmon, but it’s good for a quick weeknight meal. Heck, quick meal anytime. Dried cherries are a good thing on this dish, too.

I haven’t had acorn squash in a long, long time, I was peeling the skin off the flesh. And I realized it might be edible. Well, heck, I ate the skin, because it was much softer than it was before. So, if you’re game, eat the whole acorn squash, OK? Just get rid of the seeds.

Hey–I wonder if I can plant the seeds. Hmmm. . .it’s an idea.

If you can find the final issue of Everyday Food, grab it, and turn to page 85 to learn how to make this dinner for yourself tomorrow.

Happy Dining!

Cookbooks,Fast & Easy,What's for Dinner? acorn squash,Dinner,EverydayFood,sausage

Bacon and eggs tonight

October 31, 2012 Amy

Tomorrow I have a starving blood test at 8:30 in the morning, plus a long drive to the doctor’s office, so I decided to do something wild and have bacon and eggs this evening.

It’s been a while. Almost had them last week in Florida. And I haven’t gone to the grocery yet to get the ingredients for that new recipe for Lamb and Apricot Stew from the new Everyday Food magazine. I’ll let you know what I think when I get around to making it.

This completely mortifies the vegans and vegetarians, but. . .well, y’all eat beans and foliage and soy-based fake food anyway. I don’t tell you to eat meat, and I’m allergic to soy, so chill, please.

I love to poke fun at veggie folks. They’ll never starve waiting for a wild cow to come by, and there’s plenty of grass to nibble. 🙂

I love eggs, but don’t do all the stuff I used to with them, especially I sort of gave up dairy by default a few years ago. Mostly I boil them lately, but enjoy making main dishes with them, too. There is a delicious curried egg recipe in one of the Martha Stewart annual books, but I don’t remember which one. Hmmm. . .maybe this weekend. Lots of tomatoes and curry powder.

Don’t get me started on frittatas, I could eat them all the time. And often have. I used to make a bacon and egg pie for a week’s worth of breakfast (no crust) but I don’t buy cream anymore. I put almond milk in my coffee and tea, and long ago quit drinking milk of any kind. A little cheese, a little butter, ice cream once in a while, (yogurt–yuck) but dairy doesn’t happen much for me anymore.

See, much as I love to cook, as much as I enjoyed doing the parties at my last job, and as much as I enjoy our annual Thanksgiving open house (thank you, Lisa) sometimes, even I don’t feel like cooking. And my one of my favorite go-to alternates is the Meaty Burrito from Jack-In-The-Box. They’re made the same no matter where you go, and they hit the spot. Unfortunately, sometimes I get busy and eat more than one in a week. Then they start tasting exactly the same no matter what you add to them. But that’s been a while.

I also like sweet potato fries, but they don’t come out well at home without a fryer–which I don’t have. So I’ve taken to getting them at either Cafe Express or at the newly built Carl’s Jr. near my home. I actually don’t like Carl’s Jr because of the way I was treated the first time I went to the drive through, but have gone back twice for a batch of them. But like a lot of things, not very often. I do enjoy baking them at home with olive oil and a spice mix; I can do that all week long if I want.

Note: I thoroughly loathe and despise sweet potato pie, and all recipes combining sweet potatoes with brown sugar, marshmallows, pineapple, or anything else sweet. Adding anything besides butter, salt, savory spices and/or olive oil on a sweet potato in any form is disgusting and should be made a felony. If you like that stuff, please keep it on your side of the table. Thank you.

Oh, and many thanks to Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, for the tip about putting bacon in the OVEN, rather than messing with it on top the stove. The countertop (aka “toaster”) oven makes it even easier, and doesn’t heat up the kitchen. Maybe one day I’ll do a blog posting about the virtues of a countertop oven. It was a show I saw with Sara Moulton years ago talking about cooking with one, and I’ve had one ever since. If you have the space and the means and love to cook or bake. . .it’s worth having one.

Well, the bacon is done, and it’s about the only thing that seems to have enough salt in it for me. Eggs are cooked correctly (the way I want them) and so I will take my leave for the night.

Ok, I gotta go think. . .I mean, eat. . . .

Happy Dining!

Fast & Easy,What's for Dinner?

Dinner tonight

October 30, 2012 Amy

This evening I thought I’d play it easy and quick, since I won’t be grocery shopping for a while. Unfortunately, lunch was off the Fresca menu at Taco Bell because I was quite busy today. I decided to do a little “ahead” cooking so I could refrain from doing so for a few days. Six chicken leg quarters went into the oven with some homemade BBQ sauce (the last of it from the freezer, gotta make more.) Then I took a pack of stuffed chicken breasts from the freezer for dinner tonight (and maybe lunch tomorrow.) Topped it off with some quinoa cooked in chicken bullion water. . .and it was great. So here goes:

Oh, yeah. . .found them on sale.

A touch of olive oil, a 400 degree oven (the little Cuisiart countertop) at 400F and 40 minutes to cook. Now onto the side dish, my favorite: quinoa!

Oh, yeah. . .2 cups of water with 2 chicken bullion cubes. Crumble them up, boil the water. When it boils, add 1 cup rinsed quinoa, and lower the heat a bit. Cover, but don’t ignore it–this stuff cooks quickly, and will burn on the bottom of the pot. At $4 a pound, waste offends me greatly.

While that was going on, I also put the other chicken in the big oven. An hour later, I would not have to cook again unless I wanted to:

So when it was finally time to eat:

And so I don’t have to cook anymore for a few days, I have a little something that would rival Goode Company BBQ:

It’s not fine dining, but hey–it’s “heat and eat” you can feel good about.

Happy Dining!

Fast & Easy,What's for Dinner?

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