The Cooking Corner

[Saturn Celeste]

Let's talk about food, spices and recipes!  Let's talk about food!!

 

 

 

[Raggydoll]

Mmm tasty tasty! I will definitely stop by tomorrow to see what’s cooking in here. Hopefully you will all have brought out your secret recipe books and started sharing! (Favorite family recipes from around the world would be high on my wish list 💖)

[DownUnderNZer]

Polenta

 

No idea what this is, but a friend and I have challenged one another to buy this and see what we come up with in the way if cooking it as I read it can be boiled, fried and baked and is a great substitute for rice and potatoes. 

 

Healthy as well!

 

Not sure if I can make up any recipes, but am hoping to enjoy it regardless of how I make it on the day. Meant to buy some on my way home tonight but forgot so will endeavour to hit the supermarket for some tomorrow.

 

Crossing fingers.

 

DND

[joy]

5 hours ago, DownUnderNZer said:

Polenta

 

No idea what this is, but a friend and I have challenged one another to buy this and see what we come up with in the way if cooking it as I read it can be boiled, fried and baked and is a great substitute for rice and potatoes. 

 

Healthy as well!

 

Not sure if I can make up any recipes, but am hoping to enjoy it regardless of how I make it on the day. Meant to buy some on my way home tonight but forgot so will endeavour to hit the supermarket for some tomorrow.

 

Crossing fingers.

 

DND

Oh I love love love Polenta! It is an Italian dish made out of cornmeal. I love it cooked with onions, salt and any herbs you have around. Then add butter and cheese and serve. Once cooked you can also put it in the oven and add tomatoes etc on top and just cook. So the Polenta serves then like the dough of a Pizza. Enjoy!

[Saturn Celeste]

Oh MY! That Polenta sounds great!!  Ok I thought I'd have a little rambling through my kitchen.  The past few days have been interesting with the dishes I made.  First of all, I don't cook with salt.  I haven't for years and years and years!  I use Mrs Dash.  I use 6 of them at the moment.  Original, Onion and Herb, Table Blend, Lemon Pepper,  Caribbean Citrus, Chicken.  There is one more bottle I want to get but it wasn't in the store.  I want to also buy the Italian Medley.  

 

I also cook with a black pepper/white pepper blend in a grinder jar.  I use Olive oil and usually I'll crush a garlic piece and while the oil is heating, I swirl the clove of garlic around while it heats to coat the bottom of the pan in the oil and garlic.

 

I love puzzles and cooking is one big puzzle to me!  So, my son went to a birthday party and he received some birthday cake, 3 pieces of chicken, 2 thighs and a leg.  A nice sized plastic bag with a zipper filled with crudites.  Cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, red and green pepper.  And a Tupperware of a little bit of baked beans.  So, the question is, how did I come up with 8 meals out of this! 

 

Yum Yum Yummy!

 

Day 1

Ok, We needed some more chicken so the first day, I had my son get a rotisserie grilled chicken from the grocery store and  a container of potato salad.  We have the salad and the 2 chicken breasts.   

 

Day 2

I picked the thighs and legs from both chicken pieces combined.  I boiled the vegetables until still firm to the fork.  I had half a bag of real natural wild rice so I cooked that up, it was 5 oz.  and made about 3 cups of rice, maybe a little more.  I browned the picked chicken in the frying pan in oil and a garlic clove.  I added the ground pepper and I used the Table Blend spice.  The rice had a little too much water but that was OK, I dumped it into the chicken and garlic.  Added a bit more pepper and table blend.  Warmed all that up so it was ready to boil then drained the veggies and added them.  I stirred the pot and brought it to a boil then covered it and turned the heat way down so it simmered.  When I knew it was simmered, I added a can of Cream of Chicken soup and a dash of water to clean out the can and turned this into a casserole and cooked at 400 degrees for a half hour.  Maybe a little less than a half hour, but when I felt it was done, I turned the heat of and let it sit for about 5 minutes then let it cool on top of the stove.  Wow!  I had 4 servings out of that!  We had half for lunch and when my son got home from work that night we finished it off.

 

Day 3 (Today)

I had the rest of the whole chicken left, a leg, thigh, back, neck.  I started my pan up with olive oil, rubbed a garlic clove around the pan.  As I picked the meat, I tossed it into the frying pan (large).  I started to brown the chicken then added 2 chopped onions.  I stirred as needed and added pepper and the Table Blend spice and then opened and drained a can of Garbanzo beans.  I added a little more water and brought the contents to a boil.  I covered the pan and turned the heat down and simmered for 10 minutes.  When the onions were cooked, I added possibly a quarter cup of BBQ sauce ( I don't measure).  Stirred that in and the contents was still moist so I covered and cooked another 10 minutes.  I then added the baked beans and a touch more pepper and table blend, covered and cooked 10 more minutes.  I served this with toast.  WOW!!!  It was really delicious!  So I still have 2 small servings left and some left over potato salad that will have tonight when my son comes home from dinner.

 

I hope you enjoyed my rambling through my kitchen!  I had been on food stamps but had to renew and didn't get it done in time so I'll have to wait when I can renew again but I am amazed at how much I can stretch food!  A little bit of this and a little bit of that and who knows, I'll be posting in here again!

 

[joy]

@Saturn Celeste amazing! Yeah I think food can be stretched if one takes the time and thinks what can be done.

And I love love love the Swedish Chef ❤️

 

[Saturn Celeste]

9 minutes ago, joy said:

and thinks what can be done.

Exactly!  That is the fun of cooking for me!  What can I make that my son will love on x amount of food!  We spent the money on my food card so we were able to get more vegetables than we usually do so I'm gong to have a lot of fun this week.  We have frozen chicken breasts (not chicken legs!) potatoes, onions and some canned vegetables.  One of these days I'm making grilled chicken boobies with mashed potatoes!!  I can't wait!

 

EDIT, now that I think about it I'm going to make something similar to this recipe only instead of cheese I'll use cream of celery soup to pull it all together!

[AnomalyTempest]

11 hours ago, DownUnderNZer said:

Polenta

 

No idea what this is, but a friend and I have challenged one another to buy this and see what we come up with in the way if cooking it as I read it can be boiled, fried and baked and is a great substitute for rice and potatoes. 

 

Healthy as well!

 

Not sure if I can make up any recipes, but am hoping to enjoy it regardless of how I make it on the day. Meant to buy some on my way home tonight but forgot so will endeavour to hit the supermarket for some tomorrow.

 

Crossing fingers.

 

DND

Polenta is like grits. Grits are made from white corn and Polenta from yellow. Polenta is also coarser than grits but they are pretty much interchangeable for those who would like to try certain recipes where one or the other of these is not available.

[DownUnderNZer]

To You Guys

 

I don't know how to do the @ thing.

 

Polenta is on the agenda to buy today and try over the weekend.

 

Thanks for the input! I LOVE Italian.

 

Never tried Grits that I know, but have tried yellow corn porridge as a child.

 

DND

[DownUnderNZer]

Saturn Celeste

 

Will have to think on some recipes or ask around.

 

I don't usually follow books or things like that just a dash of this and a dash of that.

 

My sister has learned two things recently from a chef and it only takes 30 mins from prep to cooling down. Eg Sponge.

 

She just flew out today - so when she is back from her trip I will quiz her.

 

 

DND

[joy]

19 hours ago, Saturn Celeste said:

EDIT, now that I think about it I'm going to make something similar to this recipe only instead of cheese I'll use cream of celery soup to pull it all together!

Oh wow that sounds delicious! What a great idea to use cream of celery soup, that will be so tasty and jummy!

 

@DownUnderNZer yeah quiz her and let us know! BTW the @ thing is quite easy. You type the @ sign and then the username, you will see the usernames start to pop up and you can select the one you want to mention

[Saturn Celeste]

13 hours ago, DownUnderNZer said:

My sister has learned two things recently from a chef and it only takes 30 mins from prep to cooling down. Eg Sponge.

I totally agree!!  I try to get everything done in 30 minutes of actual cook time but it depends of how much prep I have to do like picking chicken! 🐔

[DownUnderNZer]

@Saturn Celeste

 

@joy

 

Much easier than the last forum software and I was looking for some feature above on how to do it and could not quite remember how it was done in the other place anyhow - as hardly did it. Easy as blinking one's eyes!. 🙂

 

My sister also puts fresh cream and jam in it. 

 

She has been baking one along with sour dough bread everyday for the past 2 weeks. Her husband eats the whole thing really by himself quite happily, so she has to keep making them so it is there. He hasn't seemed to get sick of it yet.

 

30 mins is my idea of cooking too.

 

 

[Raggydoll]

@DownUnderNZer I used to love baking sourdough bread! But I can’t anymore since our household has to be grain-free due to severe allergies. I know that it’s possible to make gluten free sourdough bread too but it just hasn’t the same appeal anymore. I haven’t eaten gluten in many years now. I used to also make wild yeast out of honey and fermented dried fruit. Such cool and tasty stuff. Was great in fruitcakes and buns as well as in breads 

[DownUnderNZer]

 

EGGPLANTS/AUBEGINES

 

I do have a tip for eggplants also known as aubergine.

 

Deep frying without oil being overly soaked up:

 

1) Soak slices under sprinkled salt for 30 minutes or more as this takes the extra moisture out.

 

2) Rinse them off gently - I use filtered water.

 

2) Beat one egg white for about 2O secs with a fork or whisk.  

 

3) Lightly coat each side before frying in a heated pan of oil.

 

Doesn't use much of the oil and tastes divine plus it can be eaten by itself or added to something else being cooked. Eg Vegetarian Lasagne.

[DownUnderNZer]

17 minutes ago, Raggydoll said:

@DownUnderNZer I used to love baking sourdough bread! But I can’t anymore since our household has to be grain-free due to severe allergies. I know that it’s possible to make gluten free sourdough bread too but it just hasn’t the same appeal anymore. I haven’t eaten gluten in many years now. I used to also make wild yeast out of honey and fermented dried fruit. Such cool and tasty stuff. Was great in fruitcakes and buns as well as in breads 

@Raggydoll

 

You sound like you were a real dedicated cook and now know your foods due to gluten intolerance which is unfortunate. Some people really do not have the simple pleasures due to allergies and so forth. That I feel is unfair, but can be worked around like you have done it.

 

I like cooking from scratch too, and if it can be healthy but delicious, that is an A+ in my books for sure.

Edited June 1, 2019 by DownUnderNZer

[DownUnderNZer]

 

CHEESE

 

Especially hard cheeses like cheddar.

 

If you want to keep these types of cheese mould free then all you need to do is wipe vinegar over the outside wrapping and inside the container as well as the outside. Or if wrapped - the same way. Just use a damp cloth half done in water and any vinegar.

 

I will even use straight vinegar on the outside of the container and packaging plus make sure the inside is lightly sprayed with it. 

 

All depends on my mood - container or zip lock.

 

I choose apple cider vinegar as it is strong although I am sure malt or white would be just as fine.

 

The great thing about it - it works.

 

NOTE: I do tend to refresh it around 4 weeks or so.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2019 by DownUnderNZer

[joy]

Oh I really love this cooking corner! Keep those tips coming! I love to do easy stuff and I love to have time after all is cooked before I have to sit down to eat. So anything done in the oven or in one pot is my thing 🙂

@DownUnderNZer happy you find the software easy to use 🙂❤️

[TarotbyKatMoon]

So this isn't really cooking... HOWEVER, I absolutely love to bake and this is one of my favorite recipes with this glaze. We have a dairy problem in my house so for the bund't cake I replace sour cream with a 3/4 a cup of lactose free milk and it tastes exactly the same!  

[joy]

33 minutes ago, PurplePixie03 said:

So this isn't really cooking... HOWEVER, I absolutely love to bake and this is one of my favorite recipes with this glaze. We have a dairy problem in my house so for the bund't cake I replace sour cream with a 3/4 a cup of lactose free milk and it tastes exactly the same!  

This looks yummy!

[TarotbyKatMoon]

15 minutes ago, joy said:

This looks yummy!

Thank you!

[DownUnderNZer]

Polenta

 

Tried it as plain porridge for brekkie and tonight sliced up some of what was leftover and baked it in the oven with crushed garlic, Himalayan salt and cracked pepper on the top. In a dash of olive oil.

 

Served it with chicken meatballs in an Italian tomato sauce.

 

What did I think?

 

Didnt mind it as porridge.

 

The chicken meatball and sauce was excellent with it although it was hard adjusting to it not being rice or pasta.

 

I think it will take a bit of getting use to, but what is a winner is that it is low in fat and has no cholesterol.

 

Would like to make something sweet next weekend, so will see how that goes then.

 

Am fine using it as a substitute or healthy alternative.

 

 

DND  🙂

[joy]

It does sound great with Chicken Meatballs in Italian tomato sauce!

[DownUnderNZer]

On 6/3/2019 at 2:43 AM, joy said:

It does sound great with Chicken Meatballs in Italian tomato sauce!

 

My @joy is now working again!!!

 

Delicious and I actually really enjoyed it.

 

Plan to do it again...

 

DND

[DownUnderNZer]

POLENTA TARTS

 

Did go to bed some hours ago, but am up right now. Heading back soon.

 

I will be cooking on the weekend:

 

Polenta Tarts.

 

Savoury and maybe sweet, but absolutely healthy.

 

Like, for example, raspberry mousse or chocolate only using low fat products and/or natural. Need to buy more almond flour so will be hitting the supermarket tomorrow arvo or evening.

 

As for savoury - I really like quiche, so am going to work on my own version of crispy polenta shells and put inside them an eggy cheese mixture with either smoked salmon or ricotta and spinach. Low fat and calories.

 

Will be back with a recipe?

 

Only if it works out. 🙂

 

 

Might be a few disasters before one success.

 

DND